An; Wow, wow, wow! Did I seriously already reach 320 reads and 74 votes!? You guys are amazing! And I hope you enjoy these chapters. My read goal is still 500 and my vote is now 100! Anyways enjoy, all my OG and new readers deserve it! 5
Thanks for reading- Sam<3
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"Who are you?" the little girl repeated, her brown eyes wide with fright, and just like her twin I had just left back at the house, tears began to roll down her face.

"I'm Aurelia."

"I want my mommy!"

"Um..." I trailed off. I wasn't great with these situations. I wished Beatrice was here, she was much better at things like this. I had never actually found a child in the box by myself.

"It's okay, let's get you inside the house."

"I'm not going to go anywhere with you! Stranger danger!" she scampered out of the box and began to run.

"Wa-wait!" I called after her.

I took off after her. She was a blur of pink and black through the trees, and my boots made it hard to move quickly through the deep snow.

I was suddenly struck by my own memories of when I had first come to Pine Ridge.

My first memories were of the cold, darkness, and the frighting idea that I knew what I was, but not who I was.

I too had begun to run aimlessly through the woods, like I could somehow find myself if I ran hard enough in one direction. Luckily for me, it had been in the direction of The Barn.

A blur of gray raced past me and sailed towards the little blur of black and pink. The little girl screamed in fright and skidded to a stop. I stopped as well, and stared at the hulking mass of gray fur and teeth staring us down. This wolf did not belong to Pine Ridge, something in the way it moved and looked told me that.

The little girl turned and ran towards me. She threw herself into my arms.

The wolf began to creep towards us across the snow. It didn't bare its teeth, but I didn't like the way it was staring at me like the strange wolf was trying to memorize every feature of my face.

I pulled the little girl closer to me. "I would leave us be!" The wolf stopped its forward march. "This is Pine Ridge pack land, if you do anything to us, you will have to answer to Alpha Luka!"

The wolf tilted its head and took another step in our direction, seemed to reconsider, and turned away and fled in the opposite direction from us. I noted it had a streak of white fur in-between it's shoulders in his gray coat, before it dissolved back into the trees.

With the threat gone, I bent down to look into the girl's wide, and frightened brown eyes.

"It's dangerous for people like us around here. I understand that your confused and afraid, but don't run from me again, do you understand?"

I took off my coat and draped it around her. Her small frame was quickly swallowed within the folds of the tan leather.

"You're a good guy right?"

"Yes, I am."

She bobbed her head and reached out and grabbed my hand.

We walked back to the house in silence, hand, and hand.

When we reached The Barn, I opened the front door and we walked inside. The living room was empty besides Huck, who was running his finger along with the books in the bookcase against the wall. Everyone else was crammed into the kitchen, no doubt trying to get some breakfast.

He glanced up from the books and did a double-take. "Didn't I just see her in the kitchen with Marmee?"

I shrugged and steered the somewhat reluctant girl through the busy kitchen.

The kitchen was crammed with kids. I spotted Beatrice and Benedick beside the counter stacked high with baked goods. My eyes also found Caesar talking to Sawyer not too far away, while he munched on some cornbread.

My eyes continued to dance around the room until they found Marmee and the girl from last night kneading the dough together.

Marmee was talking to the girl in a soft, soothing tone. The noise of silverware clicking, cabinets slamming, drowned out their exact conversation. But, if I had to guess, she was telling her what she was, and why she was nowhere.

"Marmee," I said.

Marmee's blue eyes looked up at us, "Oh my!" she said when her eyes landed on the child holding my hand.

The little girl slipped off her stool and raced around the kitchen table towards us while her twin released my hand and ran towards her. They met each other halfway and wrapped one another in a tight embrace.

"Look at that!" Huck cried, coming up behind us. "We have identical twins at Pine Ridge now! They seem to remember each other too...curious isn't it?"

I looked at Huck. He was a small, sandy-haired boy, about two years older than me. He would be leaving The Barn soon to go live in The Big Cabin, where all the other Lunera men went when they hit a certain age.

"There was probably no need for whatever witch wiped their memories, to erase the knowledge of the existence of each other."

The kitchen grew silent, while everyone turned to look at the two little girls embracing each other. They began to make a small circle around them.

The girls looked up from their embrace and cowered at the sight of the crowd of unfamiliar faces hovering above them.

Just then the old grandfather clock in the living room chimed loudly, and the house grew silent.

