Helping her with her jacket, Sophia and I quietly head out the door and I firmly lace my fingers into hers as I hold her hand in mine, leading her down the path that is already starting to overgrow from lack of use. It used to be clear enough for me and Pops to walk down side by side, but now I have to tug her behind me in places where the brush has gotten too thick. "Is she always that affectionate?" Sophia whispers softly as we walk in deeper away from the home and the night around us only leaves the lingering sounds of animals finishing their preparations for winter.

Shaking my head, smiling a bit, "only when she likes you." Rubbing my thumb back and forth over the back of her hand she starts to relax as she lets out a puffed breath that rises up in the air. Pulling her closer when the path allows it I try to press my body heat to her and she gladly nuzzles in closer for it. Sophia glances up at me from time to time and I can feel the way her fingers run a circle against the waistline of my pants over my shirt. "I'm not really used to it. My mom and aunts Cilla and Maggie always did that but not the other women in my life, the opposite actually" she starts to mumble as she looks out over the pond when we come up to it. Wrapping my arm tighter around her shoulder, Sophia scratches at my skin as she shoves down the memory starting to rise of her step mother.

"Pops and me used to come here when I was younger, spend hours fishing or even swimming" telling her to try and distract her from her thoughts, but I quickly realise I will also need a distraction from my own memories. Like two lost broken souls trying to find a way in this life. Walking closer to the waters edge I reach down, finding a rock to skip and I mull it over in my hand. Was one of the first things he taught me and scolded me for when I would scare the fish away. Looking at the other side of the pond a memory filters in through the walls I've built. It's summer and Pops has himself propped back and relaxing in a beach chair as he snores and his rod end is tugging with a fish. He didn't wake for it but I can remember coming out across the way, laughing as I picked up a rock and let it skim the top of the water until it came up on the shore to hit his foot. I got my ear chewed off about giving him a heartache for it by Grams. I was only a teen then, never thought about it. A smile that tugged my face is now pulling it down. "Penny for your thoughts?" Sophia's soft voice tugs me back to her and this cold night. When I look at her she is looking over my face in a slow progression that has my thoughts coming back to focus on her. "Miss him, don't ya?" she asks as our eyes meet but I can only nod as the words lodge in my throat.

I do miss him. A lot.

I can feel my eyes start to sting as that lodge tries to move itself back up and I force it down with a swallow. "I don't talk about him much, it's only been a couple of years but it still brings me back there every time." talking slowly while trying to keep the pitch of my voice even but Sophia stands in front of me and looks up in my eyes, reaching deeper in them.

"I get it. You ever feel like talking and starting to pull those walls down baby, just tell me. I ain't gonna judge if you get quiet or shed some tears. I know, I've been there.'' She tells me softly and I can feel the slight shake in her own voice as her hands slip to my hips before moving around my waist as she hugs me. Wrapping around her tightly, I feel the few tears slowly start to trickle down over my cheek to sting my skin as it meets the cold. Leaning on her, Sophia takes the weight of me as I let myself feel and think for the first time on all the memories I made with them; with him. All the times as a kid when I would follow behind him, excited and with a bounce to my step as I asked him 'where we going today Pops?', everytime he would sit back in his old rocking chair on the front porch while he puffed on his pipe and I would roll my eyes while snapping beans asking how long we have to do this for. He would tell me until I grew some patience in the garden next to Grams' strawberries. When I would come home every time with some award or accomplishment, he would smack my back and clasp my arm with a rough shake telling me how proud he was of me. The last year I spent with him as he tried to hide how tired he was, spending more time with Grams and talking about his life. I was too caught up with my own thing to give him much attention. I feel guilty for not spending my time more wisely.

Sophia's lips press against my neck as she leans up, whispering soft comforts to me, "why is it so hard to let them go?" I ask but I already know the answer.

"It ain't fair when the people we love the most leave and we have no say or control. It's grief and it's okay to be mad and hurt or sad, wanting to have more time. You'll have regrets about the things you wish you could have done better or changed." she tells me and when I pull away and look down at Sophia a tear is running down her own cheek. "I would of gave anything, I still would, to have my mom. I regret every fight I had with her, the things we could of done, how blind I was to not see it before it got that bad. But none of it changes anything. Focusing on the bad that's all you'll know instead of remembering all the wonderful times you shared with them. It dont make it hurt any less but it don't have to always be bad, we can celebrate the love that was there instead of holding on to the regrets and the pain." she says softly before she wipes the tears from her cheek and from mine. "That's what a therapist told me once anyways, maybe there is something to it. I still miss my mom but I loved the time I got to have with her and how better she made my life." kissing my chin my eyes close on instinct and I pick her up off the ground to squeeze her and she squeezes me back.

