I pulled back just enough to look at her properly. "You left."
The joy of seeing her crashed into the memory of her disappearance. Two years ago she had vanished without a word. No letter. No explanation. Nothing. One day we had been planning a summer hunt; the next, she was gone.
I searched her face now for answers.
She swallowed. "El—"
"Why?" my throat bubbled. "Why did you leave me like that? Do you know what that did to me? After knowing how much I relied on you, after everything—" My voice broke. "You were my only friend."
Her grip tightened painfully around my arms. "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
"Try me."
She looked at me the way someone looks at a cliff edge. "Not now," she sighed. "We should talk about you first."
I let out a brittle laugh. "Me? I just watched my father's closest friend get beheaded for murdering him. Apparently I'm unstable. That's the official story."
Her jaw clenched. "I heard."
Of course she had. The whole pack had heard.
