Chapter 19

He’d seen how much of a blow it had been to learn she’d been born into a loving Lycan family. Would it help her heal or compound her grief if she got to know them through stories when there was no hope of ever reuniting?

He worried it would drive home that she hadn’t just been robbed of her parents, but also of the happy life they could’ve had together.

It seemed cruel, and yet, it wasn’t his decision to make.

Pearl nodded in response and bravely lifted her chin, facing him with honesty written across her delicate features. "I wasn’t ready to learn more while I adjusted to the idea of being a Fire Princess. But I do want to know where I come from. Who I come from."

"Are you sure? Because —there are things better left unsaid."

Vergel tossed the rag he’d been holding into the metal toolbox and ran a hand over his beard, recalling the fond memory of a day many, many years ago.

"I was only a child when I went with my pack to visit the Fire Kingdom; your fath