I only managed to get a couple of hours of sleep that night. It had been a long and exhausting night, filled with anxiety that made it even harder for me to rest. Meadow wouldn’t settle in my mind either. As soon as the sun began to rise, I slowly woke up to its rays shining in my face. I sat up, ensuring my dressing gown was still properly covering me. I honestly didn’t know when Mara might come into my room, and I sensed she had no intention of knocking. I glanced at the clock; it read 5 AM. After brushing my hair and getting it under control, I stepped out of my room. Once again, I noticed no one loitering in the hallway. I decided to leave through the back door of the packhouse where a few of the kitchen staff saw me but they didn’t say anything to me. I looked around at the surroundings and I started jogging towards the forest and followed it around the territory. It wasn’t lost on me that wolves in the forest were watching me, but I did whatever I could to ignore them. When I got to the other side of the packhouse, I noticed that I had made it down a slow sloping hill that ended up right next to the beach. I stopped just inside of the treeline as I looked out at the beach and ocean right in front of me. I was so relieved to finally find the one place that I wanted to find. I wasn’t sure how long I was lost in my own thoughts while I was standing there but I started to hear a couple of voices behind me. I quickly darted down behind a fallen tree log and I recognised the voices of Landon and his Beta Hayden. They were walking through the forest, checking traps and checking on their patrols. “So, the savior struck again?” Landon asked. “Yeah. At a pack about 6 hours away from here.” Hayden said. “What happened?” Landon asked. “A woman was being attacked in her pack by a couple of other pack members and the savior showed up. He killed the men so I’m assuming they were assaulting her in a way that pissed him off.” Hayden explained. “And did she get a look at this guy?” Landon asked. But Hayden scoffed. “No one has ever gotten a look at this guy. He’s too fast.” Hayden said. They started walking away from where I was so I tried to take a step closer, but I didn’t notice the twig under my foot and it snapped as soon as I tried to stand up. Suddenly both Landon and Hayden spun around. Hayden ran in the direction of the sound and I looked around for somewhere else to hide, but there was nowhere. Not any place that I could get to quickly. He ended up grabbing me and pulling me up and away from the fallen tree as Landon walked up to me. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?” Landon asked. “Can you please let go of me?” I asked Hayden. “Not a f*****g chance.” Hayden growled. “Why were you spying on us?” Landon asked, taking a few steps closer to me. “I wasn’t. I was jogging past and I didn’t want you to see me.” I said. “Don’t f*****g lie to me.” He growled, grabbing my arm. I let out a hiss and bent slightly in the way that he grabbed my arm. It was obvious that I was hurt. He grabbed the sleeve of my jumped and he pushed it up until he saw the claw marks in my arm that Vincent left right before our wedding. I managed to snatch my arm back and I pulled my sleeve back down, because those weren’t the only marks he saw on my arm. The others were just older scars. He looked at me strangely and I squirmed out of Hayden’s grip as well. “I wasn’t spying. I was jogging. That’s all. Just leave me alone.” I said, quickly running off towards the packhouse. I ran all the way back to my bedroom and I closed the door behind me. My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking. I was really scared that Landon was going to follow me back to my room. But when I was sure that no one followed me, I went to have a shower and I got dressed into other comfortable clothes that covered my whole body including arms and legs. I grabbed a book and sat on my bed to start reading it, but because I got so little sleep the night before I ended up falling asleep. *********** I’m looking out at the ocean at four years old. I can see the calm sea, nothing was disrupting it. I was running along the water’s edge gathering seashells. When I looked up I saw my mother sitting on a large boulder staring out at the water. She looked a little anxious about something. As I came to a bend on the beach I could see a massive house perched on the cliffside and I stood there staring it, watching people walking around beside the house. “Arabella. Come back around here. Now.” Mom said sternly. I went running back to mom who looked down and smiled at me. “What are we doing here mommy?” I asked. “We’re waiting for someone.” Mom said. she continued looking out at the ocean with a peaceful and serene look on her face. She suddenly slid off of the boulder and started walking towards the water, but stopped right at the water’s edge. I watched mom as she got closer and closer to the water and that’s when I saw him. A mermaid was swimming closer to my mother. But when he approached the beach, his fin turned into legs. I stood there with my mouth opened in shock as my mother hugged him and he hugged her back. He looked older than her with really long white hair and sparkling blue eyes. “It’s so good to see you dad.” Mom said. “Ruby. It’s been too long.” The mermaid said. “Arabella. I want you to come and meet your grandfather.” Mom said. But I couldn’t move. I was stuck in my tracks. “She isn’t Vincent’s.” The man said. “No. Her father abandoned us.” Mom said. “Who are you?” I asked, still in shock. The man chuckled as he walked closer to me. “My name is King Zion. The King of the faeries.” he answered. But I looked at mom strangely. And she started nodding her head at me. ************ I woke up suddenly and realized that the book I was reading was open on the bed next to me. I was a little hazy at first, but I jumped up towards the back of the bedframe when I noticed Landon sitting on my bed watching me sleep.