At Dawn, in the Forest

Dawn started at the clothes that hung in front of her in the fitting room. She desperately wanted them but couldn’t have them. She was broke and in debt. She realized Aiden and Sarah had paid for the products and clothes they already bought. She couldn’t possibly ask for more. That would be greedy of her.

She let out a deep sigh of disappointment.

“Hey Dawn? Everything alright in there?” When Dawn waited too long to respond, Aiden asked, “May I come in?” She agreed.

“Is it alright if I sit next to you?” Aiden pointed at the small bench in the fitting room. Dawn nodded her head and together they sat on the bench. It was too small, but it didn’t bother her. She didn’t mind being close to Aiden in the position she was in right now. She didn’t mind their arms were touching. She didn’t mind she could smell him. She didn’t mind she could hear him breathe. She wished they could stay there on that cramped bench in that fitting room for eternity.

“Is something wrong?”

Dawn looked at the clothes and sighed again. And then she finally said, “I don’t have any money.”

“So?”

“So, I can’t take these clothes with me. You both have already done too much.”

Aiden chuckled. “It’s nothing, really. If you like those items we will take them with us.”

“But I don’t have any money, and I have no idea how to pay you back, or anyone else for that matter…” She looked frantically at him. It dawned on her that she had so much to pay back for. And the fact she had no skills didn’t help her in a way to find money. How was she going to apply for jobs? She couldn’t even write!

“Dawn, I think it's great you took paying for the clothes into account and the implications of you not having money. I think it’s a great step forward in your assimilation into society. But maybe that’s a step too far ahead… Do you like all of them?” He asked pointing at the clothing items.

“Uhm yeah, except for those two sweaters, didn’t like the texture.” Aiden caressed the fabric and nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, not the greatest fabric texture. Let’s put them back.”

***

The following days everybody got ready for the hearing in front of the council. They tried to keep Dawn out of the loop for most of it. They didn’t want to add more stress, or nerves to the situation as the circumstances were already stressful and nerve-wracking enough.

It was Sarah who kept her company for most of the time. The two young women had hit it off greatly. Even though Sarah was too chatty to Dawn’s liking she could tolerate it as her happy personality made up for it. Sarah helped with Dawn’s hair as it was choppy. She managed to cut it to an even length and made her hair more voluminous. Sarah was a hairdresser who dreamed of opening her own salon someday. She just started at a salon nearby as she just finished her training. Sarah was one of the many pack members of the Red Wood Pack who worked outside of pack grounds. The pack after all too small to forsee everybody a well-paid job.

A great advantage of this new friendship to Dawn and the others as well was that Dawn didn’t feel monitored. The medics and Aiden did ask Sarah to keep an eye on her and Sarah did, but let it go eventually, noticing she wasn’t treating Dawn as a friend when she scanned her for any abnormalities. As long as Dawn seemed great she didn’t want to give it any more attention.

Dawn learned a great deal from Sarah, much was related to her personal hygiene. She hadn’t taken care of herself for many years and it was hard to get into that routine. Sometimes she forgot to face her face, brush her teeth, or put on a clean shirt after a day. Dawn liked how Sarah did it in a non-judgmental way. It was always said in a caring tone when Dawn had forgotten to do something.

It was weird for Dawn, to have this friendship with Sarah. She didn’t even know she was capable of being friends with someone. Dawn couldn’t remember any close friends before her capture. There was a girl and boy from her class she was close with, but their faces were blurry in her memories and so were their names.

Sarah was thrilled about the friendship she had with Dawn. She felt special which she didn’t feel often as she was part of a big family having four older brothers and one older sister. There was always someone who outshone her. As the youngest, she was often not seen or heard.

She was also fascinated by Dawn. It was hard to think when seeing Dawn she had undergone a horrifying experience. Dawn always seemed so neutral, so indifferent, until of course she was triggered. The most fascinating thing according to Sarah was how vocal Dawn became when they did their daily walks in the woods. She would tell her all the names of the trees and plants surrounding them. She knew their laymen's names and their scientific names.

