Samantha pulled Ben close. She stroked his back.
“I kind of knew that it had something to do with the fact that he was a wolf and Mom was a bear. But I didn’t think that he would hate me,” Ben said. “Or call me an abomination.”
There weren’t any words that could take that pain away from Ben.
“Why don’t we get some sleep?” Samantha suggested. “We can deal with this in the morning.”
“It’s made everything more difficult,” Ben said. “It’s going to be nearly impossible to get the wolves to agree to anything now. I have shamed one of their own. They’re not going to accept us now. My father was powerful. That’s how he was able to get away with insulting and demeaning an honored guest. A man of lesser standing would have been banished immediately.”
Samantha gulped. She had prayed. She never p
