CHAPTER NINETEEN: AVANA'S FATHER

Jayden shook his wolf head as if to remove all the memories.

The Lupercalia festival now barely had any meaning for him anymore, and he was just here because every wolf would be here. He joined the Betas in their sitting rank, still the youngest despite being twenty-seven years of age.

Alisa would never replace Avana, he was sure. She had never read his mind or understood everything about him instantly the same way Avana had. She would never see him hunt, or watch him morph into his wolf form, or mate with him the way he wanted.

They were from two different worlds that would never meet.

He was a wolf and she was human.

The full moon had just come out from behind the clouds, but he did not join in the joyful howling that followed. All of it meant nothing to him anymore but rather, the Lupercalia served to remind him of Avana more than anything because it was where he had found her five years before.

The Alpha had flagged off the beginning of the hunt, and several wolves were setti