“Okay, that’s all for today. You can head back to Leyra’s house for now. She might send you back here for dinner, though, so don’t get too comfy there,” Evander said.

“Yes, sir,” Fox said. He looked around and discovered that he didn’t really have a clue on where to go to get back to the Alphas’ houses. “Which- which way do I go?” he asked.

Evander pointed at a worn path in the trees. Fox was noticing a pattern with that, too. “Just take that all the way there. It’s not too far. This place and our houses are kept fairly close, mainly so we can keep a close eye on all of you and so we can get here quickly if anything happens.”

Fox nodded again, and he set off back to Leyra’s house. He glanced over his shoulder once to see Evander talking with the Betas on guard. He allowed himself to jog instead of walk, hoping to get away from Evander as soon as possible. It hurt his bruised legs, but he pushed through it.

It didn’t take very long at all for him to run down the path and reach the other side of the trail, which opened up into the field holding the four big houses. Fox looked around, and he realized that this trail and the trail to the prison holes weren’t too far apart from each other. This pack made sure that if they needed to move their lone wolves around, it wouldn’t have to be far, and they wouldn’t get a chance to see the territory or have time to escape. 

Fox was a little relieved by the close proximity, though. If he ever did get moved to the bunkers and someone, maybe Seb, ever tried to hurt him, a loud enough commotion wouldn’t go unnoticed by the Alphas. He was partially glad that Betas were posted at the bunkers, too. 

Fox made his way across the field to Leyra’s house. As he grew closer, he noticed Sunshine tending to a bed of wildflowers beside their backyard porch. He grew a little anxious at the sight of her, recalling her easy friendliness. 

Sunshine straightened up and took off her gardening gloves, reaching beside her to grasp a bottle of water. She must’ve heard or smelled Fox coming, because she turned just enough to look behind her. She finished her sip of water and smiled at Fox. The gesture came so readily that Fox was momentarily stunned. After spending all day with Alpha Evander, meeting Sunshine’s radiance was almost like experiencing emotional whiplash.

“Hello, Fox,” she greeted, waving. Fox inclined his head a bit.

“Hello ma’am,” he replied. He stepped carefully around Sunshine’s garden, avoiding her beds of vegetables and arrangements of flowers. Fox looked around at her handiwork, her garden a mix of aesthetic flowers, vegetables, and berry bushes. There were stones arranged in small paths around her landscaping, partially overgrown with moss and clover. Fox took a deep breath in, a myriad of pleasant smells filling his lungs.

“You have a beautiful garden,” he told her. She smiled wider. Fox was closer now, and her smile lessened a little as she took in the sight of his battered body. Fox avoided her gaze.

“Thank you. It’s my pride and joy,” she replied. Fox went over to the back porch and sat down on one of the steps, unsure if he was allowed to go inside on his own.

Sunshine was taking a look at her work in the backyard, probably trying to see it through a newcomer’s eyes. She turned to him. “How was your day with Evander?” she asked. Fox pulled up his shoulders and tucked his hands under his legs.

“It was…” he searched for the right word. ‘Good’ would be a lie, ‘okay’ didn’t feel right, and ‘bad’ was an overstatement. “It could’ve been worse,” Fox admitted quietly, looking down at his shoes.

Sunshine hummed. “He’s pretty hard on you lone wolves. But I think your manners will help keep him off your back for most of your time here. You behaved?”

Fox nodded. He was acutely aware of his bandaged shoulder and scratched chest and bruised limbs. It definitely could’ve been worse if he was the same as the other loners.

“Leyra is still out. You can stay out here with me, if you’d like,” Sunshine offered. Fox liked the comfort and relaxation her garden provided, so he nodded again.

For a while Sunshine worked, picking off dying leaves or ripping up weeds that could potentially kill her flowers, and pinching harmful bugs. Fox watched the sky as he noticed it began to sprinkle again.

“Does it rain a lot here?” he asked at one point.

Sunshine turned her gaze to the sky, smiling at the pileup of dark clouds. “It sure does. Snows a lot, too. I love the rain.”

Fox only loved it when he wasn’t caught in it, when he had a warm and securely covered shelter. But he enjoyed its smell and its sound, and when it was hot out, he enjoyed when it came and cooled him down.

A wave of nostalgia tried to bring certain memories back to the forefront of Fox’s mind, but he shoved them away. He couldn’t let that sadness take over him. Not until he was alone, at least.

He took a deep breath and sighed. It must’ve had a certain tone or air to it, because Sunshine looked at him. Fox avoided her gaze again.

“Do you know what it is I do here, besides garden?” she asked lightly. Fox shook his head. “I’m a therapist.”

Fox became a little tense. “I’ve tried to offer therapy to the other lone wolves, but they don’t trust me enough to let themselves be vulnerable around me. Or they simply don’t want to dig up their past, or they don’t want to get better. If you need to, you can talk to me. If you think it will help,” Sunshine said.

Fox swallowed and fidgeted with his pants under his legs, picking at them. He had tried opening up to people before, but time and time again they proved to him that they didn’t care, or they would use his past to take advantage of him. He had given up on talking about his past and his problems. He had learned that it was safer to keep everything to himself.

But Fox was also stuck here. He couldn’t leave, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get the nerve to try. He was still scared of these Alphas and what they could do to him. Fox was tired of pain, and wanted to avoid it as much as he could. 

If he was going to spend a lot of time here, he might have to open up at some point. There were some things about him that the Alphas might need to know later on, or if he ever wanted to give friends a chance again, he’d have to talk. He’d have to talk about himself.

“Do you care?” Fox asked. He didn’t ask it rudely, just genuinely. He wasn’t going to waste his breath and his feelings if Sunshine was just fulfilling a job and not actually listening to help him.

“I care about every single one of my patients. Every person is an embodiment of a story, and stories deserve to be told, and they deserve to be heard. And with every story, you grow to care about the characters within them. Especially the main one,” Sunshine said. She sat back on her heels and smoothed her skirt down her thighs, resting her palms there. “I care about stories an awful lot. I care about yours.”

Fox raised his head to meet her eyes. She stared back, kindness and patience etched in every curve of her face. Her brown eyes were warm, and her hands looked gentle, and she exuded such calmness it almost unsettled Fox. Fox thought the little raindrops caught in the coils of her hair looked like glitter, or like stars in a night sky. Maybe she was an angel.

Another unexpected wave of nostalgia hit him. It was so strong that his breath stuttered and he felt the sting of tears under his eyes. 

There had once been someone he could talk to all the time, about anything, about everything. The two of them would talk and listen in turn, give input or laugh or be astounded together. Fox had not talked to her in a long time, and he often wished he could. 

He lifted a hand and pressed his wrist to his mouth, an effort to hide its brief tremble from Sunshine. But she could clearly see that Fox had been hit with an intense emotion, because her face softened even more. 

“What are you feeling right now?” she asked sympathetically.

Fox’s lips parted. He struggled to decide on whether he should say it. He wanted to. He really, really wanted to.

“I…” he looked at Sunshine. She seemed so readily open to accept what he was going to say. It wasn’t often that someone was so willing to listen to him.

“Can I think about it? Your therapy,” he asked. 

Sunshine’s visage briefly grew disappointed, but then morphed into understanding. “Of course,” she responded. “I’ll be here when you’re ready. And that can be whenever, Fox. Whenever you need me.”

Fox could only nod in response. He struggled to shove his rocky emotions back down under calm waters, but it helped that Sunshine didn’t pressure him, and instead went back to tending her garden. The sprinkling rain turned a little more steady, but it wasn’t enough to send them inside, so Fox focused on breathing in the damp smell of the earth and tried to stay present in the moment.