I didn’t really have a destination in mind when I walked off. My mind just pretty much went blank the moment I finished crying. But it seemed that when on auto-pilot, I had ended up at the same little pond I was at with Trent during the forest fires. For some reason my body wanted to come here and I wasn’t sure why.

Sitting down at the edge once again, I stared at myself in the still water. Or, maybe I was just staring at the water. My mind was still refusing to process correctly. Making me just stare at pretty much anything without any meaning to. It’s like all thought processing just decided to take a vacation for the rest of the day. But the sound of footsteps walking closer to me, made me quickly go on alert.

There were stories we were told as kids about shifters traveling and taking advantage of women. But I grew up realizing it was just a way for us kids to stay in the region until we were old enough to leave. Or, at least I thought it was.

The moment my eyes landed on who was approaching me, I relaxed a little bit. Marcus, the alpha who spoke to my mother first when the Blizzard Region visitors arrived, was walking towards me. He had an apologetic look on his face as he got closer.

“I’m sorry if I scared you. I just didn’t want you sitting out here alone. Who knows what dangers could be in this forest?” he said with an apologetic smile. Then gestured to the ground, “May I sit next to you?”

Nodding my head as a response, I watched as he sat down. It was also interesting that he made sure to keep a comfortable distance between us. Marcus didn’t sit too close and I appreciated it. He even faced towards the sky with his eyes closed, soaking in the final rays of the setting sun.

“So you are Mary’s daughter,” he stated, keeping his eyes closed, “It’s a shame you took so much after your father though. Must have been hard to fit in around this area.”

I wasn’t sure why he was here. It was a little uncomfortable, but I knew it would be rude to ask him to leave. I’m sure Marcus doesn’t get much of the sun where he is from. Especially with how cold it usually is.

He then opened his eyes and glanced at me, “You seemed troubled. Want to talk about it?”

I shook my head, “It’s a silly thing between childhood friends. One was set to marry while the other one didn't want to.”

Marcus smiled as he looked out at the little pond, “Sounds like history repeating itself. Your mother had a similar situation when she was younger.” he then looked at me once again, “Shame that I’m the one who was rejected.”

“But you at least accepted it, right?” I pushed.

He let out a low chuckle, “If my behavior didn’t speak for itself today, I’d say that I didn’t accept it. Especially when I lost to my twin brother.”

A gasp left my lips far too quickly, making me choke on nothing. “Excuse me?”

Marcus held out his hand to me, “Call me Uncle Marcus from now on. Your father is my brother and also the head researcher of our region.”

My mind pretty much exploded. Talk about having my world turn upside down in one day. It appeared that the latest disaster didn’t just destroy the homes in the forest. It seemed that it had destroyed my life as well. Things were just not going the way I had expected them to.

Overwhelmed was an understatement to what I was feeling at the moment. I’m pretty sure that there is no word to describe what I was feeling. Even my mind was refusing to process what was happening. Instead it just had me sitting there next to the pond, staring at Marcus. He didn’t say anything as he went back to staring at the sky.

After a few moments of silence he finally spoke, “For the past twenty-five years, I wondered why my brother looked as if he was being torn apart. His eyes were always so sad and I would catch him staring out the window, watching the blizzards blow through.” Then he turned his head to look at me. “Now I can understand why. Your mother never kept you a secret from him and it killed him to not be there to watch you grow up.”

“Why didn’t he leave the region then?” I heard myself ask. Not really wanting to know the answer.

Marcus let out a sigh as he looked out at the pond before us. “That is my fault,” he confessed, “I used my alpha stance to keep him in the region. Demanded that he continue doing research to help our region. Your father used that as an excuse to make something to protect you and your mother.”

“My father mentioned that he waited to come to the Forest Region until I was at least old enough to be married,” I told him.

He nodded his head, “When it came to delivering inventions to certain areas, your father took the roundabout way. Always avoiding the Forest Region. Even when he found an injured wolf that was close to death.”

I was always curious about the disaster that nearly killed Trent. There was nothing in my memory that could tell me anything about it. My mother figured it was due to the fact that it was so traumatic for me that I tuned it out. I just agreed with her because it had to be bad enough to kill the majority of the shifters in our region. Very few survived, making Trent one of them.

