Lycan's Prey by Jessica Hall

Chapter 41

~Aubrey~

A couple of days later.

The sunlight filters through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the room filled with memories of Granny. I’m on the floor, surrounded by papers and old photographs, each item a reminder of the loss that stings and aches like a fresh wound.

Granny always said she wouldn’t leave me with any burdens, but now I’m left with the burden of figuring out how to pay for her cremation. I had just found out that Granny didn’t have funeral insurance. She never wanted to be a bother, one she could hardly afford, but also always insisting on living simply and said just to toss her to the forest yet I don’t think she realized I can’t just dump her body at random. So in her passing, she left me with a heavy weight on my shoulders.

As I sift through her belongings, I’m desperately trying to find anything of value, anything that might help cover the costs. I come across an old shoebox, worn and yellowed with time. Inside, I find a stack of letters tied together with a faded ribbon. I recognize Granny’s handwriting immediately.

Trembling, I untie the ribbon and my stomach sinks further when I realize they are all letters to my mother that had been returned to sender, unopened my mother just sent them back.

I trace the delicate contours of the crumpled envelopes, their creases marking the passage of time and the pain Granny must have felt. Every one of them unopened…never

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Chapter 41

read…returned like a slap on the face.

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known about the estrangement between Granny and my mother for as long as

the words from Granny meant for my mother, filled with hope and heartache in equal measures. It’s like opening a window into

all too real. Each attempted reconciliation, every plea for understanding, it twists at my heartstrings until I

heart aches with sorrow and then suddenly, outrage. It’s like a dormant volcano that had been denied its rightful release. Mother had

reaching out to a daughter who didn’t want anything to do with

I let out a choked sob. The tears come hard and fast, just like they did when Rhett betrayed me.

the back of my hand as I walk towards the door. My heart jumps into my throat

as he takes in my tear streaked face and my grandmother’s

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he says again, this time his voice soft yet firm, as he

comforting and confusing. A Lycan King, standing outside Granny’s little house in this tiny town… I stare at him wondering why he is here

in?” He asks politely, his

but quickly squash it down;

losing Granny. “What do you want?” I ask.

he asks, his voice betraying

“Just trying to sort through Granny’s

has been upset, you haven’t been at work. I asked Marianne and she said you haven’t come in. I thought you might have fled. So I wanted to check on you.” I

are