At Dawn, in the Forest
Chapter 24

First, it was black, then dark blue that slowly transitioned into purple, and then a soft pink. After the pink, it became orange and yellow until it was stark sky blue again. Then the cycle started in reverse and then back, then in reverse and then back.

Dawn saw the sun rising high in the sky and setting down below the horizon as she lay down on her bed all day. She barely moved or slept or ate or drank.

After she woke up from her fainting episode she went comatose, refusing to do anything else but lay there on her bed. The trial was buried deep into her memories. She tried to forget, just like all of those nine years because if it didn’t happen she wouldn’t feel the fury of the injustice that was done to her.

Everybody tried to pull her out of it. Nobody succeeded. Even Aiden had no clue how to help his mate. He felt helpless, desperate even. He wanted nothing more than for Dawn to be able to live her life, to let go of her past. But this, this stunt the council pulled was impossible to pass by. He was angry too. The council denied Dawn the chance to close the horrible chapter of her time at the lab for the mere reason that there wasn’t direct evidence.

But his anger was nothing compared to that of Dawn. He had felt that anger and it was painful. Because they had been so close the last weeks the mate bond started to grow stronger, he doubted Dawn noticed, but it was possible for him to feel his mate’s emotions and the moment the council gave their verdict it was almost painful the anger, sadness, frustration, and rage of Dawn. He tried to block her feelings and emotions as if it was a whirlwind. He couldn’t even imagine how his mate must have felt like.

Every day he checked up on his mate. He would sit next to her on the bed and hold her hand carefully. He would say sweet nothings to her or tried to suggest she come down for a meal or a walk. Nothing helped, unfortunately. All of his words fell on deaf ears.

Until, Sarah.

Sarah barged into Dawn’s room on day six and told her to get up. “If you stay here on this bed you admit defeat. You admit defeat to that horrible and vile doctor who tortured you, Dawn.”

Nothing.

“I am not leaving this room without you.” Sarah walked up to her and faced her. “Do you hear me? You are going to shower, eat, and then we go on a walk. On y va!”

Dawn didn’t react again. Sarah stepped up.

She carefully pulled Dawn up in a sitting position. Once up she held her face. “Dawn, I do this because I care for you,” She whispered carefully, her voice almost breaking. “It’s not fair indeed. What’s done to you is wrong on so many levels. But you can’t let them win like this.” Sarah planted a kiss on her forehead. “Let’s get you into the shower.”

And then a low whisper, a breeze caring a few words, “No shower.”

Sarah couldn’t help but smile, she didn’t expect to get Dawn to talk. “It will be alright. I won’t leave you alone, I promise.” With the help of Sarah Dawn managed to get a quick shower. The poor girl was exhausted when they were done.

“I am so proud of you, Dawn,” Sarah told her with a smile when she brushed Dawn’s hair. “You are so brave.”

Everybody was surprised when they saw Dawn downstairs in the kitchen slowly chewing on a piece of apple. Carefully they moved around her, not trying to disturb the progress that Sarah made.

When she was done with her first meal in six days Boaz came up to her. “Hey there my little monkey,” He sat down next to her and brushed his fingers through her hair. He wanted to hold his daughter badly but wanted to give Dawn space as well, knowing she wouldn’t appreciate close contact now. “I have a surprise for you.” Dawn turned her head and looked at her father confused. “But you have to follow me, I promise it will be good.” S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Find_Nøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Reluctantly, Dawn followed her father with Sarah on their heels. They headed to a room Dawn wasn’t familiar with. It was small. The walls were surrounded by bookcases and somewhere between the shelves, there was a tv screen planted with a couch and a big armchair in front of it.

“Sit down,” Boaz pointed at the seating area. Dawn chose the armchair. “Alright, make yourself comfortable.” She did as she was told while Boaz turned on the television. Dawn saw how he coordinated with the help of the remote control the menu and something called ‘Netflix’ turned on the screen.

