Tears welled in my eyes, hot. I was the Alpha, the protector. And I had failed them. I had failed these innocent children. The grief was a physical weight, pressing down on me, on all of us. The murmur of the crowd dissolved into a symphony of sobs.
Mothers clutched each other, fathers buried their faces in their hands. The raw pain radiated outwards, a suffocating blanket. I wanted to offer comfort, to speak words of solace, but my throat was tight, my mind a blank. How could I possibly mend hearts shattered beyond recognition?
Just then a figure emerged from the weeping crowd. Faith. My mate. She moved with a quiet grace.
She went straight to the grieving mothers, her own eyes glistening, but her voice was steady, clear. “We have to.prepare them,” she announced, her voice carrying a
