My hand-paws hung at my sides, and I couldn’t stop swallowing around the swelling in my throat.

“I was so disappointed when you left. I knew you believed that silly story and were willing to risk your being for it, but I really thought you could be won over to the right side. I thought our training was going well, that I could be proud of the man you’d become. You have many qualities that would be useful to our side. But, in the end, your lack of readiness to kill or be killed did you in. And your father too. It had to be done, you see. He was a rebel. If you had stayed, as I expected and hoped you would, we wouldn’t have bothered to kill him. We still could’ve been together as a family. But you left. You abandoned your parents. You made your choice.”

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