I watched her retreating figure, took out my communicator, and dialed a number as I continued walking toward the cold-storage vault.
I waited outside the cold-storage vault for a while before the appointed worker arrived. I rewrapped the remains of the pups I had retrieved and placed the bundle into their hands. My voice was so level it barely carried any inflection at all.
"In two weeks, deliver this to the Moon Feast. Hand it to Caelan Nightfang personally."
"This is my gift to him."
Once everything was handled, I returned to the Nightfang estate alone.
I had barely stepped through the old keep's doors when my communicator chimed.
I opened it. A message from Everett Ashvale.
"Ungrateful girl, you think mating into another pack means you can ignore your own blood? How many years since you've set foot in this house? Tomorrow is my Pack Feast. You will be there!"
Every word dripped with accusation and command.
I glanced down at the screen and typed back three words.
"Understood. I'll come."
It was true. I hadn't gone back to that house in a very long time.
After all, that place had only ever belonged to Chloe Ashford.
And I was nothing more than someone in the way.