But then she didn’t come back that night. Or the next day. And the whole pack descended into chaos.
Warriors, scouts, everyone—my father, the Alpha, led the search, his face pale with worry. My mother, the Luna, prayed to the Moon Goddess every waking second, her eyes red from crying. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. The house felt empty, like a void had swallowed all the light, all the warmth. And I realized how much I needed her, how lost I was without her.
When Gloria finally returned after two days, everyone rejoiced, myself most of all. I remember running to her, throwing my arms around her and burying my face in her neck, breathing in her scent. “Tori! Tori, I thought I lost you!”
But she didn’t hug me back. She stood stiff, her body cold and unyielding. I pulled back, confused, searching her face for the warmth that had always been there. She looked the same, but something in her eyes had changed. When she smiled, it wasn’t the bright, loving smile I’d known my whole life—it was colder, more distant, like a stranger’s smile wearing my sister’s face.
“Sorry to worry you,” she said, her voice flat. “I’m fine now. Don’t be so dramatic.”
I blinked up at her, feeling the sting of her words. It wasn’t like her to be so... distant. So cold. But I nodded, swallowing back my hurt. “I’m just glad you’re home.”
From that day on, Gloria was never the same. She stopped calling me Sunshine, stopped laughing with me. Her smiles were scarce, and when they did come, they were thin and strained, lacking the warmth they once had. I couldn’t understand it. I thought maybe she was mad at me for not going with her that day, for not being there when she needed me.
So I tried everything to make it up to her. I made her little gifts—hand-carved trinkets from wood, braided bracelets, anything I thought might bring back her smile. I even learned to cook her favorite meals, spending hours in the kitchen until my hands were blistered and my feet ached. But no matter what I did, her eyes remained distant, her voice cold.
I’d wait for her to say it again, to call me Sunshine, but she never did. I lost count of the times I stayed up late, listening to her move around in the room next to mine, wanting to knock on her door and ask, "What happened to you?" But the words always got stuck in my throat.
End of Flashback
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