#Chapter 94 Elysium

Bastien

By the time I’m clean and dressed in fresh clothes, Lila’s tantrum has subsided. I find her and Selene by the campfire, the pup sniffling softly against her mother’s neck. Selene trails a gentle hand up and down Lila’s back, somehow soothing her and scolding her all at once.

“I know it’s a lot of big changes and it’s all happening very fast,” She murmurs, kissing Lila’s hair. “It probably seems like all of these things are happening around you and you don’t know what’s going on, just that all the grown ups are telling you that everything’s going to be different and you don’t have a say in any of it.”

Lila nods, rubbing her wet, salty skin over Selene’s collar. A wave of guilt washes over me. Here I thought her tantrum was just regular toddler mood swings – I took it at face value, but Selene knew instantly. I wonder if it’s maternal intuition, or simply experience and knowing the pup so much better than I do.

A few weeks ago I would have