What Claire saw first when she stepped into her father's room was her parents sitting in the living room, with Clem, their backs hunched, the air filled with pregnant silence, waiting. They were waiting for her.
She knew it from the moment she had dropped a note in Clem's mind that she was on her way home. That he hadn't bothered with a response, should have been enough to let her know that her twin was still angry with her. But she had held out hope, until she had reached the borders of the pack and he hadn't been waiting for her.
This was very different from the times they had quarrels. She knew, however, that this quarrel was different. She had denied her mate, because of the throne; had gone ahead to push Emma away from the pack; and when Derek still hadn't chosen her, she had returned to Curtis because he was an Alpha.
Would she have returned to him if he wasn't that? She didn't know. That was the truth. She didn't know.
