The Good Daughter

Chapter Eight - Choices

The walk was horrible. It was muggy, cloudy and her clothes were wet and soggy against her skin after the rains hit before she left Kato at the cabin. One plus side was that the burn no longer stung as bad.

Getting closer to her family home, she could hear the happy chatter from dozens of people setting up to celebrate another year of New Moon, and to hopefully see their young one's find their soul mate.

Her luck seemed to run short as the first person she ran into was her father. Tall, dark and handsome as always, Jack stared down at his second born daughter with apprehension. "Why are you all wet, pup?"

Rowynn's indiscretion was obvious. "Went for a walk and got stuck in the rain. Am I not allowed to do that without permission either?" she snapped.

With a low growl, Jack removed his jacket and threw it over Rowynn's shoulders, obviously noticing her shivering. "Go get dressed. We need to talk."

With a curt nod, she looked down and moved quickly to get to the main house. Without even acknowledging family or friends she passed by, Rowynn made her way to her room and slammed the door closed.

Why was it so hard to just have a normal father-daughter conversation? She could never just sit down and tell him what was on her mind, why she was sad, or angry, or hurt. Rowynn could never tell her father secrets, for fear he would just yell at her or tell her she was stupid for making such horrible decisions.

She pulled back her hair, brushing it out and pulling it into a loose bun, and got rid of her wet clothes. She tossed her father's jacket into the corner and threw on soft teal coloured summer dress and jacket. She covered her bandage with her jacket, not wanting anymore people to see her giant screwup.

She hoped saving Kato didn't cost her more than she bargained for.

There was a soft knock at her bedroom door. Sighing, knowing it was either her father or Raine – or God forbid, Tatum – Rowynn called them to enter.

However, a face she hadn't seen in a very long time poked his head in and grinned. Rowynn's blue eyes lit up as she ran to hug her uncle, almost crying with joy.

"Uncle Bridger!"

"How's my girl?" he chuckled as he caught her in a vice-like hug.

Rowynn held back tears as she hugged her uncle and, after a moment, begrudgingly pulled away to look up at his grinning face. It was amazing to have someone here – besides Raine – who understood her. Even encouraged her.

"As good as I can be, given you-know-who," she muttered and took a step back. "How's Katy?"

If it were even possible, his face lit up even more at the mention of his wife – his mate. "She's doing great! She's so happy to be here and see everyone. We haven't seen you guys in two years."

Yes, it had been a while since her uncle Bridger could pull away from his own alpha duties to come and visit. He had his own pack and obligations since he found Katy. Besides Bridger, Rowynn loved Katy as she would a mother. The woman had been the only female to look up to after their mother passed away.

But that was something Rowynn wouldn't bring up. Besides her father, Bridger had also been driven to near madness after the death of his sister. It was like they had expected her to live forever and ever.

Nothing lasted forever – especially happiness.

Bridger's baby-blue eyes seemed to shadow over as he said, "What's this I hear about you and your father not getting along?"

Looking off to the side, she sighed. "It's nothing," she muttered before turning around to fix her hair in the mirror. She had hoped Bridger would take the hint and leave, but he never did.