Peace Offering

Sumaya barely registered the distant thud of the car door shutting, followed by the faint jingling of keys and the rustle of shopping bags as her mother entered the house. She exhaled slowly, her grip tightening around her phone as Olivia's messages glowed persistently on the screen.

Guilt settled in her chest. With a resigned sigh, she tapped a single emoji—a neutral face—instead of a proper response, before locking the device and tossing it onto the bed.

Her gaze drifted to her sketchbook. Picking it up, she ran her fingers over the page, tracing the bold lines of the black wolf she had drawn. It had turned out well, better than she had expected. The black wolf's eyes stared back at her, just as intense as they had been last night. There was something about those eyes, deep and understanding, that made it feel almost familiar.