Chapter 21 Of Wolf And Man

Chapter 21 – Of Wolf And Man

I do not own SOA or Twilight.

Ava lowered her shades as she got in line at the Canadian Border Crossing. She dug into her purse and retrieved the passport Chibs gotten for her. One of the border patrollers made their way over and she rolled down her window down then handed her passport and driver’s license over. He asked what her reason for visiting was and she answered with visiting some friends. He gave a simple nod and went to hand her ID back but did a double take as he looked upon her then back to the picture on her passport. Ava gave her best smile and the man smiled in return.

“Welcome to Canada, Mrs. Telford.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and waved her on through. Ava drew back a breath of relief as she hit the road and began her journey to the shifters hideout.

---

Chibs was in the middle of the meeting when Ava finally called. He looked to the boys and held up a hand. Normally, he’d have waited until adjourning the meeting but he was a bit on edge about her phone going straight to voicemail earlier.

“Hey, darlin’…”

“HEY, SWEETIELUMPKINS!” Jax called in playful manner.

The guys chuckled.

“Hey…” Ava said but with this offbeat tone about her.

“Ye alright?” Chibs questioned taking notice.

“Yeah. Just a long day…”

“Oh?”

“Yeah…”

“Been one of those here too.”

“Is everything okay?” She questioned with slight alarm.

“Aye. Everything’s just fine.”

Jax raised his brows on this and Chibs shook his head. Now was not the time to cause Ava that kind of concern. From the sounds of it she’d enough on her mind.

“Sorry I missed your call. My phone was dead.”

“Are ye sure yer alright?” He questioned as she sounded to be on the verge of tears.

Ava cleared her throat on the other end.

“Yeah. I’ll just be glad to be home…”

“I hear ya.”

“Chibs, I could be running later than expected.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Just how late we talkin’?”

“Another day maybe two?”

Chibs drew back a breath wondering what she was up to. He’d the urge to ask what she was up to but refrained.

“Alright… But if ye need me fur anythin’ ye had better call. I mean it, lass.”

“Love you…” She said with a cracking voice.

Chibs tilted his head then looked to the guys.

“Ava… if yer in some kind of danger…” He hinted as to the little keyword they had between them.

“I’m fine. Promise. Just hormones.” She said.

“Look, my phone isn’t fully charged yet and it’s about to die again. I just wanted to return your call and let you know I could be running a tad late.”

“Alright, mo ghaol. Be safe.”

Ava hung up the phone and Chibs just sat there for a moment. He nodded towards Jax.

“Somethin’ about that conversation didn’t set well with me. She didn’t sound herself.”

“Well… Isn’t she dealing with all that past shit? Can’t be easy…” Jax uttered.

“Aye…” Chibs replied in thought.

“Do we need to go on a hunt?” Bobby asked.

Chibs lifted his eyes on this.

“Not yet. She’d have let me know. Still… Somethin’ seems ‘off’.”

“Like Jackson said… Visiting the dead pops, not easy.” Opie said and Piney reared back on this.

“I ain’t dead yet, ya shit!”

The guys had a good laugh at this.

“Well no shit. You keep smoking near that oxygen tank and you just might be before long.” Opie fired back.

Piney shrugged.

“At least I’d go out with a blast!”

“Yeah and you’d take out anyone near ya!” Chibs called behind a chuckle.

“Brothers in arms.” Piney said with a grin.

“You mean brothers on fire.” Jax corrected.

“Ye got that right.”

Chibs cleared his throat however and went back to their discussion on what the sheriff had said. Once he finished, Opie had this ‘look’ about him. Chibs took notice.

“Aye now… We’ve all had fuckups…”

“Not like this one.” Opie muttered looking ill.

“Ye just think back ta all the shite Clay and Tig pulled then ye go and say that shite again. Look at me, brother.”

Opie looked on over Chibs’s eyes locked with his.

“Not a one of us hasn’t been in yer shoes. It happens. Now that doesn’t mean I’m not flat pissed with ya. But it happens. And I know ye were just in a hurry ta get them guns off our hands so we could end the cartel. Ye have more reason than anyone at the moment. I can respect that. But next time – heaven forbid there is a next time… I really need my sergeant at the top of his game and not cuttin’ any corners. I won’t go on about the children’s lives. I’m sure ye’ve gone and tortured yerself enough on that one. Now we might be facin’ prison time, but at least we’re alive. We all know we shouldn’t have walked away from that one. Those guys meant business and they could’ve taken us out if they wanted. Lucky fur us they were in a hurry.”

