Her sudden rage had been fueled almost entirely by pain, but there was no denying the righteous anger beneath it. Aeus had done wrong by them all by deserting like that, and as the new leader that was something Raela couldn't stand for. Her menacing demeanor continued right up until Gent burst from his position at her side. Her snarling lips fell and she straightened to watch the assault. Yes, she wanted Aeus gone and she was more than angry; but the spilling of blood hardly seemed appropriate. However, knowing the two of them and their tensions... this could very well escalate into such a battle. Her muscles burned with indecision as the black blur of her fellow leader lunged. No, no she did not want it to be like this. Raela moved, but she'd barely taken half a stride when Astraeus Taranath turned tail and fled from them both. 



The temporary expression of fear that had molded the Queen's face at the thought of them fighting eased into bewilderment. She froze, her mouth slightly agape as her once-lover's form slowly vanished among the distant trees. There was quiet, then all at once she cringed; bearing her teeth and pinching her eyes shut against it all. With a whining growl the woman tossed her head and fell apart; dropping over her paws and hiding her face within them. She hated everything. There was so much hurt and anger beneath her pelt that she wailed; whimpering and sobbing to the world that any of this had ever taken place. She wanted to feel loved as she once had with him; for everything to go back to normal but that would never be possible; and the realization only thrust Raela further into grief.  


Oh how grateful she would be that none of her subordinates saw her like this; but in the moment it was her last concern. Not even Gent's presence could cause her to settle in the midst of such turmoil. She was alone again, her first chance at real love shattered and thrown in her face. It was too much on top of the other events of the past month. It was all too damn much. Why was she never allowed happiness and peace? The matriarch's fur spiked angrily at the countless injustices as she wept. She just wanted to be happy for once...

He had wanted the other man to raise himself against the shade king, to flash his fangs and speed the collision, to give the final reason for blood to spill. Gent wanted to tear and shred, to dominate and destroy, and there was a swell of emptiness within the anger when his eager fangs met nothing but air. Astraeus turned from him, fleeing without another chiseled word from the leviathan who could not let well enough alone. He thundered after the deserter, refusing to give up so easily, but the smaller man had the advantage of speed, and little by little the distance between them grew no matter how valiantly Gent pursued him.

If there had not been so much chaos within his mind, perhaps the anger would've saved room for an edge of regret. When Astraeus had gone missing, they had all feared the worse, that they might never see him again as had happened with Lugh, that something had gotten the better of their comrade. Perhaps he should be thankful for at least having the answers this time, but in the end it was just one more loss, one more blow to the pack's integrity and morale, one more failure on his behalf.

When the other man was gone entirely and his breath came out heavy enough to give him pause, Gent at last relinquished the chase. Charred from the inside out, he trudged his way back to Raela's side. It was only as he first turned that he realized she hadn't pursued them, hadn't tried to stop him as he thought she might. Concern began to claw its way on top of the anger, dominating it and forcing it down to that hidden pit where his turmoil was pressed into a pearl. He heard her grief before he saw it, and there was no hesitation on his behalf as he approached her in silence. Gent laid next to her, draping a forelimb and his muzzle over her shoulders to pull her into some semblance of an embrace. However long it took her to regather herself, he would patiently wait, at her side for all of it.

/Fade.