After Stella closed the door behind her, she sniffled once and hung her head low to wipe away her stray tears as Lucianne approached her. Without a word, the queen wrapped Stella in a hug. The teenager was shocked at first but when she registered Lucianne’s scent, her human and wolf parts let themselves tear-up in her embrace for a moment before feeling bad about it and gently pushing the queen away.

“We’ll take care of you and your mother, Stella. Don’t worry, okay?” Lucianne assured her with a hand on her shoulder.

Stella nodded in obedience and managed a meek smile. Lucianne then continued in a soft voice, “Why...