At first glance it may appear too hard.

Look again.

Always look again.

"Father?" I said, poking my head around the door.

No reply of acknowledgment was heard.

I slowly opened the door more, wincing at the creak that it gave.

Cautiously I took a few steps in, waiting for any movement or noise to happen.

I breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the kitchen. But I had let my guard down.

Before I could react to the sound of running footsteps behind me, I was pinned down, Father on top of me yelling.

"Where is she, Fayette?" He asked. His eyes were wild, frantically looking everywhere but at my face. Please don't look at me I pleaded in my head.

"I've looked everywhere Fayette but she still hasn't come home! It's late! It's so late!" He screamed, tears freely flowing from his face now.

I tried to reach for the needle in my back pocket. I should have had it out the moment I entered the house.

Suddenly he looked down at me. I froze. No, my mind whimpered.

My father's tear ridden face lit up, and a smile came on.

"Darling!" He said, leaning down and peppering me in kisses.

"Where were you! I've missed you so much and now your here! We have to find Fayette and celebrate!" He jumped off me and started to swing his head around.

"Fayette!" He yelled, "Guess who's here!"

I took this chance to grab the needle from my back leg. While he was distracted I stuck it in his arm, pulling down and letting the clear liquid flow freely into him. Please work fast.

He looked down at the needle in his arm. Realization hit him. It should hit him. I did this to him every day. And every time I braced myself for the moment. The horrible moment when it kicked in.

His whole face sagged. His eyes dropped into hooded lids and his body hunched over like he had a block on it.

He looked up at me with lost eyes. "Where is she, Fayette?" He whispered.

I took my father, the broken man, in my arms and let him sob on my shoulders. I let him sob there every day.

"ssshhhhhhhh" I said in his ears, knowing though that by now, nothing I said or did would help. "It's okay dad, Its okay. I'm here. You still have me. We have each other. Mom wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want this."

But nothing I said reached him.

He was gone. I don't know if it started the day she died and he did well hiding it, or if the madness had slowly sunk in.

Werewolves could find other mates if one died. However, there were some mates that were for life. These were rare. But my mother and Father were life mates.

"SSSSsssshhhhh" I said again, stroking his hair.

"It's going to be okay."

"I don't understand Dr. Walt, werewolf's can't get sick" my father's frustrated voice rang out from his study.

I hid behind the door, putting my ear up to the crack to listen in.

"There are exceptions," Dr. Walt's deep voice answered. "Your mate has a genetic defect. Something went wrong and now her body is weak and shutting down."

A frustrated sigh could be heard. I couldn't tell from who.

"Can she....Can she get through?" My father's voice spoke out in the silence, breaking halfway.

I jerked my head back. I had never heard my father's voice waver before. It had always been strong and assertive.

There was a long break of silence. I put my eye up to the hole, wondering if they had fallen asleep.

However, Dr. Walt whispered only one word.

"No."

Tears fell freely from my face as Dad held my hand and walked me up to mother's bed.

I didn't want to look at her, but pushed away the thought and instead crawled into her arms.

"Hey little girl," she said in a whisper. Her eyes followed me as I brushed hair away from her face.

"Mommy," was all I said.

She was too weak to lift her head. Too weak to even breath at some moments.

"I need to tell you something," she whispered.

I leaned in closer and whispered back "Okay" caught in our own bubble that we had made.

"My Darling, I need you to remember these words."

I nodded, squinting my forehead hard in concentration.

She smiled at my expression.

"Don't give up. Okay baby girl?"

I nodded wide-eyed.

"I want to tell you to be the sun."

I knitted my eyebrows in confusion.

"Listen carefully, Fayette. Be the Sun. Please remember that. Be people's warmth even if they are raining on you. Be peoples light, even if they are closing you up with dark clouds. And like the sun, always keep going. Don't stop. Don't give up."

"Be the Sun" I whispered, looking her in the eyes.

"That's right" she breathed, looking up at my father and smiling at him.

My father got down on his knees and laid his head next to mothers.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you mommy" I whispered also.

We both kissed her cheek.

I left the room because father seemed to want to talk to mommy.

As soon as I was out of sight, I ran to my room and wrote down everything I could remember that mom told me to.

When I woke up the next morning the house wasn't quiet. Since mother got sick it had always been quiet so we wouldn't disturb her.

The house was loud.

I covered my ears but I couldn't block the heartbreaking howls that were shaking through the house.

Mother. I thought racing to her room. Mother.

But all I saw was father's tan wolf, with tears dripping down his face as he lifted it to cry his pain over and over.