I stirred the ingredients in the bowl with a sort of tense concentration. When I’d woken up, remembering the obviously good cookies of the night before, as well as some – other events that had also transpired, I had to fight the urge to shriek aloud. No, not in frustration, but more in shock. Yeah, shock and glee. Too much glee.

It was the odd equivalent of a fangirl meeting that which they were a fan of. It was that. On another level, because it wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t, because it had actually happened. I knew, for a fact, because the plate had still been in my room when I woke up.

Fallyn… his precious lips had actually collided with mine, of his own will. They made contact. He initiated, after I gave the go-ahead.

He actually…

Fallyn kissed me and I wasn’t prepared for it! Urgh. I had been a total stiff board the whole, like three seconds it happened.

Terrible, I thought to myself as I stirred with renewed strength, just plain terrible.

Bad, Elizabeth, bad.

I gave him permission and then I wasn’t ready for it to actually happen, though, I suppose… I never actually stated if I would participate or not, just that he could. I wanted to smack myself at those thoughts.

Nobody wants to kiss a board.

I was the board.

I sighed, staring down into the bowl. It was mixed as well as my feelings.

‘Twas definitely a day of sighs.

I didn’t get to see Fallyn at all. He and Dad didn’t even eat with everyone else. And then, me, being a scaredy-cat, went off to the library to hide from him in case I’d see him outside my window and turn into a pile of mush tomato. Again.

It was fine, though. I had a different kind of distraction in there. Getting my daily jobs out of the way, I plopped down into the chair, tucking my legs up under me, and opened the journal again.

I’d looked up the character on the front. It meant Jade. I took a not-so-wild guess that it was the name of the one who owned the journal, the one who wrote it.

As I started reading, I became engrossed in the words once more…

Sometimes the weight of the world crushes you, and sometimes, it carries you away in something akin to invisible cuffs. It drags you back home, it drags you away from your happiness and you’re left gazing out the window in remembrance of those times… of the warm hand grabbing yours… or his smile…

His laugh.

Would I ever get to see him again?

Would I ever get to see Fallyn again?

In my mind, he seemed as far away as Ryuu was to Jade in this. They’d had to part, just when they’d found each other, truly found each other… it was so sad. Maybe though, it was because I was pushing myself into their shoes again. I’d imagined myself as Jade, Fallyn as Ryuu… parting like the day Fallyn and I separated for years…

I feared it might happen again…

Shaking myself free of those thoughts, I continued to read.

Betrothal?

The meetings. It had to be. They chose it then. I can’t live like this, though. Nothing should be keeping us apart, and yet everything is. Our stupid families… Unite the countries and peoples – yeah right. This was just to keep me in line.

Because I’m different. I’m… not like them. Either of them…

They were forcing a betrothal on her?! How dare they try to control her heart! She’s supposed to be with Ryuu–

But… what did she mean by being different from either of them…

Either of who?

How?

After my attempted escapes… and one successful message to Ryuu, they locked me up. I’m going to try and do all I can, but despite my confidence and assurance I gave him, with a meeting place in mind, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to convince them to let me go.

I was desperately holding onto the journal now. Life couldn’t possibly throw all of this horror at her and not give her something good, right? Things had to get better… they just – they had to.

Right?

I can’t get up.

I heard chanting in my sleep last night.

Did someone… put some kind of spell on me?

Partial paralysis?

Why?

Betrayal. This was just complete and utter betrayal. Those people who said they cared about her – they didn’t, did they? She was just a tool to them, a pawn. The only one who cared was Ryuu…

But she didn’t make it to the meeting. She didn’t make it, so…

How could he find her?

I fell asleep and woke up in the Western part of the world. This place isn’t like home. Not mine or Ryuu’s. How far have they taken me in this attempt to break us apart?

I tried reason. I tried to run.

Why is it that fate shuns us like this?

Why is it that I can’t see him again?

Why must it be this unfair?

I’ve chewed my fingernails again with these nerves.

Western part of the world? Here. She’d ended up bringing the journal with her, and she’d likely left it here herself. But why? Why was any of this happening to her? There had to be some other motive she didn’t know about. It couldn’t just be about splitting them up. Someone was seriously plotting something. But… was it to get back at her, or at Ryuu?

Or…

Was it not connected to them at all? What if they’d just chosen the most convenient person?

We created these wolves… human wolf shifters… Why is it that I feel barely controllable rage whenever I meet their eyes? Whenever I hear them move or listen to them talk? I don’t understand it, as they’ve done nothing to me. Unless, this is how we all feel?

I tried to shift in order to leave, but they’ve stopped me again. I can’t shift without their permission anymore.

I still have the jade necklace Ryuu gave me. They almost took it, but I was sneaky. They didn’t find it. It’s like a lifeline in these dark times, and I don’t want to lose it to the witches I’m losing trust in. The High Witch is here… and she shouldn’t be.

And now, I’ve put a spell on it. The only ones who can touch it now are me and Ryuu.

Witches…

She was a part of… Jade was a witch herself, wasn’t she?

What’s with this thing on creating wolves?

Hold up.

Didn’t she say she could shift? Was she a hybrid of some sort, like Ashena and her two siblings?

Part witch… part wolf…

I brushed the tip of my finger across the words she’d written.

The High Witch was their leader. This was something that important, enough for her to come? Clearly, Jade saw it as a problem, as a warning. Why would their leader come here?

And when exactly was this written?

It seemed old enough that nobody was still alive from the wolf shifters of that time, but not beyond the time that wolf shifters came into existence. Problem was… I didn’t have an accurate year on that.

Guestimate… within the last 200 years or so, as a guess, of when this was written. It wasn't like I had a degree in how to date things, it was just that this specific kind of journal was made in a 150-year timeframe. And then they stopped making it altogether about 60 years ago. I knew that random information, because sometimes I would just, in a spur of the moment deal, look things up.

First problem… is that this was likely covered up into an entirely different event. Or not written down at all.

There was nothing like this mentioned in the history books I’d combed through. The records were all pretty clear. There was no mention of witches coming here. No mention of Jade’s existence. If there was, I would’ve put the pieces together already, and I would know the outcome of this.

But I didn’t.

Unless…

I flew across the room to the entry records. Those were generally pretty accurate. They didn’t erase things, just crossed them through with a line. Every single thing written on those pages stayed.

I was getting an odd feeling about this whole thing. I had the suspicion these events was covered up after the fact somehow.

I reached eagerly for the oldest collection, only to hesitate.

Wait… would they have immediately covered it up, with the number of people who know the events and can put them back in the books if they were found missing, or would they come back later?

I shifted the direction of my reach and pulled the newest one. I flipped it open.

This was…

The one that was compiled during… the last Northern Alpha’s reign.

I started at the beginning. I ignored the thoughts that arose in my mind, on completely unrelated notes, and flipped through. I didn’t have to go far. My fingers landed on a single entry. A visit from a small group of witches. They didn’t even stay the night. That might’ve been fine, had there not been the scribbled out note that they’d come without notice.

That, in itself was very suspicious. Very.

Without notice. And…

The name of the person who greeted them was also there. I froze when I saw it.