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I left Alpha Walker alone with his Mate when I had the chance to slip through the door as one of
the Pack members checked on him.
It made me sad to see him grieving the loss of a woman he so clearly loved, but that wasn’t the
only reason I left - I needed to be alone, too.
Nobody in this Pack could see me, let alone speak to me, and yet I was overwhelmed, and as
ridiculous as it sounded I couldn't be around other people while I felt that way.
Alpha Walker’s Packhouse was still alien to me, but I managed to weave my way through its
unfamiliar corridors until I found a quiet spot to sit and think.
I sat there for a long time, desperately willing myself to make sense of the world around me and
figure out how I could communicate with the Pack members here. It hadn't occurred to me that I
might have woken up here for a reason, and it only dawned on me when I was staring at the cold
stone wall opposite me that the Goddess might have chosen me for this fate, whatever I was
destined to do.
It almost made sense, as ludicrous as it felt, that there was a reason I had awoken here on the
very night Lady Katelyn was murdered.
When I thought of the pain in Alpha Walker's eyes, and the sound of his scream… of his heart
breaking when he found her body... I had a feeling that I was supposed to help him avenge her.
But I still had no idea what that actually meant, and the longer I spent in this strange Packhouse,
the more frustrated I felt by the fact I couldn't figure anything out alone.
The sound of footprints approaching made my stomach churn, and I scrambled to find
somewhere to hide; I was so used to the other members of my own Pack barking orders at me
that it was instinctive, but there was no reason for me to hide around the corner here when I
heard other people - they didn't even know I was here, and they couldn’t see me… even if they
did find me hiding here I knew that they wouldn't treat me the way my own Pack did. That much
was obvious from the way Alpha Walker spoke to his Pack members, and the few interactions I
had seen between them showed me that this Pack were all compassionate, and not brutal or
cruel.
A young man approached with a pretty young woman on his arm, and I admired their fine
clothing as they passed me.The woman smelled faintly of orange blossom and even her sweet
scent was more gentle and more extravagant than anything I had known in my Pack.
The man was speaking softly to her, and he brushed the back of her hand lightly with his
fingertips; it was a display of affection that would have been mocked by Alpha Lincoln, but this
man wasn't even remotely ashamed of it.
"Miranda..."
The woman stopped and turned to look at him with tears in her eyes, and he reached out to brush
her jaw gently as he looked into her eyes.
"I..."
As the woman spoke my head began to spin again, and I felt my stomach lurch as the couple
blurred and I was thrown back into the realm I had awoken in before.
I was less confused this time - I knew where I was, and I was wearing the same pale pink gown
with pearls that I had been wearing last time. I was in the exact same spot on the pathway leading
to the forest, and the moon was just as bright as it was before, surrounded by a sea of stars that
shone above me in a comforting blanket of ethereal beauty.
I stepped tentatively towards the forest, then turned back and looked at the mist behind me.
It had enveloped me entirely when I tried to run away before, and it seemed like it had pulled me
back to the pathway when I wandered too far away.
The mist looked calm now, but it had an otherworldly allure that made it difficult to resist
walking back into it, despite the fact it was clearly shielding me from whatever lay on the other
side.
I wasn't sure what to expect this time as I walked through the forest - it still smelled primordial,
and raw, and the path still wound through the enormous, ancient trees in a way that made it clear
there was really only one way for me to go; onwards, towards the clearing in the middle of the
forest...
Alpha Walker had been there the first time I was here, and I had been afraid to approach him; but
he had seemed to be entranced by me, and I had finally worked up the courage to tell him my
name before we were torn away from this place, and... he had written my name down at his desk
as soon as he awoke.
It had been real.
My heart was pounding and I sped up a little to get to the clearing, even though I didn't even
know for sure that he would be there, and I didn't know what I would say to him if he was there -
I had vowed to tell him the truth about Lady Katelyn so he could avenge her death, but this place
was so serene that it felt wrong to taint the time he spent here with something so dark.
My throat was dry by the time I arrived, and I stared up at the moon rather than looking around
to see if he was there. I didn't want it to look like I had rushed through the forest to find him,
even though that was the truth.
After a moment I looked back down at the clearing and cast my eyes around for a sign of Alpha
Walker; he wasn't there.
I felt defeated, and my heart sank as I walked slowly over to the tree he had been sitting against
when I told him my name before.
I sank down and sat with my back against the rough bark, and I stared across at the trees on the
other side of the clearing to the pathway that I had taken, wondering whether that supernatural
mist would wrap around me and draw me back to the clearing if I tried to explore that way.
My eyes were so focussed on the trees that I didn't notice the fact Alpha Walker had appeared
between them until he emerged into the clearing and fixed his gaze on me.
He looked...confused, I think, and he approached me slowly, and cautiously, but... he still
approached me.
I stood up slowly and swallowed a lump in my throat as our eyes met and he held out his hands
for me to hold.
"Sienna..."
- Writer
