Teristha sighed as she slid into her bed, dark ochre eyes scanning the room. The twins, Maddilyn and Maxith, had decided to spend the night in a little nest that Rennik had constructed when they first moved into to the small apartment. She reached up and pulled one of the pillows into an embrace, nuzzling her nose into the fabric as she let out another sigh. Sleep would not come easily to the female worgen, but in all honesty it never had. The life she had trained her to be a light sleeper so much that even the act of falling asleep proved difficult.

Of course, she would admit this to no one; they already had enough cause for concern without her adding more emotional baggage. Deep within the shadowed recesses of her mind she knew the truth. She was jealous of them, jealous of how easy their lives appeared or how easily they seemed to shrug of difficulties of the past. She would shift slightly as her thoughts drifted to Rennik and Dahliah. The mere idea of Dahliah moving in was mind boggling. That someone who barely knew wanted to help her with what Teristha was going through, and yet was going through hardships of her own? The only people who ever offered to help Teristha through her most difficult moments were those who were obligated to do so, but Dahliah held no such burden. Teristha’s mind continued to wander, or did she? It’s not as if the women disliked Dahliah, one would say she was even fond of the Gilnean women.

Teristha shuddered as she continued to think deeper. It was unlikely that Rennik had told her about his father, and she understood why. It was hard enough to tell her own son about what happened that night, and who would be proud to have someone like that as a father anyway? No, that did not bother Teristha so much as the feeling of betrayal; that she was still lying to her son about one thing. She would have to tell him eventually. The woman couldn’t continue hating her parents for their actions eighteen years ago forever; she would have to let go of the past at some point and that would involve telling the truth. The truth was that they turned their backs on their daughter when she needed them most. That they rejected her pleas as mere fabrications to protect herself and even worse tossed her out to fend for herself. Teristha growled as she continued to fight her own mind’s wandering, in her parents’ defense they did allow her to stay through the winter though she would have longed for some degree of freedom.

A few days passed without incident, after a while the girl even forgot the traumatic events. She sat up and looked up at the window. What was once her only avenue of escape had been sealed off, turning her room into a sort of prison. Her father, a tough man by the name of Cigurd, had found out about her little adventure. She grudgingly accepted her punishment, not saying a word about the man in the clearing.

A few weeks had passed, and the young woman, though by most accounts she was still a child, was in her bed. The girl groaned, her stomach felt as if it had turned inside itself. Her stomach wasn’t the only reason she was miserible, tomorrow was the day she was to meet with her suitors, least the ones her parents approved of. Although she relished the thought of meeting other people, she knew deep down that her opinion meant nothing. She rolled over and glared at the dress she was to wear.  It wasn’t the style but the color, a bright pink, that she did not like. She even told her mother that and still the girl would have to wear it, and if the girl couldn’t trust her parents to listen to her choice of color… her input tomorrow will have little effect.

On the other side of the house, a very different thought process took place. The event the next was would be post-poned until Teristha felt better.

Weeks passed into months before Teristha recovered, unfortunately the girl refused to smile and the dress was suddenly to small for her.

The girl grimaced as she tried on the dress. Her mother, a rather stately woman named Khirsta, spoke in a concerned tone, “Is something wrong, child?” She frowned as the girl did not respond, turning to the maid trying to dress Teristha.

The maid scowled, “She’s a bit too big around the waist now, and…”

Khirsta interrupted the maid, “Then make the adjustments,”

“Mom! Can’t,” the girl began to protest but was cut off by a stern glance from her mother.

“Lady Khirsta? May I have a word?” the maid spoke in a soft voice.

“Very well,” Khirsta responded. “Don’t run away, okay dear?”

“Like I could,” the girl grumbled as both mother and maid left the room.

Teristha wasn’t sure what had happened, but her mother seemed very flustered. The day after she was summoned to her father’s study..

He explained that, he explained, in rather harsh terms, that the girl’s choices had force them to act. Cigurd tried to calm the girl down by saying that she would be able to stay until the warmer spring days of the next year. This knowledge was of no comfort to the girl who tried to explain about the man in the woods, Her father scolded the girl in brutal terms, saying that she was just protecting herself from the consequnces.

After that meeting, Teristha was kept in her room. Then, on September fifth, her child was born, a boy whom she later named Rennik. Her mother taught her the basics of what she needed to know. When the weather warmed after her sixteenth birthday, she was shown the door and never allowed to return. Teristha snarled in a bestial manner as the door closed, but a crying noise from her arms brought her back to reality. She lifted the infant up and walked away. “It’s okay, we’ll be fine… I promise.” If only she knew.

The present-day Teristha awoke with a start. She scratched her head, had she fallen asleep? She groaned as she got to a sitting position on the floor and began to cry. Even now, after seventeen years, the memory cut deep into her heart.

She would continue crying before noticing a small black worgen pup was trying to wipe the tears from the woman’s face. Teristha pulled the pup into her arms and whispered into the pup’s ears, “It’s okay. Mommy is fine, little Maddy.” She began to hum, resolving then and there to find the figure in the mirror. And if it lead her to Rennik, then she would welcome him back into her family. She owed him to keep the promise she made, all those years ago.