On cue, Bert emerged from the basement door. Besides Marmee, he was the only other adult that lived at The Barn. The rest of the Lunera adults lived in the Big Cabin and the Little Cabin a couple of miles down the road.

Bert pulled out a piece of white paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "Alright everyone listen up for your chores today," He cleared his throat. " Juliet and Ron; you'll be in charge of gathering firewood. Bert and Sawyer; you'll be in charge of chopping that firewood. Huck, Benedick, Charlotte; you'll go and check the traps from yesterday. Caesar and Beatrice are coming ice fishing with me. Aurelia and Alice will help in the kitchen...."

Bert's eyes landed on the twin girls. "On second thought, Aurelia, spend the day with our new arrivals, get them so new clothes, give them a tour of the place. Theodore will help in the kitchen. That leaves Cherry and Harry to clear the roads with the snowblower.  Charlotte; you'll be in charge of checking the box tomorrow. Now finish your breakfasts and get moving!

"And don't forget to come in for lunch and today's afternoon lessons will be canceled for the naming ceremony for our newest members!"

Everyone resumed eating, and Bert walked over to us. The twin that had been with Marmee, grabbed her sister's arm and dragged her to the other side of the kitchen table away from Bert.

Bert was a big guy, tall for a Lunera, muscular, with steely gray eyes. But once you got to know him, you realized what a kind person he was.

"So tell me how we acquired our other friend here."

I recounted the story of finding the girl in the box. I also told him about the wolf.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Marmee hand the girl's pastries.  She also slid one across the kitchen table in my direction. And I took it at the conclusion of my story and finished it in three bites.

Bert frowned while I wipe some strawberry jam from my mouth with the back of my hand, "That's the problem with having all these packs visiting our lands. They probably told them that these weren't packed lands and they were free to roam."

"Everyone stay in pairs today! No one go outside alone! There's a wolf from another back roaming the woods."

Murmurs of concern rose within the room, but that concern would not stop everyone from doing their jobs. When Pine Ridge hosted other packs like it was hosting the Black Lake and Snow Peak Alphas, they would occasionally use these woods to go for a run, since these weren't packed lands. If members of other packs wanted to run on pack lands, they had to be accompanied by a Pine Ridge pack member.

He looked back at me. "The room at the end of the hall beside Cherri and Alice should be big enough for the girls. Just move all the junk into the basement or to the shed."

"Okay."

He turned and began to walk towards the basement door.

"Wait... could Beatrice or Alice take the girls?"

I felt a small hand in mine and I looked to see the twins had come to my side of the table. The twin wearing my coat had grabbed my hand.

"They clearly feel comfortable with you. You'll be the best one to get them to settle in," he called over his shoulder and disappeared.

"Aurelia..." I looked up to see Caesar coming towards me. His blond wavey hair was tucked under a gray knitted hat.

I grabbed a twin in each hand and began to hurry towards the stairs. I loved Caesar, but I couldn't talk to him right now. I may break down if he got me to tell him what was going on.

"Come on girls, there are warm clothes upstairs for you."

From behind me, Caesar let out a long sigh, "I'm here when you're ready."

I led the two girls all the way to the second floor and to the room that we used for storage.

"This is going to be your room," I said.

I open the door and stared in dismay at the junk lining the wall. There was everything in here from old curtains to rakes and shovels. I decided to start with the things that could be put in the shed first.

"But it's so full of stuff," the twin without the coat said.

"I know."

I handed one girl an old watering can and the other a spade.

"Come on, let's but then in the shed outside. I know there are some clothes buried in here from when I and Beatrice were kid, we should be able to find them if we get enough stuff out."

"Are any of the pink, I think pink is our favorite color," the twin without my coat said.

"Yeah, I believe so."

We made our way downstairs through the living room. We passed the wall of coats. Most of the coats were now gone from their hooks.

We made our way kitchen and to the back door. The kitchen, which was packed with people minutes ago, was now empty. Not even Marmee was in the kitchen.

In front of us, the huge backyard stretched before us, like a giant's blank canvas. At its edge, where the woods began, sat an ancient shed where most of a
our gardening equipment was stored. 

I glance down at the twins. "Wait here, it's too cold for you to go out, we need to find you new clothes. I took their items out of their hands.

"You shouldn't go out alone. The man said not to go out without someone!" the twin with my coat said. "I'm going with you!"

"Who Burt? I'll be fine. The shed is just over there," I used my body to prop open the door and raised my arm and point at the wooden structure in the distance with the spade, the exact second a shadow stepped out from around the corner of the house.