Those In The Forest

Part 44: Rose

We all sat outside on one of the sheets we kept hanging outside of the cabin. Reagan said she wanted to get out of the house because Karina and Celia's sex noises were starting to become too much.

          After yesterday, when she confessed her love for us, things have been... tense. Not necessarily uncomfortable, but we can all tell there is more to discuss. But I know that won't happen right now, and I'm kind of glad.

          Yesterday was a lot to take in. We pressured her into saying she loved us, and it felt... off. What was worse is she told us she was scared to love us. Her reasons for being scared are completely valid, and that hurts even more.

          We all sat around her, watching her as she lay on her back, staring up into the sky past the tree branches and leaves that mushed together.

          Glancing at my other mates, they gave me a look that told me they wanted me to break the silence. What could I talk about that won't result in an argument or her crying again? I cannot bear to see her cry. Watching her sob into Iris's chest broke me.

          Last night while sleeping... well, trying to sleep, I could feel Hazel beside me overthinking. She feels terrible about what happened. I know she does. I wish I could make her realize that she isn't at fault for all of this.

          Sitting up a little straighter, I cleared my throat. "I really need to know how you haven't been losing your mind here," I said with a nervous chuckle. "I mean, you've been stuck here in the woods with us without interacting with anyone else. I would think you would be on the brink of a panic attack. I was when we went to your apartment. Even just being in the car, I was overstimulated looking at the city."

          There was a question in there, right? I wasn't just talking to talk?

          Glancing at my mates, I realized I may have said and or asked the right thing.

          Reagan turned away from the view above her and over to me. "I never minded seclusion. Growing up in the foster care system, you learn to be alone. You have to, or it hurts too bad to get through the day." Reagan said, looking away from me and back at the sky.

          Her life has been filled with nothing but pain and suffering. It was the best thing that the universe brought her to us. We are what she needs—a mating bond or not. Us being together, I believe, was inevitable.

          This is making me feel worse about yesterday.

          "Do you know anything about your parents?" Ivy asked after a minute.

          Hazel just sat and remained silent. I hated it.

          "Other than my father being Chinese and my mother being Scandinavian, I know nothing." Reagan pursed her lips.

          Iris hummed. "That explains the blue eyes with Asian features. I was really confused when I saw you."

          Reagan laughed. "Yeah, it seems some of my mother's recessive genes put in some overtime."

          "Growing up in the foster care system, did you ever feel... confused about your culture?" Hazel finally spoke up, and I was glad for it.

          Reagan took a long, deep breath. "No," she said plainly. We remained quiet to see if she would explain. "When I was about twelve, I did notice that the foster families I ended up with never looked like me, but I didn't care. After a while, being half-Chinese didn't mean much to me because I had no connection to it."

          While she wanted what she said to sound like she didn't care, I could hear the sorrow in her voice.

          "Lennox and I are Vietnamese. That's why I believe she was so close with my mother." Iris started. "Lennox told me that our packs immigrated here to America because a group of people discovered our kind in Vietnam and hunted us for sport. This was before I was born, of course. Lennox said that before she was in her twenties, she had watched her pack being hunted and slaughtered by them. She and a few others managed to make it here in Washington. Some of those that came with Lennox ventured off to other places in America, but the core group stayed here in Washington."