Page 68 of The Barren Luna

Long pause.

Patient no. 49675: “I’m sorry, I shoul-”

Dr. Jackson: “It’s fine, I was just thinking about my answer. A while ago, it would have been an unequivocal no. I don’t know what happened and when, but my answer is no longer the same.”

…

April 14, 2021

….

Patient no. 49675: “The craziest thing happened last night. I had a happy dream about Dorothy! I woke up, and I cried for like twenty minutes straight. I’ve been out of my mind the whole day.”

Dr. Jackson: “What was the dream about?”

Patient no. 49675: “We were on a beach in Wales, one we went to together when I visited her pack some ten years ago. The sound of the waves was so soothing, and my head was in her lap, and her hands were playing with my hair...”

Pause. Sobs.

Dr. Jackson: “Take your time.”

Pause.

Patient no. 49675: “It just felt so real. She did the exact same thing to my hair a million times, I guess my body remembers the exact feeling and that’s why it was able to recreate it so perfectly. Anyways, she said - ”

Pause.

Patient no. 49675: “She said that in her whole life, she only truly loved Thomas and me, and that it was a life well lived.”

Dr. Jackson: “That must have been wonderful to hear.”

Long pause.

Patient no. 49675: “It helped me decide on what kind of enduring connection I want to build to her memory. I want to work on improving others’ lives the way she improved mine. Maybe help she-wolves who want to escape violent matings.”

Dr. Jackson: “That is a noble and altruistic goal. I'm so proud of you for thinking of it.”

Patient no. 49675: “And I also chose one for Henry’s memory. I want to be happy again, in order to honor the love and mate bond we had when we first met. The Henry from years ago would have wanted this for his Ginny, and for that version of our love, I’m going to allow myself to trust again.”

22 - David

Icouldn’t wait for this fucking job to be over. The pack assets had been sold, the accounts emptied, and the money distributed among the pack members in a way that both Dominic and I agreed was fair. The only thing we were now waiting for was for the last several groups of wolves to be picked up and escorted to their new packs.

All of Gina’s friends agreed to join our pack, as soon as they helped their parents and families settle in their new packs. I’d be lying if I said that parts of the process hadn’t been sad. Seeing families and neighbors crying and saying goodbye to each other after they’d thought they’d be living in close proximity for the rest of their lives? It set my wolf on edge since dismantling a pack went against all our instincts as wolves. But what they had allowed to go on with impunity had been even worse.

“Do you think I’m being too harsh on them?” I asked Dominic one night at dinner.

“What makes you ask that?” The fucker would eat silver before voluntarily revealing a piece of himself so, of course, I was getting a question back.

“I don’t know, sometimes I worry that I punished them this hard only because they sinned against my mate.”

“And that would be bad why?”

“It just doesn’t seem... kingly,” I winced slightly at the thought.

“You’ve never been very kingly, so I wouldn’t worry about it,” he shrugged and continued eating his meal.

Although Dominic was two years older than me, we'd been to several Alpha training camps together in our teens and early twenties, and if I didn’t know better, I’d even call him a close friend. Spending time with him again and working side by side would normally have been nice. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy a moment of it and I was well aware that my wolf would keep driving me crazy until we were back at Regina’s side.

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