Fox's Glade It was a perfectly good grand piano

Arlette was unaware of the discomfort she gave her brother and even if she had, the male assumed. With that assumption he hurt himself. Arlette found him difficult to read. Merrit had grown, she wasn't as familiar with him as she had been before. But she didn't blame him. In fact, she applauded him for getting out of Easthollow when he could. She had tried to be the perfect daughter for years, and one mistake had made her mother into a tyrant.

At first, she felt like it was a mistake. Not anymore. She knew the unconditional love she was missing now Kaito was gone. That had not been a mistake. Ever. After a moment of silence Merrit formed his question. Just one. "This is the exact spot I met my mate on a brisk winter day. I startled him and he hit that low hanging branch. It was full of snow and he was showered with the icy cold snow that came off it." She commented. She still couldn't believe it. She had startled him. Arlette often felt as dangerous as a rabbit. A brief light touched her eyes before it died out. The hope vanished. Kaito was no more, as was her infectious smile. "Now he lies there, buried, with our still born pups," she finished and swallowed thickly. Sh knew she dropped a bombshell on Merrit. She couldn't help to have tears well up in her eyes but she angrily blinked them away.

Of course, he wouldn't leave Merrit hanging with those words. The story was unfinished. "His name was Kaito. He died protecting aunt Nanook, her pups, and me from a cougar. You already know the ending of that fight," she stated solemnly. A shaky sigh name from her, then her eyes were cast to Merrit. "That night, probably because the stress of losing Kaito, I gave birth to our two stillborn pups," she added quietly. She cast her eyed down, but it was not in sadness. Her face was distorted in anger. She gritted her jaw, thinking of their hypocrite of a mother. She blamed Valette for losing her babies, not the cougar.