Bite of Justice (Blood Oath, #4)

by R.L. Caulder

“My mother told me this morning that as much as we need the people who love us around us when we’re in pain, sometimes what we need even more is to prove to ourselves that in our greatest moment of despair, we are not defeated. That we can rise on our own from it and be stronger in our clarity on the other side.”

This pain you feel won’t go away completely, and I think you know that. That bit of knowledge was why you were so terrified to allow yourself to feel the extent of it. There will be days the pain will knock you on your ass when you least expect it.

Ever the impatient little soul bond, you are—but yes. Although, the pain won’t go away completely, it will morph until it becomes a part of who you are, and I mean that in the best way. You will understand yourself on a deeper level, and on those days that the grief does come up and feels suffocating, you will know how to cope with it. You’ll know that you have people around you to hold you together while you break, no matter how many times it happens. You will know that you can survive it. So, no, it won’t go away, but you will learn how to live with it. For every day that comes after this one, you will be able to put one foot in front of the other, even if someone else who loves you needs to help you move them.

My vulnerabilities didn’t make me weak. It was okay to not be okay and to ask for help. The bad days wouldn’t always win. Baring your heart to those you loved made you incredibly brave. It was okay to listen to your heart first.