Charles relaxed when Heather Morrell came into view.

"So this is your little girl." Heather said with a smile "She's lovely, I'm Heather, what's your name?"

"My name is SeoHyun."

"It's good to meet you, SeoHyun." Heather turned her attention back to Charles "So what is the occasion that brings you out this way?"

"We're going camping for the next few days." Charles replied.

"Sounds like fun, I assume you're more than well equipped for this outing, I know you well enough to know you know how to prep for a trip into this countryside." Heather smiled to Charles, she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't risk taking his daughter out into such remote country unprepared for whatever could come their way.

She was shocked at how SeoHyun clung to Charles when she was afraid. She trusted the old wolf with her life and he was willing to protect her with his life.

He explained the plan for their trip and the reason they were there.

Heather was shocked by their reason though considering this was Charles' daughter she felt she ought to not be so surprised by what she chose to do for her birthday.

Heather left and Charles turned to SeoHyun and embraced her gently to reassure het before they continued on their way deeper into the wilderness.

"Da, look, strawberries." She said with a smile on her face.

"Good find, get some... They're better than any strawberries you'll find in a grocery store." Charles told her.

SeoHyun knelt down down to pick some berries.

"Do you want some, da?" SeoHyun asked.

"I'll take a few." Charles sat against an old growth tree that he was sure predated him by anywhere between a few decades and a century or more to enjoy the wild strawberries his daughter had found.

"Your right, da these are wonderful and so sweet." She commented with a smile. "These could make me never want to eat grocery store strawberries again."

"Now you know why I don't eat them." Charles shrugged.

SeoHyun sat beside Charles as they enjoyed their berries. There was no hurry to get anywhere so they could just sit and enjoy the find. SeoHyun was completely at ease with the world around her in that moment. She knew no one would lay a hand on her while her da sat beside her so her wolf relaxed and she could rest and enjoy her berries.

"Here, taste this." Charles handed SeoHyun a berry she hadn't seen before.

"What is this, da?" She asked as she popped the round Golden berry in her mouth trusting her da not to steer her wrong.

"That is a golden currant." Charles replied.

"Yum, that's good." SeoHyun said with a smile.

"I thought you would like those." Charles replied.

After a few more minutes they started back in the trail with some berries stored away for snacking on as they walked the trail. SeoHyun had lots of questions to ask him and he did his best to answer them. Then he started an impromptu Welsh lesson. He, Samuel and their da all decided together that they would teach her Welsh if she wanted to learn it. She then decided she did want to learn that language.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and she felt as much as heard Charles' brother wolf as he told her not to worry about anything that they would take care of her.

Charles was as stunned by what his brother in flesh did, he knew that his brother wolf cared deeply for SeoHyun but he didn't realize how much so until that moment.

He listened to her Welsh and noticed she was sounding better at it, like it was taking less deliberate thought to keep the conversation going and answer his questions about her school, friends and music lessons. He noticed her slow down and stopped as he figured there was a good reason for her actions.

"Are you okay?" He asked her.

"I need to..." She hesitated and Charles got the idea.

"Go ahead." He told her.

He stayed in place as SeoHyun ducked out of sight in the thicker underbrush to relieve herself. This had been one of her biggest stumbling blocks during their hikes was taking care of these particular needs but she adapted rather quickly and now it wasn't a problem as long as they avoided going out during a certain time of the month which usually wasn't too difficult to do.

As he waited be tried to decide if he wanted to push to the lake before nightfall, it would be a push to get there so he was considering stopping sooner, SeoHyun was showing her exhaustion and the change for the hunt would take a lot out of her. He wondered if she would be able to change back or if he should suggest sleeping in wolf form. They did that from time to time but give her the option to sleep in wolf form, attempt changing back or not even risk the change at all and just prepare freeze-dried meals and call it a night.

She came back around a few minutes later and he posed the question to her.

"I really don't know, da, I am tired, if we do change I may not be able to change back even after we eat. So if we do change and hunt I think I'm going to be locked into sleeping that way." She replied.

"That's what I thought." Charles sighed. "When did you finally get to sleep?"

"The last time I looked at the clock before I finally fell asleep it was a little after midnight."

"Why so late?" He asked in concern.

"I was really excited about this trip and trying to imagine what we will see out here."

A small smile formed on Charles' face as he listened to what she said. He wasn't surprised that she was excited about their trip, she enjoyed every second she could get with him. That thought also made him worry that she would have trouble leaving Aspen Creek to go to college. She knew she would be welcomed back but he feared that leaving would crush her.

Bran had told him that he had found a pastry school in a territory with an alpha who would take good care of SeoHyun and when Charles learned Tommy was the alpha his father wanted to hand SeoHyun over to he believed his father. He knew Tommy was a kind wolf and he felt that trusting SeoHyun to Tommy would be almost as good as trusting her to Samuel something he would do any day.

"Da are we going to hunt tonight?" She asked.

"No, you didn't sleep well last night so I assumed that you would just want to eat and the rest." He said.

"That sounds good to me." Charles could see the excitement wearing off and the exhaustion taking root.

It didn't take long to get to the camp site and Charles began to prepare the freeze-dried meals for them. He passed one foil envelope to her then took his own and they began to eat.

Once they finished the tarp was set out and they got ready for sleep.

Charles watched as SeoHyun's breathing took on the slow steady rhythm of sleep and she unconsciously shifted closer to him. He couldn't believe how much she was able to make him feel without so much as trying. She needed him and he felt he had no option but to answer the call of her need as he did Anna.

He wrapped a protective arm around her and succumb to sleep himself.

To be continued...