Marilyn had silently followed Charles, Anna and SeoHyun to the cemetery to see how they handled caring for SeoHyun at the gravesite. She had been unsurprised when SeoHyun dissolved into sobs there and had to control her wolf to keep from blowing her cover when they didn't immediately go to her as she cried. Then she got another shock when Charles picked SeoHyun up and carried her to the car which allowed the teenager to cling to him in a way she was sure she was never meant to witness. This wasn't the actions of a coldblooded assassin; that was the reaction of a father who knew his daughter's heart was shattered in a billion pieces; the actions of a man whose child needed his comfort and was all too willing to provide it for her. Who, she could only imagine, would move heaven and Earth to see that pain go away.

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Anna drove silently to the restaurant where they planned on having dinner that evening. It was the place Nathan had suggested, sure neither she nor Charles were that familiar with the tastes of Korean food but they were curious what it was SeoHyun grew up eating.

They ordered their food, SeoHyun picking a stew made with soft tofu that she said would likely be quite spicy and they picked things she had said were least likely to be extremely spicy. The main dishes were individual and given with communal side dishes that she explained were traditional and as per tradition were free. This included several vegetable dishes including the expected kimchi.

They had been surprised by the flavors and portions. Anna would have to let werewolves who traveled to San Diego with a more adventurous palette to check the place out as the portions were large and the food was good.

She had managed to slip the waitress the knowledge that SeoHyun was belatedly celebrating her sixteenth birthday and after the meal she brought them a dish of what she called Chapssaltteok. SeoHyun explained that it was a Korean rice cake filled with sweet bean paste equivalent to Japanese mochi which Charles had heard of but never tasted. She also explain that this was likely given as what the Korean people referred to as 'Service' which are free gifts to keep customers returning to one shop over another.

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The meal was good and they went to their hotel with full stomachs and a new liking for Korean food.

SeoHyun seemed to have closed off quite a bit since they left the cemetery and this fact had Charles extremely concerned. This wasn't like her, she would usually tell them what was bothering her, the fact that she was bottling up her emotions meant that she was hurting a lot more than she likely could find the words to express.

Anna was also extremely concerned about SeoHyun. She had worked to strengthen the pack bonds between herself and SeoHyun; Charles had been doing the same. With Bran's help they now could usually tell what SeoHyun was feeling and why, but today SeoHyun had done her best to choke off that bond, which only served to worry Anna more.

"Charles, I know we said we were going to stay for a few days but… I think we need to get her home." Anna said after SeoHyun went to sleep "This place is toxic for her; she's shutting down more and more even as we speak."

Charles gave a soft sigh, she was right.

"I'll let Nathan know we'll be leaving tomorrow." He replied "She can't do this; I'm not going to subject her to this anymore than I must. I know she wanted to spend time here, but… she needs to go back to Aspen Creek where she feels safe. This place is haunted with too many bad memories."

"What about her parents, you said they would be exhumed and reburied in Aspen Creek…"

"They will be, Nathan said if it came down to it he would handle the arrangements on this end if I handled the arrangements in Aspen Creek," Charles sighed "looks like it's come to that. I can't risk setting SeoHyun back any further than she's already gone."

Anna nodded silently.

"Okay, she's not going to like this, but… it's what's best for her." Anna agreed as they settled in for what they feared would be a bad night for SeoHyun.

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About two that morning Charles woke to the smell of fear perfuming the room and immediately went to check on SeoHyun. It was as he had feared, her nightmares were returning full force, she needed to go back to Aspen Creek as soon as possible.

"It's okay, SeoHyun, I'm right here," he whispered as he held her in his arms, rocking her gently.

SeoHyun clung to Charles as she took deep breaths of his scent to remind her that she was safe, that all of what she had seen was nothing but a dream. Charles was still alive and well as was Anna who had come to sit with them.

"What did you see?" Anna asked referring to the contents of her dream.

