I breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw Reece eating outside with Rhett by his side, and they looked up when they heard me. "Reece, Rhett," I said and nodded in greeting when they looked at me, and they smiled and nodded in greeting. "How are you? Is everything ok?" I looked at Reece when I said that.

"I am good," Reece said and breathed a small sigh of relief while he bowed his head. "How are you? Are you liking this place?" he asked and cocked his head to the side while he studied me.

I wrinkled my nose and pursed my lips in annoyance, shaking my head. "I want to go home," I admitted, and Caroline looked at me with a curious look on her face before she looked at Reece, biting back a small frown. "I don't even want to go back to the pack that I am staying at for the moment, but I want to go home with my mom and pack where I feel needed and respected."

"Even though you are needed here," Rhett said and gave me a pointed look, raising both eyebrows in unison, and I held back an eye roll. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't."

I bit back a small groan and slowly nodded, rubbing the bridge of my nose and pursing my lips in annoyance. "I know," I said before I cleared my throat and shifted on my feet. "I am also needed at the pack that I am staying at, and I am hoping that I will learn more of what I need to complete to become the Siran."

"You can learn a bit about that here," Caroline said, her voice barely above a whisper, and I looked at her from the corner of my eye. She cleared her throat, and her cheeks turned red while she looked at me. "Right? I mean, Fernos can help."

"Or at least try," I said and bit back a tired sigh while I tucked my head closer to my chest, biting back a small smile. "I am sure that he will try to help if he gets off of his high horse and actually does it." I rolled my eyes and scowled, earning a small chuckle from Rhett and Reece while Jonah raised an eyebrow in question while he looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"I don't think that he will do that until you do or say something to him," Rhett said and shook his head, and I bit back a small scoff while I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips in annoyance.

"Ya, but I do not even know what I need to say or do to get this Fernos to help me," I said and shrugged with a small grimace on my face, biting back a tired sigh. "I am worried that my grandfather will not help me when I get back without finding the information that I need here."

"And what if he does?" Rhett asked, and I shrugged and grimaced, pressing my lips into a thinner line. "I mean, he will be able to do something to help you when you get back. Correct?" He cocked his head to the side while he studied me.

I bit back a tired sigh and shook my head while I moved a hand through my hair and across my face. "I hope so," I said before I cleared my throat while I shifted on my feet. "But anyway, how is everything going with you, Reece?" I asked and looked at him, changing the subject and praying that they would allow me to change it. "Has anyone been causing you problems or said anything to you?"

"No," Reece said and shook his head. He moved a hand through his beard, and a look of hesitation flashed through his eyes while he glanced at Jonah before he looked at me with wide eyes.

Jonah set his jaw and narrowed his eyes, and his whole body grew a little tense and defensive when Reece glanced at him. "What was that look for, Reece?" he asked, his voice a little harsher than I would like.

I bit back a small growl of warning and looked at Jonah, and Johan instantly looked at me with a small frown and a hard look appeared on his face. "And what is that attitude for, Jonah?" I asked, with a warning tone in my voice. "There is no need for you to be such an asshole to him." I gestured toward Reece. "He didn't do anything."

"Bu-"

"No," I said, interrupting him with a shake of my head. "He was a child. Your father shouldn't have done what he had done to a literal child. I've had this conversation with him, and I will have another conversation with him if he keeps acting like this."

Jonah hesitated and slowly blinked. He pressed his lips into a thin line and set his jaw while he stared at me with a hard look in his eyes. He didn't say a word, and I couldn't help but scoff a laugh and roll my eyes while I pressed my lips into a thin line.

"I'm serious, Jonah," I said and shook my head. "Don't blame him because it is not something that he had control of, especially because he was an innocent and still is an innocent. It's why I had saved his life, to begin with, because I knew that he was one and if someone killed him, then there was a chance the person would become an uninnocent."

Jonah glanced at Reece before he looked at me, and a look of defeat flashed through, the man with my brother's face, eyes.

Finally, he let out a tired sigh and shook his head, pursing his lips in annoyance and moving a hand through his hair and across his face while he slowly nodded. "I know," he said and looked at Reece. "My apologies, Reece," he said and bowed his head. "Do you think you can forgive me?"

Reece bit back a small smile and nodded in confirmation. "Of course," he said before he cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "It's something that I am going to have to get used to since I am living here a-"

"And nothing, Reece," Rhett said and shook his head, interrupting him, and Reece looked at him with lips pressed into a thin line. "It isn't something that you should get used to because you belong here and shouldn't have been sent away in the first place."

Reece hesitated and looked at Jonah before he looked at him. He didn't say a word and slowly blinked with a look of nervousness and pain filling his eyes. His whole body grew tense, and his bottom lip quivered while he tried but failed not to cry.

"He's right, Reece," I said and slowly nodded in confirmation, and Reece looked at me with wide eyes and pain sadness flashed through his eyes. "You shouldn't have been sent away from here in the first place. I do not know what your father had done, but I know that you didn't do anything even with me not being here during that time."

Reece hesitated before he shifted in his seat and looked away from me, grimacing ever so slightly while he pressed his lips into a thin line. "But you don't know what my father had done," he said, his voice barely above a whisper with his voice laced with guilt. "How can you be so sure?" he asked and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Because you are not your father," I said and shook my head. "You are not his mistakes or whatever the hell that he is or stood for. You have your own opinions and your own views of the world. Your father might have shaped your views on some things, but it is your choice to follow his lead or to not listen to what he had to say or do." I gestured toward Jonah, and Reece glanced at Jonah before he looked at me. "Some of Jonah's views are because of his father and what his father thinks and has said in the past to him. However, Jonah is able to have his own opinions and not let his father cloud his judgment." I gave Jonah a small stink eye before I looked at Reece.

Tears started to stream down Reece's face, and his bottom lip started to quiver while a wave of emotions washed over his face. He didn't say a word while he stared at me, searching my face to see if what I said was true or not.

I bit back a small groan while I watched the tears stream down his face, and guilt filled my body because I didn't like it that he was crying. "I'm sorry, Reece," I said and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly while I pursed my lips in annoyance. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

Reece bit back a small chuckle and shook his head while he wiped his eyes. "Don't," he said, his voice cracking ever so slightly. He cleared his throat and licked his lips. "Don't apologize because that is one of the nicest things that someone has ever said to me. Thank you, Ky. You have no idea how much that has meant to me with what you just said, and I am forever in your debt."

Forever and always...

I promise.