"Thank you for this, Sophia," letting out a long, deep breath doesn't feel as hard as it normally does. "Maybe there is something to it."

Walking back to my cabin everything looks dark inside and I have to feed the stove immediately when we enter. "Sorry I should have thrown in a log before we left," I apologise but Sophia smiles at me as she sits on the couch.

"Why don't you sit with me and we can cuddle up in the blanket together." she offers as she pulls up her feet and her eyes flutter at me.

"Ya know, if I didn't know any better I would think you're filtering with me right now, batting your lashes." I say and she chuckles at me as I shrug off my jacket and sit next to her, pulling the bear skin blanket over us off the back of the couch. Her hands feel over its fur with a hum as she shifts closer while putting her legs into my lap before looking back up to me and I lean down as her fingers run into my hair while my arms pull her closer. A knock rasps against the door and I ignore it as I start to lay her on the couch. Sophia giggles breathlessly when I kiss her neck and another rasping knock barks through my cabin. "Aren't you gonna get that?" she asks as she sighs, tugging at my hair as I run my hand under her shirt and over her stomach.

"They can come back tomorrow," murmuring, Sophia grins as she pushes my head away when the knocking gets louder. "Answer it and get rid of them, then you and me can have all night." her teeth press her bottom lip as she looks up at me and winks as I sit on my knees.

"That's not helping," I tell her with a grin and she laughs loudly as I go to the door. I make sure to set my face in annoyance at the disruption so late at night but it changes to surprise with who is outside my door. "Chuck?" standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, Charles looks just as annoyed to be here. It isn't like him to mingle and it has been a while since we talked. He came to Pop's funeral to pay his respects but didn't stay long after he said his goodbyes. Something brushes past me and almost knocks me down when I hear Sophia call out "Keno?!"

"We need to speak," Chales says in a gruntal voice, "I feel it is important Scott is here for this conversation. Things are happening Cage, something is coming." Taking a moment to debate I move out of the way to let Charles walk inside and invite him to take a seat at the table. "Between you and me first, then I can tell Scott" I tell him and a stare down starts between the two of us as our wolves try to make the other back down.

Charles shifts and twitches in his seat at the table, his nerves are ticking the longer he forces himself to sit in my presence and in my home. He still hasn't spoken; too busy forming an exit strategy. "You said you had information, Chuck." Trying to grab his attention back to the task at hand. The sooner we can get this over with he can leave and I can take care of whoever has threatened my mate and invaded her home. Eyes dart to mine, holding on with an intense gaze. His throat tries to push out words through pressed teeth.

"I can't hear you." Clasping my hands in front of me on the table to try and ground myself.

"Charles." He snaps out the correction, "Stop calling me Chuck." Agitation presses hard against the wood walls, I'm surprised it can withstand the offence. I feel my jaw ticking and my muscles starting to tense. A moment is needed for us both to breathe. How did it ever get to this?

Deep breaths in through my nose and out of my mouth I use the opportunity of my jaw unhinging to correct my words. "Charles, can you please tell me what is going on so I can take the precautions necessary." Keeping things professional seems to be the best approach. I can hear the cracking in his neck as he moves his head from left to right. Taking a good look at him I hadn't noticed the change to him. His hair is pulled back in a messy bun and his beard has been trimmed down from the bristling bush I have come to know as Charle's face. Seems Kirsten is good for him.

Exhaling and inhaling before opening his eyes and locking with mine. "Days ago I was out of our border scouting when I came across two rogues chasing down the dog. They seriously injured him and left it to die in a mud pit about thirteen clicks north of her house." He glances over towards the couch where Sophia rests with Keno snuggled up close. "I knew those two wolves, they have never bothered with a human before, have never bothered anyone before." He talks as if they were companions.

"Who are they?" I can't keep the accusation from slipping; I need to know who is threatening my mate. Charles gives me a look for my tone but says nothing. A knock comes to the door just as I open my mouth to demand answers and I already know who it is even without the potent scent and anger forcing its way through the cracks of the door. Sophia called the moment she stopped cooing the dog, regardless of the issues going on between her and her family, they were the first ones she called. Alpha Dominic doesn't wait for an answer, pushing the door open with more force than is necessary; he allows himself into my cabin like he owns the place. Eyes scanning the room before landing on his daughter, Luca strolls in as if this is completely normal behaviour. He makes his way over to the couch and sitting in front of it, Luca gently wakes Sophia.

