AN: I fell out so hard with writing because I got a job (it was 10 hours a day), and it's insane how intimidating a blank page is. Or I'm just incredibly terrible at disciplining myself which is more honest.

"What are you thinking about?"

His voice penetrates through cloudy thoughts and my eyes open to a completely new destination. I was in the woods before this. . wasn't I? Or a garden? Where is the snow?

Trying to picture it brings a sharp stinging behind my eyes, forcing me to close them against the pain, I'm therefore forced to use my other senses to figure out where I am.

The recognizable smell of charcoal and cooked meat makes my mouth water. How did I get to a barbecue? That's where I am, right?

Something tightens on my waist and I quickly glance down to see grey hands. My own hands naturally come up to rest on his but I don't speak. I'm confused but at least I can take comfort from the hands resting under mine.

In my conscious brain, I can only guess that this isn't another memory. Fighting to get the memories from my subconscious is what makes my head hurt, but as long as I don't go there I feel fine.

I push though because I need to know.

We were in the woods near my old pack, right? So why do I get a strong impression of roses? My mother wasn't a gardener.

Did I dance? Did I fucking TWIRL? I force the memory more out of curiosity and astonishment.

I was talking about my birthday and then twirled to show off my green dress. I remember this birthday but I never went into the woods, or so I thought.

Impossible. This is impossible.

Overthinking causes the pain to intensify and my brain snaps back to my present situation.

Did I pass the test?

I must've, this isn't a memory.

"Are you ignoring me love?" Will asks, nothing but plain humor in his voice.

Love? Love! Love?

I can feel my face relax then tense as I go through a gambit of emotions. My entirety tenses as he pulls me closer until I'm leaning against his chest. Every muscle loosens as if they're collectively taking a sigh of relief. Why are we so close and why does it feel as if we've done this a million times before?

Will's proximity tingles at my every sense until I force myself to break away from the comfort of his arms. I'm missing something and it's starting to anger me.

This is not a time to lose myself to fury.

As I turn to face him, my surroundings become clearer and disbelief sets in.

I'm here?

"Yes. We've been home for two weeks now. Are you okay Bex?" Concern shines through Will's eyes as he tilts up my head to get a better look at my confused face.

"You heard that?" I ask him knowing I didn't say anything aloud until now.

"Bex, why are you so confused? There's a fog in your mind I can't get through. Do you want to lay down so we can find its origin?" His face is so open with genuine care for me that my eyes slightly cloud over with tears.

The thought sounds sublime but somehow I know that we'll never get to it.

"Why not?" His question throws me until I remember my last thought.

"I don't know but I just have this feeling." I answer him honestly and his concern grows.

"Let's go talk to the Alpha, maybe he'll know what's happened." Even though he says it as a statement, Will doesn't move a muscle until I give my approval.

What happened to the Will that made my blood boil? The fae that burned through my numb haze with one look and brought out a savage bloodlust?

Will holds my hand as we walk through groups of wolves and suddenly laughs. While laughing he pulls me to the fence surrounding the backyard. No one is really hanging around the perimeter so we have a meter and more of privacy.

He pulls me close, so close that our chests are touching. Will doesn't stop there, instead he gets closer still as he tilts his head effectively having us cheek to cheek. His lips move near my ear and I can't stop the shivers that run through my body.

"I'm that same fae, puppy eyes. I just make sure that glorious rage of yours burns only when we're alone."

The insinuation in his voice freezes me in ways his cold never can.

Did we...? Have we...?

Will doesn't give me time to think any of what he's saying through before kissing me. The little shocks I've received from his gentle touches were so familiar that I ignored them.

There's no way I can ignore the explosion that takes place when his lips touch mine.

I give little resistance before melting into his arms. The heat rising in my blood makes it impossible to tense.

There's no thought as I shift impossibly closer and bring my arms up, one to wrap around his neck while the other plunges into Will's impossibly soft hair.

Every sense is so engrossed with Will that I'm completely startled by the clearing of a throat right beside us. I try to jump into a fighting stance but Will's grip only allows me to turn.

We stand staring at each other until he realizes that I just won't speak. What could I possibly say to a living, breathing ghost?

"Are you alright sweetheart? I know I interrupted you two but no father wants to see that." My dad chuckles lightly while I continue to stare. His gaze never leaves mine as he watches my shock.

"Will." The Alpha takes his eyes off me to get answers from the fae. He doesn't even need to form the question, just saying Will's name asks them all.

"I don't know. We were talking and its suddenly like she doesn't remember anything. We were on our way to you, then I figured our connection will burn through whatever was cast. Apparently it didn't." Will doesn't sound to broken up about his failed tactic.

"Hmmm. This isn't good. To put her in this state, the hunters must be close."

"Hunters?" I mummer confused then realizing that I actually don't care.

I'm staring at my dad again! He looks older but the years have only been kind in terms of his few deep wrinkles, his once dark brown hair is littered with grey giving away that he is older than his face portrays. The Alpha still has his strong build with muscles solidified from years of continued use, it's almost like nothing's changed. The joy of seeing him expands in my chest so much that I feel like it'll burst.

Before I can talk myself down, I'm pushing to hold him. My grip is so tight that he grunts his discomfort but outwardly says nothing.

The men continue talking but I don't focus on their words. Right now I feel like a child again, being held after I've had a bad nightmare and here my dad is to chase away the darkness. His voice soothes the pain that wants to surface. I bury my face into his chest to wipe away the few tears that escape.

I nearly collapse when my dad asks me whats wrong. How am I suppose to tell him that he died right in front of me so many years ago?

Thinking about it brings back rational thought but I refuse to question why my dead father is here holding me. I refuse to question why intimately touching Will feels as natural to me as breathing.