Opie nodded but still he carried that guilt on his shoulders. Everyone could see it. Happy reached over and patted him on the back.

“I’ve done worse.”

“How?” Opie scoffed.

Happy chuckled in memory.

“I fucked my old prez’s wife…”

The guys reared back on this and Happy chuckled.

“Ah, he had it comin’ he was an asshole.”

Jax looked to Chibs and had this snide grin about him.

“Well you better hope you don’t turn into an asshole!”

“Anyone tries fuckin’ my old lady and I’ll be rapin’ that asshole like some prison bitch.”

Happy gave a mere nod of respect.

“Now there’s an image.” Opie muttered.

---

Ava looked to the map on her phone and shook her head.

“Well they weren’t kidding about making certain no one could find them.” She muttered in misery.

It was getting dark, she’d yet to eat anything, and fought to keep her eyes open. Ava decided it were best to pull over and get a breath of fresh air. The last thing she needed was to fall asleep at the wheel and out in the middle of nowhere.

“I should be right on it…” She said while looking around the area.

Ava tilted her head as she could make out something off to the distance. She headed into the woods but was blown away at the breathtaking sight. “Wow.” The young woman whispered amongst herself. She hunkered down and dipped her fingers into the crisp clear lake and gazed upon her reflection. She jumped however as someone approached her from behind. Ava shot to her feet and pivoted around, nearly losing her footing in the process.

“Whoa…” The man said and was quick to break her fall by grabbing her and pulling her towards him.

“Embry?!” Ava whispered in disbelief.

The man reared back on this.

“Do I know you?”

Ava cleared her throat and stepped out of his hold.

“You’ve certainly grown…”

“Grown?” He questioned with raised brows.

“Embry, it’s me. Or was… It’s a long story actually.”

“Bella?!” Another voice called and Ava turned that direction.

The other man laughed and was making his way over.

“Now I’d know that scent from anywhere. Only it’s got a little bit of something… Something awfully familiar…”

“Paul?!”

He nodded and walked a complete circle around her. He reached over and ruffled her hair up a bit.

“So what’s all this?”

Embry staggered back in realization and was looking upon her in absolute shock.

“I thought she died…” He whispered and Paul rolled his eyes.

“Bella?! Pffft. I knew something was up. Not like you to go down without a fight.”

This had Ava looking to Paul in disbelief.

“Dig the new look! Not too crazy about the hair though. Nice tat!”

“Paul!” She snapped as he was getting a little too close for comfort.

He chuckled and took a step back.

“And she’s with child…”

Paul reached over, took her hand into his own, and was looking to the wedding ring on her finger.

“And hitched! Oh man, Jacob’s gonna…”

“It can’t be…” They heard and this had the three of them turning that direction.

Ava took notice of the way Embry and Paul took flanking stance beside her.

“Is it really you?”

“Yes and no…”

Jacob paused as he breathed in the air around them.

“You didn’t…” He damn near growled.

Ava narrowed her eyes on this.

“You smell just like him!” Jacob said as he was shaking all over.

“YOU FAKED YOUR OWN DEATH SO YOU COULD BE WITH HIM?!”

“JACOB!” Paul hollered in warning.

“THIS ENTIRE TIME?! I MOURNED YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! AND NOW YOU STAND THERE AS IF TO MOCK ME!”

His eyes flickered and to her great surprise, Paul shifted and leaped out in front of her. This had her thinking back to when she first discovered the truth behind the shifters only it was Jacob protecting her from Paul, now the roles were reversed and that felt incredibly awkward. The two wolves ripped into one another as Paul was doing everything he could to keep Jacob from getting to her.

“You better come with me…” Embry said as he took her by the hand.

They ran into the woods and for what seemed like forever. Ava was out of breath and could barely keep up as he leaped over branches and other obstacles with no problem.

“Come on, Bella. Keep up.”

“Says the wolf…” She bitterly remarked and he laughed.

Embry came to a stop once they could make out the cabins up ahead. Ava looked to Embry in question. He waved his hand about the area.

“Welcome to our little sanctuary!”

Ava took a couple steps towards the cabins and sort of laughed.

