He’d squeezed the stone so hard that it shattered into pieces. His hand was bleeding, and he didn’t seem to notice.

“If my father had not been killed by the Wor-Lans, I would have issued a death challenge myself. I should have done so years before, but I feared that I would cause a civil war within our pack and weaken us further. That was a mistake on my part; nothing would have been worse than his rule.”

Violet felt as if her breath had been stolen away. “Oh my God. I can’t even imagine. ” She wanted to weep for what Treffon had endured. His father, the man who should have protected his children at all costs, had been a murdering bastard.

Yes, she’d lost her parents young, but at least in the too-short time she’d had them, she’d known that she was loved.

“Treffon…I’m sorry.” She reached out to take his hand, but he pulled it away.

His face had gone dark. “I did not mean to tell you all of that,” he said. “I will take you back to the castle now.”

Violet felt as if a door that had just started to open had now slammed shut in her face with a resounding clang. He was so far away from her now, he might as well have been on the other side of the galaxy.

She followed him back to his mini-hover in silence.