PATRICIA’S POV “My daughter, Dawn” I exclaimed as soon as I set my eyes on Dawn. I knew it, my instincts are not wrong. I felt her presence around me. Even though she was far from me, I knew that she was the one. I already had this tingling sensation since morning. I knew today will not be like every other day. I knew that something out of the ordinary was going to happen today but how would I have ever guessed that I was finally going to set eyes on my beloved daughter? But why was Tim keeping his distance from her? He had seen her first so why was he not welcoming her as he should. It is not a surprise though. These days I don’t think I am still with the same man I married. I think he is not the mate given to me by the moon goddess and I don't know for how long this would continue. I forced my way through the crowd and made to go welcome my dear daughter. But as I was about to walk past Tim he held me back. I tried to pull away but noticed that his grip was tight and there was no need to try to resist him. It broke my heart to see the level of confusion registered on the face of our daughter. She looked so alone and rejected. She had come back after such a long time and this is the kind of welcome that she got. “Mother...” she called with a shaky voice. She was already emotional and so was I. But why is Tim stopping me from going to our daughter, is he not the same person that had promised to send some men to look for her in no distant time? This is quite strange. Why is he not happy to see her? “Father...” she called. Her voice was already becoming barely audible. I saw all the questions in her expression. She demands a lot of explanations, she deserves to get some explanations from us. But what do I tell her when even I am as confused as she is. Tim did not say a word to her but remained mute. Why was he giving her the silent treatment, or does he want her to die, or does he wish that she returned back to where she came from? I would damn the consequence, I must go to my daughter. This time to free myself from his grip, I applied enough force to enable me to pull away from him but it made no difference. His grip was solid. He turned to Mildrid and whispered to her without giving our daughter another look. I could hear Mildrid giggle at a point but their voice was so low that I could make nothing out of it. His action only confused me the more. Was he waiting for Mildrid’s approval before we can welcome our daughter? Oh no, how did I allow things to deteriorate to this level that my own daughter would not be welcomed even by her parents without the approval of an odd third party? “Mother...” I heard her call me once again. I was still thinking about the best approach to deal with this when a voice emerged from the crowd saying. “Traitor, that is what you are...” At hearing the words I was petrified. Who is this man and what is he doing coming our way? Who is he calling a traitor, and what does that have to do with us? Anyways, since my husband is the beta of the Pack he might want to make an official report to him. But why must it be here when he can always meet Tim at the packhouse or in the mansion? “Traitor, I said she is a traitor. And I say she should not be in our midst” the said man kept screaming at the top of his voice drawing people’s attention to him. No, he was drawing everyone’s attention to us, to my Dawn. With this realization, my heart almost jumped out of my mouth. My Dawn, what does she have to do with being a traitor or is he some drunkard going about creating nothing but confusion? However, on another glance at him, I could tell that he is not a drunkard. Moreover, it is too hot during the day to start drinking. In fact, he should be one of our soldiers. I can tell them apart anytime any day. He must have been to the mansion a couple of times to meet with Carl and Hedrick. But why would he be referring to Dawn as a traitor? Why must he accuse her of such or has she wronged him in any way and he now chose to use this as a means devised to get back at her? For his own good, it shouldn’t be what I was thinking. If this is just a way to get back at my girl then I would not spare him, I will see to it that his head is cut off by a sword right here in this marketplace. By now, we were surrounded by people. Everyone was eager to see who the traitor is and what she had done wrong. It amazed me to see that Tim was silent the whole time, he didn’t for once try to say a word in his daughter’s defense. And even Dawn too did not refute the accusation. On my part, their attitude got me dismayed. Or was there something they already know that I didn’t? Could that be the reason for Tim’s nonchalant and uncaring behavior? It baffled me how father and daughter remained silent the whole time and none tried to stop the accuser. I am not going to take it anymore. I won't remain here and condone this unruly behavior, I will not let him bring my daughter to disrepute, or does he not know that she is a beta of this Pack and it is her duty to protect it? Why then would he dare to stand in our faces and refer to her as a traitor? “You keep quiet or have you gone insane? Do you even know who you are talking to? How do you stand there and refer to your beta’s daughter as a traitor?” I yelled at him. There were murmurs in the crowd as soon as my words were out and someone in the crowd yelled angrily. “She is standing before us and she is not a kid. She has a mouth, let her speak for herself” “Yes. She is quiet and wouldn’t say a word in her defense. If what the young man is saying is not true, then she can refute it herself. Let her speak now” another person yelled and there were murmurs of approval from the crowd. A lady spoke next. “We know her, she has been gone for so long and now she is back. What has she been up to all along?” “She left immediately after the war was announced and now she comes back as if nothing happened. It is either that she is rogue now, or she is a ghost and we don’t accept rogues among us, and a ghost has no place among humans” another yelled. “She does have an explanation to make. She is a traitor and deserves not to live?” the accuser yelled. “Yes, let her talk now before we ambush her” another supported. At this point, I turned to Dawn. “Dawn...” I called, and a tear dropped from my eyes. Right now my heart is heavy. I must admit that the words of the people carry some weight, and the burden to disprove this now rests on Dawn. She left when the Pack was going to war and no other Pack would like to have her at such time for fear of being accused of taking sides. Where then has she been all this while, and what has she been up to? As I was waiting for her to speak, all she said was. “Mother” and she offered no explanation to debunk the accusation.