Page 13 of Wolf Marked

“Father?”

“Astrid? There you are.” A smile crawled across his lips. “It’s your mother. Look.”

Astrid’s gaze flicked upward. “That’s Vallor, Father. Just a star.”

He shook his head. “No, no. It’s her. Look.”

Unable to believe what he was witnessing, Erec remained quiet, a sinking feeling in his gut. He’d spoken with Boden not too long ago. He’d seen power and authority in the alpha’s stare then, not dreamlike vacancy. If he’d met this Boden when he’d first come here, he would have thought him an entirely different person.

“Father…” Astrid placed her palms against his cheeks. Her tear-filled eyes glistened against the morning light. “Mother’s gone. She’s dead. Don’t you remember?”

Erec’s heart ached. He couldn’t stand seeing what this was doing to her. He understood why Filip had avoided the truth, why he’d tried to protect her. He didn’t want her to experience the pain.

“Now you see what I’ve been struggling with for years.” Filip’s words were hushed, full of conflict. “I’ve been protecting her and hurting her at the same time by keeping the truth from her.” He inhaled deeply through his nose. “I never wanted her to worry.”

Although Erec had met Astrid only hours before, he felt the need to protect her, too. Maybe it was his attraction to her that made him so quick to shield her from danger. He wasn’t sure, but he understood what Filip meant. Even now, watching her struggle with her father, seeing the sorrow encasing her, he longed to go over, scoop her in his arms, anddraw her close. Take her away and stop the hurt she was feeling.

“How did you manage to keep it from her for so long?” he asked.

“It wasn’t easy,” he replied. “My sister is a clever one. But the illness started slowly at first. Very slowly. After our mother died, I started to notice some things—a slip in memory here or a loss of words there—but nothing substantial. No one in the pack even seemed to catch it. Not until recently.”

Mila tugged Filip’s sleeve, and when he leaned over, she placed a kiss on his cheek. “I’ll leave you two for now. Nice to meet you, Erec.” She left them, the baby still nestled in her arms.

“She’ll feed him. Care for him,” he said with a short, false laugh. “She’s been pushing me to have another, you know.”

Erec wanted to acknowledge him, but he couldn’t look away from Astrid. She was trying to hold Boden’s attention, her hands still planted on his face, but the alpha was talking to the star. To him, she was no longer there.

“How did this happen?” Erec asked Filip. Sorrow wrapped around his heart like a serpent, squeezing tight. “He wasn’t always like this. I’ve heard the stories—”

“Ah, the stories. Yes, he used to be the fearless and barbaric warrior in the tales, but I think the death of our mother wounded him. He’s declined quickly since then, and it only seems to be progressing.”

“You’ve kept this from her for that long?”

“Ten Moons,” he replied with a frown. “Part of me wanted to keep it from her forever, but the other part knows her time is running out. She always complains we treat her like a child.”

“I’ve heard.”

“She’s stubborn, for sure.” He pressed his lips together into a hard line. Then, after some time, he said, “But she’d want to know. I know she’d want to know. She’ll be mad at me for keeping it.”

Yes, she would. Astrid didn’t seem to like anyone trying to protect her, but even knowing that, Erec wasn’t sure he’d do anything different if put in the same situation.

“He’s not always like this,” Filip continued. “As you saw before, he finds himself every once in a while, but these moments have become frequent now. He’s convinced Vallor is our mother. He believes it fully.”

“Is there anything we can do for him?”

“No. I’ve tried everything I could think of. It’s been hard to keep this from the pack, but even they can see he’s slipping away.”

Astrid was so engrossed with her father, she seemed to have forgotten he and Filip were still there, only feet away. “Please, look at me.” Tears streamed down her face now, and her voice had turned into a desperate scream. “It’s a star. A star, Father! Mother’s dead.”

Erec’s throat tightened. In that moment, he hated Filip for showing her the truth. He should have kept this hidden forever. She didn’t deserve this pain. Especially with the Blue Moon only weeks away. But then again, she would have been furious with him if she came to find out on her own. And even if she never did in this life, the guilt probably would have followed Filip for the rest of his.

“And now she’s so close to her last Blue Moon, and I’m going to lose her, too.” Filip crossed his arms and stood firm, but his grief was leaking through. “I just wish…” He sniffed and turned away from Erec. “Dammit…”

His words faded, but he didn’t need to finish. Erec knew what he was going to say. He wished that he could bring his real father back; he wished his sister wasn’t bound by the curse and could live past the coming Blue Moon. That it wasn’t right he was losing everyone he cared about and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Erec peered down at the swirling blue marks on his shoulder, and anger replaced any lingering hurt, like a fiery eruption behind his ribs. His thoughts flew to the baby and the same tattooed symbols smeared across his forehead, marking him by the same unfair death. Their fates were scrolled across their skin in the womb, with only one way to rewrite their endings. Why was it that their time was always running out? The injustice of it inflamed the rage. He was tired of waiting, of regretting, and wishing for things to be different. He’d wasted enough time wandering aimlessly through his life and trying to escape the things he couldn’t change.

First, he had to get those people out of Jerrick’s chains. And then, he’d help the west pack defeat the monster once and for all. Whatever it entailed, he’d do it. He couldn’t run anymore. If he had to die with the next Blue Moon, then he’d make sure these remaining days were spent on his terms. Not anyone else’s.

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