MARIE

When my brother left this pack to follow Yelena back to ours, I felt relief for the first time in days.

Real relief.

The house felt lighter, quieter like a storm had moved on to another place and left the air clean behind. For once, I wasn’t walking on eggshells, I wasn’t watching every word I said in case it turned into another argument about mates, duty, or fate.

And yes, selfishly I was happy.

I was happy because he was gone, and I could finally breathe.

I was happy because I ...