I refuse to question why I'm standing in the backyard of my childhood home when my last true sense of reality places me in a field somewhere on The Isle.

"You need to go to the woods." My dad's voice rumbles and I hold ever tighter. Every other time I thought of his voice brought on unspeakable pain, now I only feel jubilation.

"She refused." Will doesn't elaborate and I instinctively know it's because to him it's just that cut and dry.

My dad looks down to me but I keep my cheek pressed to his chest. I have no idea why this other me didn't want to go but I'm glad she stuck around.

A deep sigh leaves my dad's airway and he removes one arm from around me to push his hair back. The frustration is clear but that doesn't stop him from wrapping his arm around me again.

He always knew when I needed to be held and now is no different.

"Well, we'll have to-"

A gut wrenching scream brings a heavy dread onto my shoulders. I almost refuse to let my dad go and I can tell his reluctancy matches mine.

This feels like another goodbye.

Numerous other screams follow the first and I'm gently pushed from one pair of strong arms into another pair but these cause my skin to tingle.

"We need to leave!" Will shouts above the sounds of fighting.

I turn back and my dad is no where to be seen. I shake my head in disbelief, he was just here.

"Daddy!" I scream in vain, ignoring whatever Will is trying to bellow.

I spot him fighting some figures in black, he gives just as good as he gets but they're starting to win. Other wolves are fighting, some dying as silver blades pierce their hearts. I only vaguely recognize many them as my old pack members.

Pulling away from Will is hard but my focus stays on my dad. I can't lose him again.

Somehow I duck and dodge my way past the figures surrounding him and we end up side by side.

"You were supposed to run!" The Alpha yells as he punches a hooded face.

"I couldn't fight before but I can now." I don't yell because it's not important that he understands what I mean.

The fight lasts for a while but for every one we knock over, another two takes their place. My limbs feel the strain but my constant runs and training have prepared me for this.

I can do this for a while still.

Fighting three opponents takes all my focus so I don't notice an arrow going straight for my heart until it's too late. I stupidly turn more into it but even as I move to grab it, I know I'm too late.

Suddenly a grey hand snatches the projectile.

"Pay attention!" Will yells.

I move to acknowledge him but then I see a dark metal knife coming down fast. Instinct has me pushing Will to the ground while I slide forward effectively disarming his would be attacker. Our struggle is only a second and it manages a slight cut to my skin but the knife is made of iron.

My skin heals immediately but Will's wouldn't have.

They have both silver and iron. What the hell?

Our eyes connect and I know Will hears me.

'Of course they have both, they're here for us after all.'

A deep scream breaks my gaze, I know that voice.

Sure enough I spin to see my dad being loaded down with silver chains.

"No!"

I don't even move a muscle before an incredibly searing pain tears my senses apart.

"Bex!"

I don't even notice that I'm on the ground until I open my eyes and see Will fighting his way toward me. I open my mouth to warn him but only a scream comes out as a dark mesh of metal covers him.

He's immediately brought down as his flesh burns.

I scream again only for the agony of my furious movement to effectively knock me out cold.

~

As I drift in between awake and asleep I feel my body being carried, dragged, and finally dropped.

The air rushing from my lungs wakes me like a jolt of coffee.

Why did they bring us here?

I look around at the clearing, puzzled. How did they get us to The Isle without anyone objecting to so many wolves being bound in silver?

It wasn't just wolves. A voice snaps at me.

Will.

Just as I think about him, we connect eyes and he's exactly parallel from me.

All the way across the clearing.

Blood coats his body along with a deep pattern matching the mesh they threw over his tall frame. He no longer has it over him but a collar with connecting restraints. I don't have to look hard to know that they're made of iron.

I can see agony in his gaze but also a fierceness I don't understand.

Save him! The same voice commands.

It wasn't until now that I notice that I'm in the exact same shackles as Will. I don't feel the pain until I look down at my bindings, it nearly has me blacking out again.

"Bex of the wolves. Will of the fae. You are both found guilty of fraternizing. How do you plead?" A voice booms as if coming from all sides.

Will says nothing and I keep my mouth shut.

Is this seriously happening? I knew intermingling was a death sentence but...

"How do you plead?" The voice rises bringing a sharp pain to my eardrums but it doesn't snap me out of my incredulous state.

I glance at Will and watch him spit out blood looking pissed yet unconcerned.

"We accept your collective silence as an admission of guilt." As the voice continues, I'm forced from my sprawled position into a chair that wraps silver braces along my forearms.

The silver collar, handcuffs, and ankle shackles weren't enough? I don't even want to think about how much damage my flesh has suffered that it'll never truly heal from.

I groan in pain but it's the only sound I allow past my lips.

"What you two have done goes against our very natures. The punishment is death, not only to for you both but for any that have supported this atrocity." The disgust is clear but I don't focus on that.

Those who've supported...

He's pulled up to his feet for all to see. Even before our eyes connect, I'm doing everything I can to get out of this damned chair.

"Alpha, how do you plead to aiding these criminals?"

Our eyes lock and I'm still thrashing around even as black dots cloud my vision.

"No!"

He was already dead. The voice has a deep sadness but the words are harsh.

"Weather the storm Bex, keep your eyes open to catch the North star." He says this to me and I cant control my screaming now.

Pain, all I know is pain. Emotional and physical.

I see hands reaching up to his neck but I keep fighting.

His eyes don't leave mine.
There's nothing but love in his gaze. No fear, no resentment.

*SNAP*

Beautiful brown eyes that I inherited roll to the back of his head and pure anguish reigns once again.

"Daddy!"

His body drops to the ground and the thud of it impacts me like a hole was just punched through my chest.

I've lost him not once, but twice.

Nothing but infinite darkness sweeps over my vision and this time I know that even if Jenni were here, even she can't stop what's coming.