“This isn’t what I pictured…” She admitted as she feared they had it a little rougher.

But this didn’t look so terrible.

“And what did you picture?”

When she wouldn’t answer Embry nodded amongst himself.

“Let me guess. Teepees, peace pipes, and moonshine?!”

“Peace pipes and moonshine for certain…” Ava taunted in return.

That was an ongoing joke between her and the younger shifters considering how her first actual Quileute meeting went.

“Okay, you got me. We still dig that shit.”

“Thought so…”

“If you weren’t carrying I’d offer…”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

Embry laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“Let’s let everyone know you’re here, finally.”

“Are you certain that’s a good idea? Maybe I should just relay the message to you and be on my way.”

“Same ole, Bella.”

“Actually, no. I’m not Bella, Embry. I haven’t been Bella in a while. Bella died back in Forks.”

“Okay… I’ll bite. So who are you?”

“Ava.”

“Ava?”

“Ava Telford.”

“As in…”

“Yep.”

“Oh man… No wonder Jacob’s pissed!” Embry said behind a fit of laughter.

“Like I said… It might be for the best. I’ve had a long couple days as it is.”

“Ouch…” Embry uttered and lowered his arm.

“If you don’t wanna be here. I’m not stopping you.”

“Embry, that’s not what I meant.”

“Sure it is. I can see it all over your face. You used to love hanging around us. So you got yourself a big bad biker for a husband and you went all kickass in the looks department. That doesn’t change the fact that you’re family.”

“Family?” Ava muttered somewhat bitterly.

“I think it’s safe to say I haven’t been considered ‘family’ in sometime.”

“You’re wrong. Bella, you haven’t any idea…”

Embry drew back a breath and got this teary eyed look about him.

“Your ‘death’ affected us all… And despite what the way he’s acting, Jacob took it harder than anyone.”

“Yeah… I can see that.” She sarcastically remarked.

“That’s just his pain talking. Paul will get him situated.”

“Jacob hated my very existence, everyone knows that. From the moment he found out about Chibs and I… He never looked at me the same again.”

“Come on, Bella. Can you blame him? First it was the cold one then the biker? Everything got in his way.”

“But that’s just it… We were never an item to begin with. So there was nothing to get in the way of. Even you have to admit that he’s awfully pushy and set in his ways. He doesn’t accept no for an answer, never has. I mean hell… It’s been how long?! And still… here he is. Yet I’m clearly married and with child. His way of dealing with the situation is to lose shit and attack me?!’

Embry rather shrugged on this.

“I suppose you have a point…”

“That’s what I meant about heading on out. It hasn’t anything to do with you or the others. But Jacob and I… well we don’t exactly see eye to eye and haven’t for some time. Just the way he looks at me…” She frowned in thought and shook her head.

“Hey, are you alright?” He called as she grew rather pale and leaned against a nearby tree.

“Yeah… It’s just been a really long couple days.”

Embry nodded and walked on over.

“Embry!” She snapped as he scooped her up and was carrying her towards the cabins.

“What?! Thought I’d help!”

He paused however and looked to her with a grin.

“Is that your stomach growling?”

Ava rolled her eyes and Embry shook his head as if to scold her.

“You gotta feed that baby!” He said and started walking again.

“I bet Emily’s got some leftovers in the fridge. We’ll get you fixed up in no time. There’s a guestroom at Paul’s place.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

Embry kept that smile of his and kept walking.

“Hey! Look, at what the cat dragged in!” Embry hollered once they entered Sam and Emily’s cabin.

“Thanks…” Ava hissed and he laughed.

“You can put me down now.”

“Okay!” He said and dropped her where they stood.

“EMBRY!”

“You told me to put you down! So I did!”

“Ass…” She griped as he offered her a hand up.

“Bella?!”

Something about hearing her old name over and over was starting to get under her skin. She knew it wasn’t their fault. But it was damn near insulting now. The only time she didn’t feel that way was the few times Chibs referred to her as such and it was usually during sex.

“Ava, actually…” She corrected and Emily regarded her in confusion.

“Look, maybe we could make this easier by gathering everyone. That way I’m not repeating myself.” Ava took notice of the look on Embry’s face.

“Sorry…” She uttered realizing how impatient she was coming off as.

