Valencia clutched Kolton's limp hand as tears streamed down her face, her body shaking with each sob that tore from her throat. The cold flesh beneath her fingers felt like holding death itself, and she refused to accept what her heart already knew.
"Moon goddess, please don't take my boy," she whispered frantically, her voice breaking as the car raced toward the pack hospital. "He's all I have. He's everything to me."
Sean wrapped his arms around his wife's trembling shoulders, but his own composure cracked as he stared at his son's motionless form. The guilt ate at him like acid, each memory of harsh words and cold shoulders burning through his chest. All those years of calling Kolton worthless, of pushing him away when all the boy had wanted was his father's approval.
Now it might be too late to tell him the truth - that he had always been proud, always loved him, even when his own pride had built walls between them.
