Katya My father never came back. Day after day I waited, expecting him to show up at any moment and apologize for leaving, but it didn't happen. Ezra hit his limit for waiting, and I had to deal with my mother's body. I opted for a private viewing and to have her cremated. What was the point of a funeral? This had not been her home. She only had dad and me, and now I was all she had left. All of mom’s friends were back in Jackson’s pack, her reputation was built there, and for her entire life, it was home. I couldn't bear the thought of having people show up who didn’t know her and only had a perception of what she did. To be honest, no one truly knew her, yet she was my mother and the woman that raised me, that was the real Shirley, but here all they saw were her mistakes, not who she