We prance through the wood, playing tag and taking chase after one another. We must have been out there for hours because by the time we take pause, the sun has finished setting and the stars are out. We had dropped our clothes off here earlier so we shift back and get dressed.

"So what's up with the sudden run?" Daniel asks from where he's laying in the grass, his skin glowing in the starlight, "Not that I'm complaining."

"I wanted to be me for a little longer. I feel guilty lying to the boys, but honestly I dont think I'm going to tell them for a while, if ever."

"What? Why?" He eyes me curiously, pulling a sigh out of me as I walk over and take a seat next to him. I look to the stars, hoping they'll give me some insight of how to say this without sounding like a bitch. They just twinkle back at me blankly.

"I guess there's no nice way to put it. I don't want to tell them because then they'll tell people and I don't want everyone to know at school." I explain, not taking my eyes off of the stars. Daniel sits up and gives me a confused look.

"Why wouldn't you want people to know? You'd be able to go back to being yourself at school and not have to be attached to a writing utensil all the time anymore."

"That's true, but I don't want the people who did this to me think is okay because I'm 'all better' now. My voice being back doesn't take away the trauma or the nasty scar that came with it." I look at him and realize how close we are, our noses only inches apart. He turns away quickly, instead looking towards the stars. I look at the grass below me.

"I guess. When will you tell everyone? I'm assuming you don't want to be silenced forever."

"I dont know. I'm not really thinking of it being me silenced though. I got back a really special part of me that they took away, and I think it's fair I keep it to myself. Blake ruins everything he touches, so I'm keeping this out of his grasp for as long as possible." I clutched my knees to my chest and Daniel looks back to me. He starts rubbing my back in what I'm assuming is his way of trying to comfort someone, "But! I also wanted to talk to you. I feel like whenever we're having a conversation nowadays someone is always cutting in. I just wanted to go back to how it was when we could just talk."

"Yeah, but I guess that's what happens when you shove half a dozen people with super hearing in one house." Daniel agrees, chuckling, "So, what did you wanna talk about?"

"I don't know. Anything. Everything." I say and he shrugs, "Plus, you've been trying to tell me something this whole trip and we keep getting interrupted." I feel him tense next to me.

"Yeah..." We fall into silence. A tense, heavy silence.

"But I know it's pretty huge, so we can talk about whatever, and whenever you're ready to tell me, you can. I trust you."

*-*AH SHIT DANIELS POV YA'LL*-*

Hearing her say she trusts me sends an icy shard into my heart. I have to tell her.

"I was afraid of losing you. You're really important to me and I didn't want to lose you as a friend." The words fall out of my mouth and I internally kick myself. Wow, way to sound stupid. Dove looks to me, her face so close I can feel her breath on my nose. I swallow the toad that's planted itself in my throat. She could get anything with those starry eyes of hers. I'd end the world if she asked me to.

"You could never lose me, Daniel." She says softly, her breath smelling of the sundaes we just had. There she goes again, ripping my heart out and holding it in her hands. But I know she deserves so much more than me. She won't want me anyway after she knows.

"You say that, but this is pretty big friendship ending news." I warn her, my stomach twisting and turning into knots. She has to know. She deserves to know. The thought of losing her kills me inside, but after everything she's been through I can't not tell her.

"Nothing you could say could change how I feel about you." Her eyes are seeking and I have to hold back to keep from falling into them. I take a moment to soak it all in. The girl I've loved since I was a kid is sitting here as beautiful as ever. Her skin is glowing and her red hair seems to be floating around her. All of this plus her otherworldly eyes create a very ethereal visage in the moonlight. If someone woke me right now and told me someone like Dove could never exist, I would believe them. She's too good for this world.

"Dove..." I start but the words get lodged in my throat.

"Daniel?" She whispers, her face dangerously close. I have to say it. If I don't say it right now and she kisses me I'll never forgive myself.

"It's all my fault." I manage to choke out and she pulls away, the space where she was incredibly cold now.

"What?" She asks, and I cant tell if she's embarassed or angry, her face flushed.

"Everything that's happened to you. It's all my fault. My parents were the rogue pack who attacked your family when we were young because I told them we were friends. I had Blakes sister killed in place of you and that's why he made everyone treat you like shit. Your life is shit because of me. Your parents are dead because of me. I am so sorry Dove." Once the words started flowing I couldn't make them stop, like a dam that had burst. Even after Dove scrambled away from me in shock and started crying, I couldn't stop. As soon as all the words were said, I felt a pressure leave my shoulders, but felt my heart shatter as I blink and Dove is gone.

