Indigo's POV:

I'm groggy and aching when I finally regain consciousness. I feel someone dabbing lightly at my forehead with a damp cloth. I can't be bothered to move or open my eyes, so I just groan slightly.

"Indi? Are you awake?" A familiar voice asks. "Indigo!" Two other voices chorus. I slowly open my eyes, sit up and hold my head.

"Stylive? Camo? Selene? What the... what happened?"

"You have morph fatigue," Selene explains. "You need rest. You've overexerted yourself too much lately. Go to sleep."

"No, I need to get home," I argue, trying to stand up, but Selene pins me down again. "Everything is fine at the sanctuary. I asked Stylive. She says your Alpha is handling everything."

"I can't stay, let me go," I try fighting her hold but because I'm still weak she easily keeps me held down. "You're not going anywhere for a month, your Alpha said that this would happen whether you like it or not," Selene says calmly.

"He... he said that I have to stay for a whole month?" I look to Stylive and Camo, who both nod in confirmation. I want to argue, but frankly I'm still a little scared to go against Alpine after last time, so I just lower my head wordlessly.

"Indi... why are you scared of your Alpha?" Selene asks, sitting down next to me and putting her arm around me comfortingly. I sigh slightly. "I... I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, just know that you can always tell me anything," she says softly. I stay silent, staring off distantly into nothingness, tilting my head so it rests on her shoulder. She puts her hand on mine and squeezes gently.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. "Are Asher and Melanite here?" "Yes, of course," Selene confirms. "Melanite's sleeping and Asher's with Adriana. Those two have moved in together. If we're lucky I'll have some grandchildren soon."

I can't help but chuckle at that. "Don't expect any from me. I don't have time for kids or anyone that would help make them. Not to mention I can't trust them."

"You see, that's the problem," Selene says. "I want you to be happy and to be able to let other people in. Don't get me wrong, I'm very glad that you're cautious around strangers, but I want you to be able to talk to other people your age and be able to make friends and all that other teenage stuff."

"I guess I kind of have human friends," I admit. "Though I don't really do much with them." "Tell me about them," Selene seems interested. "Well... most of them are from that school I went to," I explain.

"One's a huge dork but he's cool, his betrothed is really feisty but she can be pretty nice when she wants to be. Then one of them is pretty smart and well-read, another two are annoying twins who are just idiot pranksters and finally there's the flirtatious, conceited jerk who I don't exactly consider a friend over an annoying acquaintance who tags along."

I think for a moment before deciding that I can add Heather to the list. "And then there's another girl who is also pretty fiery but she's much sweeter when she knows the people around her aren't a threat. That's pretty much it for the humans."

"And where do they stand with dragons?" Selene questioned. "If they were a threat to dragons, I would've killed them," I point out. "They ride them. They know how to handle dragons properly... most of the time. It depends on how well they know what they're dealing with, but usually they're fine."

"Fair enough," she nodded slightly. We sit there in a comfortable silence for a short while, not needing to say or do anything for now. We watch Stylive and Camo play around and listen to them chat about random things.

"Indi?" Selene asks after a while. I notice that she seems hesitant, so I grow curious. "Yes?" She turns to me and looks me dead in the eye. It's amazing how much our emerald green eyes look so alike, though her hair is a beautiful light blonde, the complete opposite of my raven black hair.

"Do you hate me?"

Her question catches me off-guard. "What?" I ask, making sure I heard correctly. "You have every right to hate me," she sighs sadly, tears slowly pricking at her eyes. "I was a horrible mother. No, I was never a mother to you. I was never there for my own daughter, then I just show up out of the blue and force so much upon you all at once and I tried to force you to stay here and then you didn't come back for ages and I-"

"Shut up before you wake up Melanite!" I cut her off. "Look, I don't hate you. I couldn't even if I wanted to. You're a dragon. I may not trust you as much as my pack or anything, but I trust you more than most people right now even after that whole 'force me to stay' stunt. The reason why I've been staying away is because... nevermind, but it's not because I hate you."

"No, tell me," she persists lightly. "Please. I want to know."

I sigh slightly. "I stayed away for many reasons. One is because I was scared. I hate the commands Alphas give. It's too much power. To be able to take someone's free will... it scares me. I know that may sound hypocritical since I strip people of their memories and stuff like that, but that's just how I feel."

"Have you ever followed through with a command?" She asks gently. "So far, only once," I answer, curling my knees up to my chest. "I understand why I was commanded the way I was, but it still scares me. You can't move. You can't speak. You can't even think. Its horrible."

I remove part of my armour and pull my shirt up just enough so she can see the wounds I got from my run-in with Toothless. "I got this in the process. That's another reason why I didn't come here for a while. It wasn't exactly comfortable to fly around or move or anything like that at first."