But at the moment… All she wanted was some food in her tummy, a warm shower, and a full eight hours sleep. She wasn’t looking forward to the long night that awaited her, not that she wasn’t happy to see her old friends. If anything, she was relieved in the sense of knowing they were alive and well, all except Quil. She recoiled in thought. And she would have to be the bearer of bad news on that one, only adding fire to the flame, at least in Jacob’s eyes. Quil was one of his best friends. And Ava hadn’t any doubt that he’d find a way to blame her. She always was to blame when shit like this went down. The more she thought about Jacob and how he’d treated her over the years, the angrier she felt. It all started with Mike Newton and Jacob’s jealousy over him. Then it went from there to Edward Cullen. When Chibs Telford entered the picture… Jacob lost it. For whatever reason, he always had it in his mind that Bella Swan belonged to him. Only she was no longer Bella Swan and she hadn’t any issues in putting Jacob Black in his place. In fact she wanted to! She wanted to show him that she wasn’t the same girl. Whereas Bella Swan wasn’t afraid to pop him one, Ava Telford wasn’t afraid to put a bullet in his ass, whatever it took to get her point across. He wasn’t about to get all clingy and touchy feely with her. This wasn’t high school anymore. She was a grown woman, a married one at that and with child. She demanded respect and she’d get it one way or another. After all she was going out HER way to help them and she didn’t have to. She could’ve turned her back to it all and moved the fuck on. Part of her wanted to. The selfish side wished she had. But deep down… She knew she couldn’t. It wasn’t in her, despite her thoughts on the matter when Wayne first brought all this to her attention. She couldn’t turn her back to her old friends, no matter the ill feelings she had towards a few of them.

“Bella?” Emily questioned whilst reaching for her.

“Hey…” Embry called and cupped her chin.

“You in there?”

Ava was doing everything within her power to keep her cool. But she kept thinking back to that lab and everything she witnessed and the more she looked upon the Quileute’s, the more she thought about Quil. She thought about his smile and the way he laughed when they hung out. He was always the life of the party so to speak and could make anyone laugh in any given situation. But what hurt Ava even more… was Angela’s death. She was innocent in all this. So Knox claimed she somehow knew the truth, but how? What part did Angela Webber play in all this? She didn’t deserve the cruelty they had her endure. Ava drew back a painful gasp and wrapped her arms around her stomach. Her entire face flushed over as the tears came and she fought to catch her breath.

Sam and the others had just entered the room at this point. Embry and Emily were doing whatever they could think of to snap Ava out of her little attack. Jacob and Paul were last on the scene. Both were pretty beat up and had on nothing but a pair of shorts. Jacob rolled his eyes as if merely annoyed. And even through her distress Ava took notice. She gritted her teeth on this and eyed him down.

“IF MY PRESENCE BOTHERS YOU SO MUCH… YOU CAN LEAVE AND COME BACK ONCE I’M GONE!” She snapped surprising everyone.

Ava’s hands were balled up into fists and Paul nodded in agreement.

“I’VE DONE NOTHING TO YOU AND YOU KNOW IT. IT’S BEEN HOW MANY YEARS? STILL YOU HOLD THIS UNEXCUSABLE GRUDGE AGAINST ME. GET OVER YOURSELF AND GROW THE FUUUUCK UP, JACOB!!!”

“UNEXCUSABLE?!” He roared back.

“COMPLETELY! LOOK AT YOURSELF!”

He started towards her and Embry slammed him back. His eyes locked with Jacob’s and he shook his head.

“Let it go.”

“This is none of your business. This is between me and Bella.”

Ava jumped as Sam darted on over. He grabbed Jacob by the hair and dragged him outside. The door slammed behind them.

“Oh my…” Emily whispered looking highly uncomfortable.

She hugged Ava and apologized profusely for Jacob’s dreadful behavior. She led her into the kitchen and set her down at the dining room table.

“You must be famished.”

The boys sat at the table as well and each of them gawked upon Ava as if they couldn’t believe their eyes. This was the quietest the pack had ever been. Emily made Ava a cup of coffee and warmed up some leftovers.

“Thank you.”

Emily nodded and sat beside Ava as she ate. Emily made the cut throat motion towards the boys as they continued staring. Ava devoured her plate in silence then sipped at her coffee. She would tear up off and on but was merely waiting for Sam and Jacob to return so she could give them the bad news. She lifted her head once they entered the room. Sam kept a watchful eye on Jacob as Ava went on to tell them about what all she witnessed and how she found about Quil and the cold ones. From there, she went on to let them know that the hunters had been taken care off and were no more. That they could finally go home. Each of them looked to one another in shock. As for Jacob? He left the cabin.

