---- "Shawn... so you're really dead now. What about your grandfather? And your mother?" He let out a slow, weary sigh. "They're both gone too." I froze in disbelief. "How... how is that possible?" He gave a cold, bitter laugh. "My grandfather was already ninety. What were you expecting? That he'd really live to a hundred? He was being kept alive by medication for years." "And your mom?" He rolled his eyes, a flash of pain behind the sarcasm. "So... you really never checked on me. Not even once?" ---- "She passed away a year after I returned to the clan. Grief... it swallowed her whole." I dropped my gaze to the ground. It took me a long time before I could bring myself to ask- "Then what happened to your pack?" He leaned back, crossing his legs with a calm, almost indifferent air. "T handed everything over to the Werewolf Council. Let the next generation clean up the mess. It's no longer my burden." I tilted my head back to gaze at the stars above us. He reached over, gently pulling me down into his arms. "Mate... come lie here with me. Let's watch them together." ---- I turned toward him, voice soft. "But aren't you going to look? The stars... they're so beautiful tonight." He smiled, and gently pinched my cheek like he used to. "They are. But next to you, my mate- even the stars pale in comparison." (The End.)