The moment the question left Iva’s lips, her entire body tensed as if bracing for impact, her fingers curling tightly into the fabric of her clothes, her breath shallow, uneven, fragile.
Because this—
This was the question she had been avoiding the most.
Not the Alpha.
Not the pack.
Not even Nick.
Her mother.
The one person she never truly stopped thinking about, no matter how hard she tried to bury the memories, no matter how much she forced herself to move forward.
Because unlike the others—
Her mother had never been cold.
Never distant.
Never cruel.
She had been warmth in a place that often felt like ice.
“I miss her so much…” Iva whispered, her voice breaking before Lori could even answer, her eyes filling again as the dam she had barely rebuilt started to crack once more.