During their walks, it was Sarah who was silent. She gave Dawn the space to speak, to move freely, to breathe. Sarah noticed once in the woods Dawn was less careful of her movements, of her words. She didn’t hold her shoulder hunched up, she didn’t observe everybody, she didn’t scan the room for threats, she wasn’t fidgeting, and she didn’t try to make herself small and unseen. No, Dawn wanted to be seen by the nature surrounding her. Her arms stretched wide, her eyes focused on flowers, insects, and mostly on threes, her hands touched the different textures of every bark and leave, she had a bounce in her steps, her tone was more melodic, she shone. On an especially good day, Sarah would hear her hum old songs. She wondered if Dawn even noticed she hummed, and also if she noticed how beautiful her voice was.

It was late in the afternoon, the sun had passed its highest point and the shadows grew longer when Sarah and Dawn made themselves comfortable in the big yard between the packhouse and the treeline. Sarah sat down at the table outside on the patio, reading a fashion magazine while Dawn sat with her legs crossed a few feet away in the grass observing a beetle she found. She did so while humming an old song again. Sarah tried to look up what the titles were of the songs, but she had no luck, yet.

Aiden silently joined Sarah. “She is doing great, isn’t she?” He asked in a low tone.

Sarah put down her magazine and smiled. “Yeah, she is.”

“Thank you.”

Sarah looked at her cousin and quirked up a brow. “Why are you thanking me?”

“For looking out for her.”

She turned back to Dawn. “I am not, we are friends. We hang out. I enjoy our time just as much.”

“Still, you are keeping an eye on her without giving her that feeling of being watched and for that I thank you.”

Sarah shook her head and sighed. “Aiden, she isn’t a frail thing that needs to be watched all the damn time. All she needed was some space and a listening ear.” She gave her cousin a sharp look. Sarah had picked up on the dynamics between Dawn’s family and the family of her Alphas. She didn’t understand why they were more understanding. She was glad Aiden did back her up, but still, she was disappointed that these people who are supposed to be leaders weren’t as empathetic as she was.

“I know, but,” Aiden started. He sighed. He didn’t finish.

Sarah lay her hand on his. “I know.”

Aiden looked bewildered, his eyes widened. “What do you possibly know? Did Dawn tell you something?”

“No, no, I meant, I know that you two are mates.”

He couldn’t help but blush. “How-how do you know?”

Sarah laughed. “You are the only one who sees Dawn. None of those people do,” She waved her hand around in the air.

“Careful now, Sarah. Some of those ‘people’ are still your Alphas.”

“I know, I know. No need to get all Beta on me. Still… You know what she needs.”

“You do too.”

“Yes, but I am an outsider. I wasn’t personally involved in this matter. It’s different.”

“And this is why you are my favorite cousin.”

Sarah gave him a playful side-eye.

“What?” Aiden asked dumbfounded.

“I am pretty sure you say that to all my siblings who help you.”

Aiden playfully acted offended. “How dare you utter the words? You have been always my favorite cousin.”

There was a silence and then they laughed. Once it died down they both cast their eyes on Dawn, who was still admiring the beetle in her hand. “She is really deep into her own world, isn’t she?”

“Yep,” Sarah answered.

They then heard footsteps slowly nearing them and turned around, it was Boaz. He didn’t acknowledge Aiden and Sarah, he looked in surprise at his daughter. His eyes held a storm of emotions. “I can’t believe it,” He muttered. The Alpha let himself fall down in a chair next to Aiden. Tears were brimming in his eyes.

The Beta and Sarah both looked at him but were distracted when Dawn didn’t just hum anymore but actually sang. It was magical. Boaz let his tears fall down on his cheeks. It had been ages since he heard his daughter sing again.

When Dawn was small she wasn’t interested in new Disney movies, she liked the old tales. Especially the old music. Boaz was always busy finding music that matched the songs of his daughter’s beloved old movies and together they would sing them.

It always brought so much joy to Boaz and after his daughter was taken away from him he never thought he would hear her sing again.