“I’m so sorry…” Ava said in fullest sincerity.

“We already knew about Quil. At least to some extent… We’d lost contact in spiritual sense of the pack and knew something must’ve happened, as we could no longer sense his presence. We just weren’t sure how…” Sam admitted.

Ava nodded.

“In return, we’re sorry to hear about your father and your friends. However… we thought you to be dead as well. So how are you here?”

Ava told her story on how she walked in on her father’s murder and went on from there. Sam recoiled and shook his head in thought.

“So the biker finally talked some sense into you…” Paul uttered with a touch of a smirk.

“I knew I liked him for a reason. Anyone that can talk some sense into the love-crazed vampire-girl has got my respect.”

Ava cut him a look and he shrugged.

“Oh come on, you were insufferable and know it, until he came along.”

“That’s a compliment coming from him…” Embry uttered whilst nudging her.

“Sure…”

“In Bella’s defense that wasn’t exactly her… As we all know the cold ones have a way of drawing people in and making them say and do things they wouldn’t normally do. I think Mr. Telford had a way of disrupting that bond, the one the Cullen boy tried so hard to maintain.” Emily spoke in Bella’s defense.

“He was no boy.” Sam reminded with disgust.

Emily nodded in understanding.

“Exactly. Meaning he knew damn well what he was doing. Bella was the victim in all this, making Jacob’s attitude unacceptable.” Embry stated.

But there was more behind this as each of the shifters had picked on Jacob’s thoughts when it came to Bella. He had some very unpleasant ones. Ones that had Sam putting him in his place more than a handful of times.

“Victim?” Ava repeated with a sneer.

“I don’t mean that the damsel in distress sort of way…”

“What he means is you hadn’t any control over the pull Edward had on you. Edward however knew what he was doing, from the very beginning.”

“That doesn’t explain why he couldn’t achieve that when Chibs was around.”

Emily and Sam looked to one another a certain way. Sam gave his wife a mere nod and she smiled.

“Even humans have ways of imprinting so to speak…”

“Imprint?” Ava mocked with a snort.

“Not so much in the sense of a shifter but in the sense of being one’s soul mate. The heart knows what it wants and not much can get in the way of that. Obviously, you and the biker shared something along those lines and no one came close in comparison.”

“If that’s true then why doesn’t Jacob recognize that as well?”

“He does… He’s just going about it in a juvenile sense. Like Edward, he hasn’t any control over the situation.” Sam explained.

“And trust me we’ve heard allllll about it.” Embry said with a frown and the others seemed to sigh in unison.

“So Jacob understands all of this. Yet still he chooses to be angry with me?!”

“We’ve never excused his actions nor do we believe it to be rational. Unfortunately, there is no getting through to Jacob, believe me when I say we’ve tried.” Sam replied.

“You seem different.” Ava admitted and Sam nodded.

“I suppose we all are in some ways. Maybe for the better…”

“Agreed.” Emily said with a warm smile and pecked her husband on the cheek.

“And you…” Ava said with a nod Paul’s direction.

“I thought you hated me.”

The others looked to Paul and he rolled his eyes.

“I just like easy women.”

Ava looked to him as if offended and like she were about to sock him one. But she broke into a fit of laughter and this had the others looking to her in question.

“Unfortunately, I think you’d fit in with the Sons.”

“Oh?” Paul said as if intrigued by this.

“Don’t even think about it…” Sam warned and Paul sighed.

“Fine. Ruin my dreams…”

“So your dreams are to become a prospect of the Son’s and answer to their every beckoning call like a little bitch?!” Ava taunted.

Paul raised his brows on this.

“Damn…” Jared said behind laughter.

Ava sent Paul a wink and Sam shook his head.

“Getting a little too brave, aren’t we?”

“Well I did marry the president.” She said with a shrug.

---

“I was hoping you were joking…” Ava whispered as Embry walked with Ava to Paul’s place.

“Nope.”

“This is so weird.”

Embry chuckled as they entered they door. They followed Paul to one of the back rooms and Paul motioned towards the twin sized bed.

