If not for Karina, it was very probable the dragon lord would have been lost in all this grief and despair. Even in dealing with his own personal tragedies, he could not meet them with sadness or mourning, but anger, and violence. Søren had never been mourned properly, even almost four years later, the brute preferring to avenge his father’s name in actions, not thoughts. That his new recruit couldn’t reconcile death was not something he could handle – instead, he’d have encouraged the boy to simply get beyond it. After all, if the family loved him, they’d not want him to wither away in his own misery like he was.

Cracking his jaw, he glanced between the pair of yearlings, wondering if Davin would finally accept the priestess’ answer. The Mother, all-knowing as She was, simply could not control every being at every time. Wolves were given free will, after all – unfortunately, this resulted in some animals turning away from Her and Her will. Puffing his cheeks, he hummed, gaze resting thoughtfully on the male. “Wolves have will. Wolves gotta choice,” the dragon emphasized, tail twitching once behind him. That they chose to pillage and pointless murder was wrong. “They’ll be punished fer their crimes, in th’ end. Mother’ll see t’ tha’,” he assured Davin – it was what he would want to hear, were he in the same state. (Probably, he thought after a moment, single eye shifting towards Karina. If something ever happened to her-- No. He’d prevent that possibility before it ever came to fruition.)

That’s the dragon’s job. “We act on Her will. Aye? Obviously, y’were meant t’ find us. We can help you. The Mother wants y’to join us. An’ we can make things right.”

At first, his gray eyes regarded them both with a subtle cloud of confusion, trying to place what their words meant in the context of what he knew and had experienced. Then, all at once, it made sense, and the shock of it reflected upon his features as his ears lifted and his eyes widened. A disease did not just appear out of thin air. It was transmitted, and now he was able to connect the wolfish bite his cousin had come home with and been unable to properly explain with the unraveling of his family. Hadn't it been Garth who had suffered first? He had turned on Davin's father, forcing the alpha to take the boy's life in order to protect himself. They had attributed it to bad blood, but by the end of it, Davin would have been the only one able to rationalize any of it at all.

Someone had delivered that curse upon him and his pack. Perhaps multiple someones. There was someone to blame, and while it created an anger within him, he found the flames to be of relief, for it was better than feeling nothing but despair.

Y'were meant t' find us, Kjors told him, and the words rang true within the young man's mind. The promises that fell off of the dragon's tongue were exactly what the boy needed to hear, and when his eyes were lifted to meet those of his company once more, they were alight with a valediction of the helplessness he had felt before. This was purpose without abandoning his past, and he would cling to it with everything he had.