She was torn. She wanted to understand the pale man - perhaps she had begun to suspect the disorder in his brain - but she could only speculate. The sensitive queen wanted to know what had driven her subordinate, how had this transgression come to pass, and why was he suddenly owning up to it? Her questions would remain unanswered though, because now her husband suddenly decided to speak up. After so long in silence, seemingly happy to let her lead the questioning, he finally decided to take part, counteracting her last demand. Aideen’s frown grew deeper and the corner of her mouth tightened; Are you serious?

It wasn’t that she didn’t understand his position, loyalty was adamant to the pack’s survival, even if Miccah was more fixated on that, his partner knew it too. She was looking at this more broadly though, there was more to it than the disobedience. Zilas had gone outside the pack to commit his dalliance, and it had been so long that she doubted there they would see any real backlash from the Notch - Either they had decided that punishing Sylva was enough, or she had kept her suitor secret. Aideen worried more for the possible litter and their maybe ousted mother, than she did for one misstep of her own subordinate.

But clearly her male counterpart felt differently. Looking at how he swelled up in front of the younger wolf, hearing the boom of his irate voice, the queen felt a sudden rush of anger, herself. This was so typical of him! He might think of her as the emotional one, but with this kind of issue he blew up so quickly, leaving no room for comprehensive thinking. She wouldn’t be surprised if her husband was prepared to kick out one of their few remaining subordinates for this; Well he can forget it! Sending Miccah a hard, sidelong look, she spoke more sharply than before: “Fine! Then he’s not your second any more.” Turning back to Zilas, she looked him in the eye coldly, holding on to the harsh, definitive tone: “For breaking the law, you are demoted to lowest, until you can sufficiently prove your loyalty to the Woodlands!” He would get a second chance, because that was what Secret Woodlands was truly about.

Spinning on her heels, she paused briefly to face her mate, challenging him to contradict her; Again! Then she was off, intend on finding her sons and taking them with her on trip to the Glade, where she could cool off.

Word count: 424