Chapter 167

A month had passed, and time never stopped. No matter how much pain the world survives, no matter how many people we lose, everything keeps moving forward. And somehow, we did too.

The burned houses across our territory slowly disappeared, replaced by new, warmer homes. We built an entirely new section near the river for the rescued breeder women and their children, where there was more sunlight, more trees, and cleaner air. Fewer bad memories.

The tiny houses were painted soft colors now instead of cold stone gray, and children’s laughter gradually took over the area.

Meredyth practically lived there these days. After Alpha King Garrett died, I thought part of her had vanished with him forever. But then the babies came, and the young mothers, and somehow, she found a purpose again. She was there for every birth, every fever, every nightmare. Sometimes I would catch her rocking a baby beneath the trees, tears quietly slipping down her cheeks