Dawn grew confused as she couldn’t comprehend what was happening on the screen until her father clicked on Our Planet. Now her eyes widened with interest. When he pressed play she impatiently watched what would happen next, and what happened brought tears to her eyes. The voice of David Attenborough echoed through the room. A voice she thought at a certain point in her life she would never hear again.

Dawn brought her knees up to her chest, rested her head against the armchair, and submerged herself into the world of nature that David Attenborough presented in the documentary.

***

Dawn was far into the third episode of Our Planet when Boaz asked her to meet in the living room. Unwillingly she got up and made her way through the packhouse. Stepping into the living room she was met with several faces, mainly those from her family. Her father did the talking.

“I have some unfortunate news, little monkey. We have to head back again.” Dawn’s brows furrowed. “We were here to help your case, both of the state of your status and of the imprisonment of Dr. Willow… But now your status is cleared and a ruling has been made we have to go back to our pack,” Pain flashed through Boaz’s eyes.

Dawn didn’t understand what was happening. She looked at her brothers who had the same pained expression as their father. When she didn’t respond Boaz continued. “You are free to make a choice in the next two years. You aren’t tied to a pack yet…” Boaz couldn’t say what he had to say.

Rue came up to her mate and held his hand. She also grabbed Dawn’s hand. “Honey, we all have decided that it is best to leave you here for your recovery. You are of course welcome to visit us, but the doctors and we think it’s best to let you stay here. We suspect that bringing you home might be overwhelming and after the bad outcome of the council we want for you to get on the right track again.”

Dawn had let go of her mother’s hand again. She had a complicated relationship with her family, that she knew, but she didn’t want them gone. Even though she created space between them she felt always at ease knowing they were near her. Their presence made it real that she got out of the lab.

“You are leaving me?”

“No, no, Dawn. We are not leaving you,” Boaz immediately reassured.

“Don’t be silly, honey. You are our daughter, you are family, and werewolves don’t leave family behind,” Rue explained.

“But you did already once, by declaring me dead,” Dawn said as a matter of fact, and not to put salt in any old wounds. She just didn’t understand her mother. But Rue of course interpreted it differently.

Rue’s face got red. “You ungrateful-”

“Rue! She is our pup! You can’t be mad or get angry when she expresses a concern or emotion. You can’t control everyone!” Boaz loved his mate dearly, but the selfish and controlling behavior of Rue got to him. He disliked conflict and often tried to fix his mate’s mess behind her back, but he despised Rue for how she was treating their daughter.

After his outburst, he looked around the room and apologized. Then he turned to Dawn again. “I promise you Dawn we won’t forget you, or leave you behind. We will get you a phone so you call and text us whenever you want. We can even facetime if that is what you prefer… The reason we need to get back is because we lead and manage the pack. People depend on us, and we know you do too on us. We know. Unfortunately, our responsibilities are calling us.” Boaz tried to smile at her, showing he cared about her.

Dawn nodded her head. She started to understand but still left with a hurt feeling. “Alright, time to go,” Rue announced. She grabbed Elias’ hand and made her way outside. Finn just looked at his sister showed a tight smile and left as well. Leaving just Caspian and Boaz to say their goodbyes.

Caspian walked up to Dawn. “Is it okay if we hug?” Dawn nodded her head. They embraced each other quickly after. She didn’t expect it, but letting go was harder than she thought. She had missed her brother's hugs. “I love you, sis,” He whispered in her ear. When they let go he said, “I will meet up with you whenever I can, and like dad said, we will get you a phone and then I can talk your ear off and you will get sick of me.” Caspian winked.

It was then Boaz’s turn. He embraced her in a hug as well and kissed Dawn’s head. “We will see each other soon, I promise. We are here and we won’t leave you, little monkey.”

And like that Dawn stood on the driveway watching how her family drove off to ‘home’. It didn’t feel like her home anymore, but being away from her family, especially her father, was a hard reality for her.

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