I did my best not to seem suspicious while I watched Matthew walk away, noticing that he seemed to be in quite the state. I wondered whether or not it was because of what I had just told him, or whether it had been because of something else—possibly whatever it had been that had brought him out here this early in the morning.
I found myself hoping against hope that it hadn’t been because of the latter.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath of air into my lungs as I relived the encounter that I had shared with my daughter the previous night, my heart starting to thud more strongly against my ribcage as I did so.
—Flashback—
I was walking through the woods, praying that I was going in the right direction. I was hoping that I would be able to make it to Alpha Matthews’ house—where Blai
