His words stung, each one like a lash against my skin. I had already lost hope in Trent, but this—this was a new level of betrayal. My heart ached, and before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face. Having human blood running in my veins because my father wouldn’t let me transform even though my wolf was there and in pain; she felt like a prisoner inside my body.
Trent’s expression faltered for a moment as he saw my tears. There was a flicker of something in his eyes—does his wolf feel my wolf’s agony? But before he could say anything, Winona, standing beside him with her arms crossed, sneered at me with disdain.
"I really don’t understand why you're being so dramatic," she said, her voice cold. "I didn’t dig up your family's grave!"
With a wave of her hand, she ordered the wolfmen behind me, "Refill the grave and let my baby rest in peace."
The two wolfmen released their grip on me and turned back to their task. But I couldn’t let them desecrate my mother’s resting place any further. I stepped forward, my hands trembling with rage.
"Are you done?!" Trent snarled, grabbing me roughly by the arm and shoving me aside.
I stumbled and fell hard to the ground. My shoulder hit my mother’s urn, and to my horror, it tipped over, spilling her ashes across the wet earth. For a moment, the world went silent. The pain was so intense it stole my breath away.
Watching my mother die with regrets had been the most agonizing experience of my life. Now, I couldn’t even protect what remained of her. The grief and hatred that surged within me were unbearable.
As if mocking my despair, the sky opened up, and rain began to pour down in torrents. The downpour soaked the ashes, turning them into a muddy paste. I screamed in anguish, falling to my knees as I tried desperately to gather them up with my hands.
"No, no!" I sobbed, but it was useless. The rain washed my mother away, and I was powerless to stop it.
Winona walked over, her footsteps squelching in the mud. She looked down at me, a twisted smile playing on her lips. "Niana, why are you lying on the ground like a dog for a stranger's ashes? Enough of this charade."
Her words were the final straw. With a surge of strength fueled by fury, I pushed her away. She staggered back, her eyes wide with surprise, but Trent was there to catch her before she fell.