“Just…” Lyria hesitated, overflowing with the questions she almost didn’t know how to articulate. “I don’t understand. Why did you leave?”
Baret sighed. “Lyria,” he started, “what did your mother tell you?”
Lyria hesitated. “She told me that she dated Alpha Windmere, and once he had his first shift, he was convinced they were mates and he wanted them to have a mate ceremony even though she hadn’t had a shift yet. That she said no, so he marked her instead. And… that didn’t work out well.”
“That’s true,” said Avria. “It isn’t exactly the whole story. You see, it is true that at first, your mother wasn’t convinced that Mannon was her mate. But over time, he convinced her. Your mother is embarrassed by it, now. I can’t blame her. But we heard her concerns when he first started talking abou