Marcus suddenly stood up and directed that I do the same. Once I stood up, he spoke one last time before leaving me alone once again. “I’m sure you were my brother’s biggest joy and taking you away from your mother would be the last thing he would ever want to do. But the laws are there for a reason or at least until someone does something to make that law completely unnecessary.”

I watched Marcus disappear into the burnt up forest, unsure of where he was sleeping for the night. It wasn’t really my concern but he was family after all. But deciding to not worry about it, I began the dreaded walk home. Luke and his family were going to stay with us for a little bit. My mother figured that his mother wouldn’t be stable enough to care for two children after losing her oldest. Part of me just hoped that Luke was smart enough to keep his distance from me. But the other part of me knew that wasn’t Luke’s personality at all and it annoyed me beyond belief.

As I walked home, I took the smallest steps possible and took the longest route possible. Trying to kill time in hopes that Luke and his family would be sound asleep by the time I returned home. It would be easier for me to sneak past them and go to my room unnoticed. I didn’t want to talk to anyone at the moment. I just needed to be alone to process all that was going on in my life now.

But as I got closer to my home, the more I noticed a bear laying outside my home. Knowing that it was Luke waiting for me, he probably shifted to make it harder to sneak past him. Rolling my eyes, I tried to figure out a plan to get into my house without having to deal with Luke. His persistence was starting to get on the ridiculously annoying side.

As I continued to think out a plan, my father stepped out of my house and shook his head at Luke. He said a few words to Luke, making him growl and turn his back on him. The scene was kind of comical as I watched my father continuously try to talk some sense into the bear shifter. It got so bad that my mother had to come out and yell at both of them to get in the house. A small giggle escaped my lips, which resulted in me instantly covering my mouth in fear that they heard me.

The only one that seemed to have noticed was my father as he looked in my direction. He even smiled at me before entering the house and closing the door behind him. Knowing fully well that it will be a while before my mother talks enough sense into Luke to make him go to bed, I found a stable enough tree to sit next to and lean my back against it. Not even concerned if doing so would leave a line of soot on the back of my clothes. I was already dirty from being caught in the fire anyways.

But as I began to relax, someone suddenly sat next to me. It took me by surprise so much that I screamed. Luckily their hand covered my mouth to muffle the scream so that way it didn’t alert those waiting for me that I was nearby. It also gave me a chance to see the faint glow coming from the person covering my mouth. My eyes landed on his chest still curious on what was making that thing run.

Trent then removed his hand from my mouth and then handed me something. It must have been the reason why he showed up in the first place. In his hand was a small blanket that was clearly holding something. There was a hint of a smell coming from it like freshly baked rolls. I looked at him skeptically as I grabbed the blanket and undid it. There were many things about Trent that were making me more curious about him, including the freshly baked bread he had brought. Slowly I took a small bite.

“I talked to your parents about my proposal,” he suddenly said, making me cough on the piece of bread I was eating. Trent instantly checked to see if I was okay as he handed me a small canteen of water. So that explained the bread.

As I drank the water to relieve myself from choking, he used this as an opportunity to inform me on some much needed information, “They accepted the proposal.”

Water sprayed from my mouth as I choked on some water. If I didn’t know better, I would think he was trying to kill me. But once I was able to compose myself I looked at him with shock, “My mother approved?”

He nodded, “Surprised me too, but I guess your father talked her into it. Now you just have to accept. If you want.”

Trent didn’t say anything else. Instead he sat next to me quietly as he ate one of the rolls he had brought. Unlike Luke, he was letting me think things through. He wasn’t pressuring me into doing something I didn’t want to do. It was kind of comforting in a way and I liked it. Just being around Trent was comforting in a way and I didn’t know why.

“I guess you are a better choice than Luke,” I said more to myself. It didn’t get past me as he tried to look away as he tried not to smile and laugh. Glaring at him, I continued, “That isn’t me accepting. Just stating a fact.”

Trent couldn’t hold back anymore as he bursted out laughing. He held up his hand as I went to smack him, “I’m sorry. But it’s just funny when you compare me to that bear shifter.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head at him. There were still things I needed to know about Trent and I wasn’t sure he was willing to tell me. But the only way to find out if he would answer my questions was to infact ask them, “When did you decide that you wanted to marry me one day?” I asked.

His laughter instantly faded and he let out a heavy sigh. Sadness even settled into his eyes as he answered, “It was the day my wife died. Everyone thought we were this perfect couple but truthfully she and I were like you and that bear. We were only together because everyone else wanted us to be.”