Carys' POV

"I never wanted to die, I just thought that's what she wanted. At least that's what she was telling me. I now understand that it was all just in my head. I now understand that I had subconscious feelings about her, instincts. They were buried so far down with all of my heartbreak. My instincts were right though, even though I didn't quite realise they were there, they were right. She's not my mother, he's not my father. Ceri and Gerwyn are my parents. Spending those 3 months in here was rough, but with the meds you gave me it really made a difference, as well as all this therapy and the techniques you've showed me. I'm still taking the meds and I don't intend to stop." I tell Dr. Stevens, my therapist.

"And how are you in terms of your scars?"

"I'm okay with them, I really am. I had scars before my breakdown and the attempt, from Kincaid. I don't try to hide them. I am a little worried about going back to school. Some people might see me as 'brave' or whatever, but there are some pretty nasty kids in my school."

"You're a strong girl, you'll get through it. And what about Ava? How do you feel about her being around a little bit more?" He says while looking up from his cliché notepad that all therapists have.

"I like her, I can't blame her for who her dad is."

"You're a good person Carys. Do you believe that now? Do you believe that you're loved?" He leans forward, putting his notepad down.

"Yes. Of course, I always did, but the things that were going on in my head were blocking that. It wasn't me. At least not the whole time. There would be times when Mum would have to keep reassuring me that she loves me, and that everyone else does too. Jana had to as well." I twist the brown leather bracelet on my wrist, she gave it to me.

"How are things with Jana?" He picks up the pad again.

"Good." I smile. "Amazing, actually. She's so supportive, I hope I can be as good to her as she is to me, and thank you for letting her see me. I honestly don't think only being able to see mum was doing me any good."

"Of course, she's a big part of your life." He smiles back at me. "How is it living with your family?"

"It's weird, but I like it. I always wanted a big family. Now I have two brothers and a half sister. Bryn's adjusting surprisingly well to tame life, better not speak too soon though. He hasn't started school yet. And we see Ava on full moons and sometimes she spends the weekend when there's a dark moon. It used to be a bit of a squeeze in the old house but now that mum is working with young Wolfbloods and dad is Head of Finance, we have a bigger house. And the Smiths are letting Jana stay with them."

"I'm really happy for you Carys. You've come so far in the few months you've been recovering."

"Thank you."

"Well, I think we're done for today. Same time next week?" He writes things down.

"Actually, I'm going to visit the old pack with mine, Mum and Dad have to like, elect a new pack leader, even though we all know it's going to be Jana's dad. I think it's just an excuse to see the pack again. Can we skip a week?"

"Only if you're sure you can go without."

"I'm sure, and if I need anything I have your number." He nods.

"Okay." He closes the pad. "Good luck going back to school.I'll see you in two weeks." I shake his hand and walk out to the hall, where Jana is waiting for me.

"How did it go?" She kisses me on the cheek.

"Good, I told him that we're going away so I won't see him for two weeks. He said it's okay, and that I'm doing really well."

"You are, I'm so proud of you." She gives me a proper kiss. A foot-popping-together-forever kind of kiss. We're both truly happy with our lives.

We've arranged to meet Tom and Shan for lunch. They're eating in Shan's office. I still can't quite believe she has her own office now. That must be nice for her and Tom, as neither of their parents are too keen about them being alone together. At least their parents don't know about how much of an important part Shan is to Segolia.

"So when do you guys leave?" Tom asks as he slurps up his spaghetti.

"Tomorrow," we notice Shannon pull a face, "we'll be back for the first day of school, don't worry about that Shan." Jana says.

"I can't help but be worried, you both missed a lot of school last term. I just want to make sure you actually finish your GCSE's so you can-"

"So we can what? Get a job here? You know that's not really our kind of thing. We're not scientists." Jana says. I can tell she's a little bit frustrated, I decide to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, Jana can't even spell science." She playfully nudges me and giggles. "But seriously, Segolia isn't really for us."

"You might change your tune when you find out what kind of jobs they have to offer now." She says with a mouthful of salad.

"Like what?" I'm sort of curious, I'm a little bit more open-minded than Jana, who tries to ignore the topic of career paths.

"Well, Sweeney's putting together a sort of protection agency. To keep the Wolfbloods around here safe, and to stop other packs invading your territory. She wants you two to head it. When you've finished school though."

"That actually sounds kind of cool." I look at Jana, who's absent-mindedly playing with her food.

"You'd get to spend your work days out in the woods, surveying the area and everything. Victoria wants you especially because of your extra heightened sense of smell, and Jana for how well she knows the surrounding woods."

"Jana." I nudge her.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sounds cool." She clearly isn't paying attention.

"Come on, we're going for a run." I pull her up from her seat. "See you guys next week."

"Have fun in the wild!"

I yank Jana out of the building. "What's going on with you? Is it your instincts?" She nods, looking into the forest. "Your dad?" She nods again. "We'll see him tomorrow, if something's going on it then we can help."

"I'm sure it's nothing, I'm probably just excited to see him. I don't get excited very often." I laugh at her. We take each others hands and run through the forest together.

This seems to be what we do most of the time. When we get the chance at least. A lot of our time has been spent moving me in with mum and dad, and then moving Rhydian in, and then moving all of us to the new house. We did have a party once though. To celebrate me and Rhydian being where we belong. We did it when mum and dad went to go and get some stuff from dad's old house. They were gone the whole night. It was pretty fun until Maddy's parents shut it down. I'm not sure why they did though, it's not like the whole school was invited. It was just our pack. So Rhydian and I may have broken into dad's wine cooler but it was one bottle, and Bryn was sound asleep in bed. Admittedly it was probably a dumb idea. Who even likes wine anyway?

To be fair we've had a few good times this summer. We went to Norway with Segolia for a full moon, they let me bring Jana too. That was pretty special for us. We went for the whole week. Of course Dad told mum what human teenagers get up to and mum assumed that that's what we would get up too, so we couldn't share a room. We've shared before of course, but she didn't know much about teenagers back then. She was right though. I snuck into Jana's room and we... sealed the deal, so to speak. I didn't think it would be a big deal, after all Rhydian and Maddy have done it, and Tom and Shannon. Not that we were trying to keep up. It was a big deal though, the second I got outside her room, I had to take a minute to think about it. I was certain though, I still am. She's the love of my life and I'm so happy that we got to reach that part in our lives together. She's perfect.