"Dove?!" I call out, feeling panic start to set in.

Where'd she go? Way to go Daniel, tell the girl your the reason her life was ruined in the middle of nowhere at one in the morning. Real fucking smart. I take off towards the pack house, figuring I'm going to need some help finding her. I burst in and knock on Sym's door.

"Daniel? What the f-"

"Dove ran off in the woods and I domt know where she went!"

"Why would she...?" Sym's looking at me confused before realization hits her, but I'm already halfway down the hall when it does, "Shit, Shit, SHIT."

I get everyone up and soon enough we're all in the woods looking for her. We left Calum and the boys at home in case she comes back but really so we can shift if we need to.

"Hey!" Andrew calls and I run over. I find tattered pieces of what looks like her clothes at his feet. God I hope she's okay. I would never forgive myself if she was hurt. Sym kicks at her clothes before heading off in one direction, following Dove's paw prints. It doesn't take long before we hear growling. The sound of it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. I can hear my wolf pacing, the thudding loud in my ears as he is just as anxious and worried as I am. My heart's pounding in my ears as I take off towards the sound when I see white fur on the other side of the tree line, but my relief is quick to disappear as I see another blonde tail coming into view, the growling getting louder. I'm not fast enough. Roxon takes over as I feel my bones shifting. I fight him for control as I leap into to the clearing and see Dove fighting with someone. The sight of it is too much as my wolf takes over.

What does he mean he did it? He's the reason I lost everything? My blood runs cold as I look at him from across the clearing. I need to get out of here. I take off into the woods, trying not to trip, my tears making it hard to see. I end up tripping over a branch and feel Lisa starting to take the reins, would I happily hand over. As she becomes more and more in control I can feel my sadness melt into a rage. We race through the wood when Lisa catches a scent that makes her tail bristle. We follow the all-too-familiar scent to find who other than Blake getting ready to go for a run. He's not supposed to be here! This was my vacation! MY birthday! And as always he's here to fucking ruin everything.

Part of me wants to run away but Lisa the only picks up speed. I'm helpless but to watch as Lisa reaches Blake just after hes shifted. With one leap and a growl, she's tackled him and has sent both of us rolling towards the beach. Blake is quick to act as he jumps up, his brown eyes confused and pissed off. Blake's never seen me shifted before, he probably had no idea who I am.

I watch as my body lunges forward, knocking him off balance, my head cracking a rib. He reels up onto his feet, managing to grab the back of my neck in the process. He squeezes while growling, trying to make us submit. I can feel Lisa bending so I take control to throw him over my shoulder, sending him flying past the tree line.

He gets up and we start circling, both waiting for the other to make a move. Blake goes to lunge when suddenly a black wolf comes leaping in between us, tackling Blake and pinning him down. Blake goes to move but the other wolf has him pinned. Is that Daniel? Daniel growls loudly in Blake's face and Blake concedes with an angry look in his eye.

"Dove!" I turn to the treeline to fine Rose sprinting towards me, Mason, Andrew, and Sym at her heels. I look back to Blake and Daniel.

I noticed for the first time how much bigger Daniel is than Blake, which is the opposite of what I would think, considering Blake is an alpha and already a pretty large sized wolf. I look to Blake, who I see is staring at me, bewildered. Daniel growls at him again and Blake turns back to him. I feel a blanket wrapped around me.

"Shift back babygirl, we've got you." Mason commands softly and I comply. By the time I'm shifted back, Daniel has clambered off of Blake and is sitting in front of me, his eyes glued to Blake, growling every time he looks my way, which is pointless since I'm sure Daniels gigantic form more than completely blocks me from view. Meanwhile Blake has shifted back and is getting dressed.

"Did you say that was Dove?" He asks, bewildered and trying to keep a safe distance between us.

"You couldn't your mate apart fron others even when she was between your teeth?" Rose chastises him and he glares.

"I've never seen her shifted before! Dove, what were you thinking?! I could have seriously hurt you!" Blake yells at me and a dangerously low growl rips from Daniels chest.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Mason spits in his direction and I see Andrew seething out of the corner of my eye.

"So you're the fucker who almost got her killed?" Andrew asks, his voice low but his body language saying he's going to pop any second.

"That was her brother, go yell at him." Blake waves it off and with that Sym is actually the one to step forward.

"That's it." She marches over and grabs Blake by the ear. He bends to her will, following her everywhere she moves him, "Now, I'm sorry. I couldnt hear you. What was that?"