“All yours. Just don’t go sneaking into my room at night…” He taunted with a grin.

“I’ll try my hardest.” She scoffed in return.

“I know. It won’t be easy but you must contain yourself for the sake of your husband and the child you carry.”

“Right.”

Embry shook his head at this and Paul chuckled.

“So weird.” Ava repeated as she sat her purse down and sat at the edge of the bed.

“If you toss me the keys I’ll get your car over here.” Embry offered.

“You don’t mind?”

“Wouldn’t offer if I did.”

“Um thanks.” She said while tossing her keys over.

“Just be careful. It’s a rental.”

“Got it!”

Paul and Ava had a moment of uncomfortable silence. Paul rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat.

“I’m next door if you need anything. But it better not be for something stupid. The cabin better be on fire… Got it?”

“Whatever you say.”

He cocked a brow on this.

“You got that right. Oh and if you want to bathe I’d use the lake. We don’t have running water here and we use compressors for whatever electricity we use at night. We tend to stay of the grid, by all means. I’ll leave you a towel and some soap on the couch.”

“Ugh…” Ava groaned in response and he chuckled on the way out.

“Watch for bears!”

“You mean pervy wolves!”

“That too!”

Ava took her hair down and got herself situated. There wasn’t much to the room just a bed, night table, and lamp. Ava wanted to charge her phone but couldn’t. She decided on seeing if Embry got her car back safe and sound. When she stepped out Embry was making his way out of the car. He tossed her keys over and helped to gather her belongings. As grungy as Ava felt she decided against bathing. Not only was it too cold, but she hadn’t THAT much trust in the pack. She’d worry about showering when she got back to Charming.

“Thanks.” Ava said once Embry helped her get situated.

“No prob. Get some sleep, B… I mean, Ava…”

She smiled on this. He gave a mere nod and headed on out. Ava drew back a breath and stepped out of her boots and blue jeans. She was too tired to concern herself with anything else. She kicked back on the bed and within the matter of seconds she was out.

---

Ava shot up and her body jerked in response as she found herself outside of Paul’s house and she was being dragged into the woods. She narrowed her eyes seeing as how it was Jacob, only in wolf form. He had her by the ankle.

“No Jacob…” She whimpered and he let out a low growl.

“Jacob! Stop it!”

The dragging came to a stop and she jumped as his massive form hovered over her now.

“Don’t you even think about it…” She hissed as he pressed himself against her and she could literally ‘feel’ his excitement.

“JESUS CHRIST! SO THAT’S WHAT IT’S COME TO? YOU’RE GOING TO FUCKING RAPE ME?!” She shouted on top of her lungs.

Another shifter lunged it’s way over and knocked Jacob off of her. Ava shot to her feet seeing that it was Paul. She nodded amongst herself and took off. Paul and Jacob were in mid rumble when a gunshot was heard. They stopped and looked over to see Ava holding the gun. Another shot was fired and Jacob let out an agonizing whimper. She hadn’t taken notice of the others standing behind her.

“How’s that for a million-dollar wound?!” Ava shouted as she’d shot him in the ass.

“What’s to stop me from putting you out of your misery? I highly doubt you’ll heal from a blast to the fucking head!”

“Do it…” Sam said whilst eyeing Jacob down.

Ava turned and looked to Sam in surprise.

“Do it or I will!”

Each of the shifters shared that same disgusted look as Sam. Jacob let out a painful whimper as he actually felt the bond between him and the others pull away. Sam let out a thunderous growl. He shifted right before everyone and took off with Jacob.

Embry went to console her only she took a step back.

“Please don’t. Just… don’t touch me.”

The more they gawked upon her, the angrier she became.

“STOP THAT!!!” Ava shouted and Paul gestured for everyone to be on their way.

Ava shut the bedroom door and locked it behind her.

When Ava woke the following morning, there wasn’t anyone in sight. In fact, it looked as if the Quileute’s had packed everything up and left in the middle of the night. It wasn’t until she got into her car that she realized they really had.

Ava,

                Your secret is safe, no one will ever know. I cannot apologize enough on Jacob’s behalf and rest assured that has been taken care of. He won’t come near you again. We understand if you never visit again. Just know that you can turn to us, no matter. Thank you – for everything. 

Sincerely,

Sam  

PS – We thought it best if we were gone before you woke. 

---

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