I herded us back around, aiming for the playground. I didn’t want to get too far from Lou. “Still, at least we got the twins.” The twins were worth every terrible thing, at least to me. Yolanda’s expression was sad, but she perked up a little as Juliet gave me a one-armed hug.

“Okay?” she asked, leaving her arm there.

“Yeah,” I said. “Thanks.” I was already getting tired of talking, and we weren’t even close to end. As quickly as I could, I sketched out the rest of it. The police. The trial. My family and pack, splintering into so many broken pieces. Sidney. Zoey. Finally, my fresh start in Seattle.

After I was done talking, Juliet gave me a squeeze. “I have to say, Declan, considering all you’ve gone through, and observing you as a roommate, you seem remarkably stable. I think you should be really proud yourself.” She dug her hands into her hoodie. The day was on the chilly side, and the large fir trees blocked a great deal of sun. “I’m no expert in survivors of cults, but a lot of them have issues adjusting.”

“It’s also not my area,” Yolanda admitted, “but I agree with Juliet.”

“Thanks.” The path wound uphill, and I slowed my pace so we could continue talking easily. “I had some lucky breaks. I got to live a little bit as a young werewolf normally does, before my mom died. Then after, my sister Zoey and I got placed with a foster pack family. That pack was healthy, and it helped.” They’d probably saved our lives, honestly. They were patient, calm, and supportive. “The twins got placed with another family, people who were more like them—elementists.”

My throat tightened. They’d been so little at the time—not quite three. Neither Zoey nor I wanted to be separated from them, but the courts were adamant that it was better for all of us. Though I could kind of understand their reasoning, I didn’t agree with it. “When I was eighteen, I talked to their guardian ad litem about getting custody. Of the twins.” I kicked a pinecone out of the path.

“They advised against it. The twins likely wouldn’t remember us or their upbringing much. They’d settled in. Me taking them would be a disruption.” I rubbed a hand over my chest, willing the pain there to go away. It never worked, but I did it anyway. “I wrote to them. They agreed with the guardian.” That letter had been like a dagger in my chest. It’s not that I didn’t understand, but it still hurt.

“That must have been really hard,” Juliet said softly.

“It was. I hadn’t realized how much I’d hung on to the idea that we’d be back together someday. But I couldn’t take them away from a good home. It would have been selfish.” I glanced over to the playground, making sure Lou and Savannah were okay. I didn’t like either of them out of my sight for long. Bay had Savannah in the air, whooshing her around like an airplane while Lou recorded it on her phone. “The way we were raised, that was one of the worst things, you know? No choice in your own life. No agency. I could have fought, tried to get the twins anyway, but was it my right to do it?”