"I said it's not my fault." Blake just repeats himself and I watch blankly as she yanks his ear, his body falling after it onto his knees, "Ow! Crazy bitch."

"I think I misheard you again. As a motive to stop with all the mumbling, you've got about five seconds before I break each of your fingers." Sym threatens him, pulling his arm up backwards behind him with her other hand. He tries to get free but her grip is strong.

"Fine! Yeah. It's my fault. I'm sorry, okay?" He admits, defeated.

"Well, as long as you're not lying to yourself." Sym lets go of him and starts walking back to us with a fake smile plastered on her face. Blake finally straightens up and gets off his knees but right as he does, Sym reels back and throws all of her force into punching him in the face, the rest of us wincing at the cracking noise. He may have deserved that, but there's no doubt she just broke several bones in his face. Blank falls over after stumbling a few feet, holding his face and Sym looks to us, her patience restored and her smile real.

"Ah. Now I feel better. Alright bud, time to shift back." She sighs, putting her hand on Daniels head. She gets a blanket from Mason and wraps it around Daniel as he shifts back.

The rest is kind of a blur as I let them lead me back to the house, which I foubd out later was at least a few miles away. I ran a lot farther than I thought I did. Symali helps me up to my room and I realize I haven't said anything in the last hour and a half. She offers to stay with me but I shake my head. I really need time to process everything. I thought we were having a moment, I really wasn't ready for what happened. His family killed mine. His parents killed mine because we were friends. He killed Blake sister to save me, so Blake blamed me and made my life hell.

I curl up under the blankets and work through everything that's happened today. Now I understand why everyone was being weird. But, in the end I could never blame Daniel. We were five, how could he know his parents would target my home? We were just kids. Plus, he tried to protect me from his mom. It's not Daniel's fault that Blake decided to deal with that the way he did.

If anything I come out of this with a little more answers to questions I've had al my life. They hurt like hell, but answers aren't always what you want them to be. After a few hours there's a knock at the door.

"Dove? It's me." Daniel says from the other side of the closed door.

"Come in." I answer, my voice so quiet I wasn't entirely sure he heard me until I hear the door creak open and closed, the door jamb softly clicking into place. Daniel slowly makes his way over, sitting on the bed.

"Hi." I greet him softly from my bundle of blankets. He looks like he's been crying.

"I'm so sorry." His voice cracks and the sound of how sad he is breaks my heart.

"You don't have to be."

"It's all my fault." He says almost in a whisper. I get up and sit next to him, pulling my blanket over both of us.

"It's not. There's no way for you to have known things would turn out this way." I rub his back.

We continued to talk until the sun rose, fully talking about his childhood without any barriers. Pretty soon, Andrew came to get us for breakfast. As I go to leave, Daniel grabs me by the back of my shirt, so I turn back.

"So, is it still true?" He asks softly and I giggle. He looks like a little kid when he tugs at my shirt like that.

"Is what still true?"

"That your feelings for me didn't change?" I almost didn't hear him, he was so quiet. I laugh and pull him in by his arm and give him a kiss. He seems shocked at first, but quickly melts into it, holding my face in his hands. We stay like that for a moment before pulling away.

"Of course they haven't."

"And that is how me and your father fell in love." I smile down at my two blessings in life.

"I love that story." Rosali sighs happily, her long black hair falling over her starry green eyes.

"You told us a lot more than usual today mama." DJ comments, a big smile on his face.

"Well my babies, sometimes stories are easier to tell over time. Maybe next time I could even tell you what happens after that, but for now it's a little hard for mama to think about. You two look so much like your father, especially you, Daniel." I rub my sons head, the familiar weight that story brings weighing down on my heart.

"Mommy, what happened to daddy? He didn't leave us, did he?" Rosali asks, her face revealing she hopes I'll say no. I scoop them both up in my arms as Daniel Jr. tells her her question is dumb.

"Why, of course not. Your father loves you both so much, he never would have left us if he had the choice. But, what happened to Daddy will have to be a story for another time, we have to go get ready for Auntie Rose's wedding." I watched the two scamper off to their rooms excitedly, chattering about Rose's wedding.

I look at the picture of Daniel I keep on the mantle, my fingers subconsciously reaching out to touch it. His death is a story for another time indeed.

THE END.

Why hello hello my lovelies! I'm not crying, you are.

But! On a brighter note, this is not the last of our story on Dove! There will be two more books after this, so I hope you look forward to them!

Ill see you from your closet later~!

-No Name