Roxie was surprised at how quickly he gave in, how much he softened after she pressed.  All of the violent accusations and hurtful words seemed to shift and change to something more reasonable once they were alone.  Still, she let him speak his peace and once he had, she nodded her agreement.  "I'll be there."  The idea and the memories tugged at her heartstrings as well.  It had been so long, but they had been happy then, and the girl she had been in those days would have been relieved to know that Ben was her mate.  Roxie wished she could feel the same, but a few minutes of civil words was not enough to end years of animosity.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">**************<br/>​</div>The cabin had been a safe haven for them.  A place to do what teenagers did, mess up and hang out.  A part of Roxie missed those days, but she knew there was no going back to them.  They couldn't fix what had been broken, even if they desperately needed to do something to mend fences.  Before she even made it inside, her wolf picked up his scent and it howled within her, gleeful at the prospect of seeing Ben again.  Roxie couldn't share in that glee, but she also knew she could not fully ignore the needs of her wolf.  It would lead them both down a dark path if they tried to.  She continued onward, and the cabin looked almost inviting, as she watched the light of the fire within flicker against the curtains of the windows.<br/><br/>She opened the door and when she saw him, in this place that had once been theirs, her wolf again wanted to make things right between them.  Roxie shoved the feelings down and did her best not to stomp in and slam the door.  It wasn't his fault or hers that this had happened.<br/><br/>"That's the info about what happened?"  She asked, though she already knew the answer as she saw pictures of the crime scene in the open binder.  Roxie thumbed through the pages, giving it all a basic overlook.  It was strange, but she trusted his opinion on all of this, and she almost wanted to hear that first.  She did not think it would color her findings and it might open her eyes to what he might be missing.  When she glanced over at him, all she could think about was the bond.  It was like the wolf was attempting to push into her mind at every turn, and she knew they were not going to be able to work like this in the long term.  This meant they had two problems that they needed to solve, and she was now quite certain that both were important.<br/><br/>"If we're going to figure this out together, we have to..."  She paused, feeling stubborn, she didn't want to say it out loud again.  Not speaking it wasn't going to make it untrue though.  "The mate bond, we can't just ignore it.  It'll eat at us both if we stay close like this..."