*Zara*
“Thank you so much for all of your help,” I said to my tribe, feeling my heart practically glowing with warmth but also as heavy as stone.
Sad eyes fixed on me as my ancestral tribe approached, placing hands on my shoulders and wishing me well. They’d come to accept the fact that my family and I would need to depart from Celestial Valley.
Though this was my initial home, I knew my place was now in Drogomor Pack.
“You can’t stay?” someone asked, to which I shook my head.
The heartbroken tone they used touched my heart, but I knew my place was not there. We needed to go home.
“No,” I said softly. “We defeated Malphas,” I said, wrinkling my nose at the memory of that horrible demon. “After surviving prolonged captivity in Embervale, it’s time for us to go home.”
“You know you’ll always be welcome here if you change your mind,” another tribe member said. I nodded, feeling my heart grow warm at that. “You and your family.”
