"It wasn't supposed to be like this,"Tobias said softly, guilt etched across his face. "We were supposed to protect her, Luna, but the rogues—"
"The rogues wouldn't have even dared attack if Aiden had been there!" I snapped, my voice rising with anger. “How could he just leave her like that? Our daughter needed him, and he walked away!”
Tobias flinched at my words, but I couldn’t stop. The betrayal burned in my chest, searing and unrelenting.
“He was supposed to be with her, to guide her to the spring! This was meant to be a sacred moment for her, not a nightmare! I trusted him, Tobias! I trusted him to keep her safe, and he failed us both!”
Tobias nodded, his eyes cast downward. “I know, Luna. I know. I wish I could have done more. I tried to fight them off, but there were too many. They were relentless. It was as if they knew exactly when to strike.”
My heart clenched at the thought of Lyra in danger, the image of her alone in the woods making my blood run cold. My disappointment in Aiden was like a weight pressing down on me, heavy and suffocating.
“Aiden will have to answer for this. He abandoned his own child, Tobias. He left her vulnerable and unprotected. I can’t forgive that.”
*