The fluorescent lights of the Silvercrest Pack Medical Den''s morgue cast a harsh glow over Matriarch Evelyn''s peaceful face. My legs nearly gave out beneath me as I approached her body, each step heavier than thest.


    "Grandmother," I whispered, the word catching in my throat.


    Her hands were folded neatly across her chest, her silver hair arranged with dignity. She looked smaller somehow, the formidable presence that hadmanded respect throughout the pack now diminished in death.


    I reached out with trembling fingers to touch her hand. The coldness of her skin sent a shudder through me, bringing back the devastating memory of touching Lily''s lifeless body. Two losses, so simr, both tearing pieces from my heart.


    "Why did you break your promise to stay alive?" I asked, tears streaming freely down my face. "You promised you''d help me get justice for Lily."


    The silence that answered was deafening. First my daughter, now the only person who had believed me about Victoria''s role in Lily''s death. The two people I loved most, gone.


    Dr. Marcus Fletcher stood respectfully in the corner, giving me space to grieve. "I''m sorry, Luna` Winters," he said softly, using my formal title. "We did everything we could."


    I nodded numbly, unable to form words through the tightness in my throat. My fingers traced the delicate veins on the matriarch''s wrist, wondering what had happened in her final


    moments.


    "Was she in pain?" I managed to ask.


    Dr. Fletcher approached, his expressionpassionate. "No. From what we can determine, her heart simply stopped. It would have been quick."


    The door to the morgue swung open, and I didn''t need to turn to know who had entered. Ethan''s scent-pine and winter air-filled the room, along with the unmistakable aroma of


    grief.


    (Ethan''s POV)


    < Chapter 107: Olivia''s Grief an


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