"He… he came back… and you fought to protect me… but he" SeoHyun started sobbing again and it didn't take much effort to put two and two together and figure out that she spoke of the late San Diego alpha and that he either ripped her from them or killed them.

"You… you were both dead." She managed between sobs.

"SeoHyun that would never happen… even if he was still alive…" Charles assured her.

"I know, Da, but… for that moment I… I couldn't remember that he was dead… couldn't remember that you were too dominant for him to kill." SeoHyun replied before hiding her face in Charles' shoulder so that all she could smell was his scent. This lulled her back to sleep and Charles tucked her in before returning to bed with Anna. This was worse than he feared; she didn't need to be in San Diego any longer than necessary.

After a few moments she woke alone after another nightmare and Charles made an executive decision he never thought he would make.

SeoHyun was stunned when Charles proposed she joined them in their bed. She had thought she was too old to be offered that privilege but they felt otherwise.

"Just for tonight, we will go back to Aspen Creek tomorrow." Charles said and she happily snuggled in between him and Anna. They both embraced her as she went back to sleep to sleep through the rest of the night.

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The next morning Charles called Nathan to let him know what was going on.

"I had a bad feeling something like this would happen." Nathan admitted "This town was bad to SeoHyun. I will handle the exhumation and transport of SeoHyun's parents on this end then send all the information to you."

"Thank you." Charles replied.

"Don't worry about it, just worry about getting that girl home." Nathan said casually. He then became more serious as he told them about Marilyn wanting to move to Aspen Creek. The thought made Charles a bit concerned but he wasn't going to say that Marilyn couldn't move to Aspen Creek because of his discomfort and worry that she would try to take SeoHyun away from them.

"Let her know that if she wants to fly with us she needs to pack up and be ready by no later than three this afternoon." Charles said "that's as late as I'm willing to delay. If she can't make that I will make sure her transport to Aspen Creek is taken care of."

"I'll let her know, she wants you to know she isn't interested in taking SeoHyun from you, she just asks the privilege of being a part of her life"

Charles looked at SeoHyun as she slept and sighed.

"That is fine, she and SeoHyun were close before, I won't deprive her of that now. Just let her know SeoHyun comes first for me and if she ever poses a danger to SeoHyun I won't hesitate to revoke that privilege." Charles warned

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you Charles." Nathan assured Charles. Echoing Marilyn words Charles heard in the background as she said that was what she would hope he would do in that situation as she would never be able to live with herself if she hurt SeoHyun.

After the conversation Charles started to pack for them to return to Aspen Creek and by noon Marilyn had joined them at the hotel and they had checked out several days before they had intended to depart.

The hotel workers were sad to see them leave but understood that if something had come up then leaving was the best option for them.

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The flight back to Aspen Creek was uneventful and Bran welcomed Marilyn as easily as he did anyone else that decided his pack was the best place for them. He didn't express it out loud while Marilyn was there but he was concerned about SeoHyun, she had been unusually withdrawn from him and even hid from Tag when he said hi to her which was a red flag as to exactly how bad she had handled the situation in San Diego.

He could see Kara's worry as soon as she swooped in to take care of SeoHyun, Kara had only seen SeoHyun like this once and on some level was afraid they would never get her back to her old self.

It took several weeks to get SeoHyun to open back up and tell them exactly why she had shut down to begin with.

The bad memories had been overwhelming to her and she didn't know how to deal with them or express them to anyone else. She had felt like she needed to deal with them in her own mind before she could express everything she felt.

The weight of the painful memories that were dredged free by seeing people and places she hadn't seen in years and never had positive associations with to begin with had been overwhelming and not in a good way. No one in Aspen Creek could deny that their little submissive had been through hell but she was be just that their submissive and they would do everything they could to help her recover from the trauma. Wolves she had been close to prior to the ill fated San Diego trip worked tirelessly to find the relationship with her they had once had or even closer ones than they had enjoyed before due to the fact that they we're patient with her though things they didn't understand.

The End