Lily POV
I dropped the teacup, and it broke against the kitchen floor with a sharp crash that made everyone in the room freeze. My hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t hold anything anymore.
"I’m sorry," I whispered, looking at the broken pieces. "I can’t seem to do anything right today."
Mrs. Rivera, who had been telling about her late husband, quickly knelt down to help clean up the ss. "Don’t worry about it, dear. We’ve all been there."
That’s when I noticed sothing strange. Instead of looking angry or frustrated, every woman in the room was nodding with understanding. These were the pack’s war widows - won who had lost their mates in fights long ago. Dr. Chen had suggested I et with them, thinking it might help deal with losing my mories of Caleb.
"The shaking gets better," said Elena, an older woman with kind eyes. "After my Marcus died in the border wars, I couldn’t hold a cup for months. Everything reminded of what I’d lost."
I looked around the circle of faces, seeing sothing I hadn’t expected - real understanding. Not pity, not the fake happiness everyone else gave . Just quiet knowledge of what loss felt like.
"But this is different," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "Your n died as heroes. You have beautiful mories to hold onto. I can’t even rember loving Caleb."
Silence fell over the room, but it wasn’t awkward. It was the kind of quiet that cos when people are really thinking about what you’ve said.
Finally, Maria, the youngest widow, spoke up. "You think having mories makes it easier?"
I nodded, confused.
She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. "Sotis I wish I could forget. Do you know how hard it is to rember every beautiful mont when you know you’ll never have another one? Every mory cuts like a knife because it reminds of what’s gone forever."
"At least you know you loved him," I said. "At least you know it was real."
"And you know Caleb loved you," Elena pointed out gently. "Just because you can’t rember doesn’t an it didn’t happen. Love leaves marks deeper than mory."
I wanted to argue, but before I could speak, the door burst open. A young woman I’d never seen before stumbled in, her face streaked with tears.
"I’m sorry for interrupting," she gasped. "But I heard there was a group here for people who’ve lost... I don’t know where else to go."
Mrs. Rivera quickly stood up and guided the stranger to an empty chair. "What’s your na, dear?"
"Beth," the woman said, still crying. "I just got word that my son... my little boy was killed in a wild attack on the eastern border. He was only sixteen."
The room went completely still. Even I stopped thinking about my own problems as this mother’s pain filled the space around us.
"When?" Elena asked softly.
"Three days ago," Beth sobbed. "They brought his body ho yesterday. The funeral is tomorrow, and I... I don’t know how to say goodbye to my baby."
Without hesitation, every lady in the room moved closer to Beth. They didn’t offer empty words or fake comfort. They just surrounded her with quiet presence, letting her know she wasn’t alone.
I watched this and felt sothing change inside . My lost mories suddenly seed less important compared to this mother’s unimaginable pain.
"I keep thinking I should have protected him," Beth whispered. "I should have kept him ho. I should have done sothing different."
"You couldn’t have known," Maria said definitely. "Don’t torture yourself with what-ifs."
"But how do you live with it?" Beth asked desperately. "How do you wake up every morning knowing they’re gone?"
The won looked at each other, and I saw a silent exchange pass between them. These were people who had found ways to escape the impossible.
"You learn that grief changes shape, but it never really goes away," Elena said. "So days it’s a sharp knife, so days it’s a dull ache. But you learn to carry it."
"And you find new purposes," added Mrs. Rivera. "After I lost my husband, I started taking care of other people’s children. It didn’t replace what I’d lost, but it gave a reason to keep going."
I listened to them talk, and for the first ti since losing my mories, I didn’t feel totally alone. These won knew that so losses couldn’t be fixed or healed. They could only be survived.
"What about you, Lily?" Beth asked suddenly, turning to . "What did you lose?"
I paused. How could I explain that I’d lost mories of love to won who had lost real people?
"I lost myself," I said finally. "The shadow disease took away who I used to be. I can’t rember loving my mate, and everyone expects to be soone I’m not anymore."
Beth nodded like this made perfect sense. "So you’re grieving the person you used to be."
"I guess I am," I realized. "And I feel guilty because it seems selfish compared to real loss."
"Loss is loss," Elena said strongly. "Don’t let anyone tell you your grief isn’t valid just because it’s different."
As the afternoon went on, I found myself talking more freely than I had since the shadow attack. These won didn’t try to fix or tell everything would be okay. They just listened and understood.
When it was ti to leave, Beth grabbed my hand. "Thank you for being here. Knowing I’m not the only one suffering... it helps."
I squeezed her hand back, feeling like maybe I could help people even without my mories.
Walking ho as the sun set, I felt different. Not fixed, but less broken. Maybe I couldn’t rember being Caleb’s mate, but I could learn to be soone new. Soone who understood loss and could help others carry their pain.
I was so lost in these thoughts that I almost missed the figure waiting by my door. When I looked up, my blood turned cold.
It was Caleb, but his eyes were totally black, just like mine had been when the shadows controlled . He smiled, but it wasn’t his gentle smile.
"Hello, Lily," he said in a voice that wasn’t quite his own. "The shadows want to have a little chat with you."
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