Soft words are spoken between them.

"You are going to tell us everything, not one detail left out," Dominic wastes no time for answers. Pulling out a chair to take a seat at the table he stares Charles down until he gets the compliance he demands. I can hear the grinding of the back molars in his mouth before he gives a curt nod. "As I told Cage. I found two rogues chasing the dog and hurting it about thirteen miles from her house." He repeats himself but he struggles to keep his tone neutral and Dominic is quick to warn with a low growl. It takes a minute but Charles looks away before continuing. "I don't know them well, just well enough. We have spoken a handful of times in the last four years. Usually, they keep to themselves and wander around hunting animals or acquiring a bit of food from the crops. Nothing worth reporting about."

"Why have they started now? Do you know where they are hiding and how many of them are there?" Dominic taps his fingers on the table as if counting down. Charles follows the movement of each fingertip as it touches the table before refocusing.

"What is your plan with them? No offence, Alpha, but I don't answer to you." Charles is playing a dangerous game. No fucks given.

"I want answers," Dominic holds a calm, cool tone as his hand stops its movement to sprawl out across the wood, "what happens to them is their own choice." His fist closes in a show of his point.

I can see the gears turn in Charles' mind as he calculates the outcome, "I will take you there tomorrow." Dominic's laugh holds a threatening edge to it and his smile is an arsenal of teeth but I don't feel we have even skimmed the full surface of the danger that lies beneath his exterior, "I will be leaving tonight, with or without you."

Charles doesn't pay any mind to what does or doesn't hide behind that jagged smile. He heads it face on with a stoned and cold look, "they don't welcome your kind."

Dominic's hand comes up to hold his chin while his eyes bore into Charles. The storm rages on. "I am surprised they bother with you then." he alludes and hints at Charles but Charles holds his ground, shoulders rolled back and held high with his chin. "We go now or I will find them myself. You have thirty minutes." It's a quick dismissal to Charles and he rises from his seat to exit without once looking back at us. When the door closes shut the alpha's eyes then turn on me. "I hope in the future you stop drowning in your own troubles to care about others. That's a good way to lose friends, Cage. Trust me." Dominic lectures me. I don't reply. I know I haven't been around much for Charles in the last two years; I was stuck in my own loss. If he is trying to scold me or make up for some past mistake, now isn't the time to do it with me. Standing he watches me in my silence, waiting, before nodding his head towards my open bedroom door. Peering in through the doorway the siblings are laying on the bed curled up with one another fast asleep. "They haven't done that in a very long time." Dominic sighs as if he is lost in a memory. I wonder how long his daughter has stayed away. Going into my room, he shakes Luca's arm gently telling him it is time to leave and he is careful not to wake his sister as he untangles himself from her. She whines out in protest as her bottom lip jets out in her sleep.

"We will be back for training in the morning and will inform you what is going on afterwards. Take her with you Cage, do not leave her here by herself. I have a feeling I know what is going on but I want to test this theory before I can make any accusations. Be careful what you say around others; you never know who is listening." Dominics warning holds a sharp edge as he glances around before looking back at me.

"If you know who it is, why not say so. Fuck these games, Dominic," the wolf has himself planted just below my skin ready to pounce. He has lost his patience with this nonsense, there will be no waiting. Dominics eye swirls as his pupil dilates and I take a moment to realise in this threatening stance between us, I have never noticed a change in their colour ever since knowing him. More wolf than man. My wolf struggles to hold his gaze but his effort is pressed and pushed against Dominics stare before hierarchy wins and my wolf teeth slip back in. "Unfortunately as a guest, my hands are tied to some degree and as a wolf who has made accusations before while I was young such as yourself, a lot of trouble came of it. The string that ties my pack to yours is thin and strained, we will not cut it entirely. What I need from you is to trust me and trust I would not put my children in any intentional danger. Keep her safe, Cage, because right now, I am trusting you," With the warning, Dominic leaves with a yawning lazy son in tow.

I hear the hum before my name slips softly past her lips and I soon forget myself while the wolf tugs us to the bed to climb in next to Sophia. She immediately tangles her legs with mine before nudging closer to my side and her soft breaths fan my neck to bring a tingling sensation to rise through my body. Rubbing my thumb along her hip I need a distraction. She deserves to rest. Trying to think back on his words I wonder if it's one of our guests that is the cause of this. Both Rufus and André seemed less than thrilled to be having Dominic's pack here.

Something isn't right.