Aegis stayed in her room, she was now officially part of the Forest Dew Pack with her surviving family, she stared in the mirror, she wasn’t sure when the change occurred since she hadn’t dared look at herself…

She blamed herself… for being so weak… for having been a coward to run when she could have stayed and fought… maybe Tristan would have been alive… if she went to find him and then tried to escape together…

Holding her hand over her right eye, then her left… hazel with a golden and silvery hue dancing in between … She couldn’t remember well how her eyes had looked before, but according to what Aiden had told her before, this was almost her old eye color… almost…

It had almost been a month since the attack… Everyone was mostly apologetic and sympathizing with her and her family… but… Valerie was already spreading the blame to Aegis, convincing everyone it was Aegis fault.

Since she wasn’t fourteen yet, she was still able to be a ‘kid’, but how? She was so ingrossed in her training that now having nothing to do, nothing to distract her with, all she could do was recall seeing her precious little brother… dead… it wasn’t fair that she was still alive…

The times she was out of her ‘room’, her brothers ignored her. Harold wasn’t there still continuing his studies abroad. He first shifted when he turned fourteen and didn’t have a problem ‘controlling’ his wolf side, he had always been very calm and rational, and there was very little that could rile him, she was sure if he was here though he’d have at least talked to her, she’d have someone to talk to, and finally… hopefully… release the self-hate that she was piling up in her heart. But then again… he had never tried to reach out to her in the last few years… Was she not important to him anymore? Her mind constantly taking the little good she could think of and turning it against her.

She found herself wondering into the kitchen, the cook staring at her, waiting for her to realize he was watching her… She stood in front of the open fridge door, letting out all the cold… She sighed and closed the door, leaning her head on it.

“Want to help make lunch?” The cook said gaining her attention.

“I really could use the help.” She nodded and rolled up her sleeves, shocked the cook saw the slight light pink marks that decorated her arm, the cuts she sustained while practicing with her father, still healing.

“What happened?” He asked thinking it was something that happened more recently. New tears formed as memories came to mind.

“Training with Dad… I miss him…” Her voice was a whisper, she missed the dad from her childhood memories that had become hazy, but she could still recall the warmth and love she felt then…

“You take this long to heal?” He realized, and saw her nod.

“At least you have something to remember him by.” He tried to cheer her up, it must have worked because each day Aegis found herself heading to the kitchen where she’d help the cook, Mr. Davis. Because he found she didn’t eat much with the rest of the pack staying at the Pack-House, he had started making sandwiches for them to enjoy in the kitchen instead of eating with the others.

“How’s this? It’s my newest creation, he handed her a plate. The bread was fried in the pan with a nutty butter he had made himself, filled with cheese, spring onions and spiced with some paprika. Taking a bite she gave him a thumbs-up.

“Want more?” He asked, his already in the pan, and the and four loafs of bread already on the cutting board waiting for him to prep.

“Can I ask you to prepare dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow morning? I’m heading into town to buy some ingredients, and will be staying the night in town.”

“Sure.” She said after swallowing the last bite. Her mood was slightly better, Mr. Davis had noted, glad that he could get her mind off of the attack. Knowing what he knows… her having been left alone by her brothers, staring at the corpses of her family… It was something no child as young as she should have been left to witness…

And it didn’t help that it seemed the rest of her family hated her. He had tried together with the Luna and Doctor Loretta to have her form some kind of bond with Clara, but after Aaron had snatched the babe from her arms, threatening her… The girl refused to come close to the small thing to the point that as soon as she saw Luna Brea, she’d make a b-line in the opposite direction, avoiding any confrontation with anyone that was ‘close’ the Clara.

To avoid her trying to bypass him, too Loretta and Brea had asked him not to try and sway her, rather to act as a sort of refuge for her – the kitchen being the only place the girl allowed herself to smile even just a little.

Aegis was preparing dinner when Valerie barged into the kitchen. Her grin was more than enough to warn Aegis that her sister was up to no good, following in right behind was her mate. But Aegis didn’t seem to recognize him, well seeing as she had never met him before and had somehow been able to avoid being alone with Valerie in the same room for the last three months – it was a miracle.

“Well if it isn’t the cursed monster that killed Mom.” Valerie growled.

“You mean this your sister you were telling me about?” The guy asked.

“Yes, the one with the cursed red eye…” Valerie finally noticing that Aegis’ eyes were ‘normal’.

“But it seems she found a way to hide it… little witch…” Valerie hissed.

“It can’t be too hard to get her to show her true colors.” Matthew stepped closer, his grin filled with malice. Aegis ran to grab a knife to fight him off, but he was faster, grabbing her arm and dragging her to the stove she had just turned on to get the plate heated.

“Now…” He planted Aegis hand on the plate, it was already warm, but not enough to burn her.

“Either you show me that eye of your or we do this the hard way.” He smug grin sending chills down Aegis’ spine.

“I don’t know how…” Aegis flinched feeling the plate getting hotter…

“That’s a shame.” He grinned, Aegis tried to pull away squirming and kicking to get away, but he only wrapped his free arm around her waist securing her free arm in place.

“Aaaaaaaaa!!!” Aegis screamed alerting the whole Pack-house that something was wrong. Throwing her out of the kitchen door, others were already gathering in the dining room. Trying to stand up Aegis opened her eyes just as the door swung close and she saw a small fire start in the kitchen.

“What were you thinking?” Valerie snapped a small smile playing on the corner of her mouth as the man that threw her out of the kitchen ran back to ‘smother the flames. And then come back out only to see Aegis’ eyes change ever so slightly… her left eye half red and half gold before it started to fade, turning back to gold then a plain hazel color, none of the beautiful colors in it any longer… But it was enough time for plenty of the other to have witnessed.

“She’s cursed…” Some of the voice spread across the room. She could distinctively hear a few blaming her for the attack… She lowered her head, not daring to move a muscle.

“What happened?” Alpha Rodrick bellowed having heard the scream and then the murmurs in the room as he entered.

“Aegis wasn’t paying attention to the stove and started a small fire.” Valerie started explaining.

“I’m just so glad Matthew and I arrived in time, he saved her… but her eyes… it... it... it turned... red…” Valerie said acting scared and frightened. She really knows how to be a ‘queen’.

“Is this true?” Aegis just kept her head low, she wasn’t paying any mind to what was going on around her, trying to get the voices in her head to shut-it…

He turned to his mate, Luna Brea seeming confused by it all as well. She had seen Aegis’s eye turning partially to red, but it was only for a brief moment, whether Valerie was speaking the truth of how the events unfolded she couldn’t be too sure, she had just arrived a few seconds before him.

Sitting on her bed, in the attic while Loretta bandaged her burned hand, she wanted to ask her for the truth, but something told her it wasn’t going to be that simple.

“Someone else will make breakfast in the morning so you don’t have to worry about it. Also Luna Brea wants to talk with you, just spend some time with you, will you join her for breakfast?” Aegis shook her head, it was the last thing she wanted, she didn’t need to ‘talk’ to anyone.

“I have my own little cottage, maybe you’d want to stay there instead of in this cramped space?” She asked and again Aegis shook her head.

“I see… I understand; you want to be left alone, but that isn’t always the best choice, just promise me you’ll think about it? I promise you I’ll give you your space. It’s just so you can have a proper space to call your own…” Loretta said when she was finished pathing her up.