He did not move as Danica approached him, her intention to cause him harm had not gone unnoticed and for a moment he thought to allow her the satisfaction of getting her anger out. She had her own right to be upset, the guilt that bubbled at the base of his throat was enough to pull at his heart strings but he was reminded, as her weight barreled into him, that she was no longer a pup and should not be given the privilege to inflict harm simply because she was upset. The blur of gray at his side sent his body on edge as Iopah intercepted the attack given by his child and he watched in horror as the woman he had pledged to love was in combat with the little girl he had helped to create--never had he imagined that things would come to this. Thinking fast he moved to pull Iopah from his daughter, this was not her fight, and circled the younger woman with eyes seeming to burn bright with frustration and anger, she had crossed the line attacking one of the pack and what damage Iopah had inflicted to knock her down was nothing compared to the damage he knew that he could inflict on her.

"I will not fight you Danica, regardless of how you feel toward me you still have my blood in your veins. You are still my daughter, it was funny how she praised the very man who had vanished and left behind Nina and his children, You want to know what happened to Hollow? He left Danica, the man you called a father left you and he left his children behind to. He left Nina, and he left the pack without an adequate leader, and he left without a single word to anyone not even your mother" he swallowed hard now, feeling the weight on his shoulders lift as the anger left him. Without realizing it he had begun to circle his daughter, watching her every move as if she were cornered prey and continued on, "What makes me the bad guy, because you cannot accept that me and your mother are no longer together? That I have found love in Iopah, well guess what she doesn't own Iopah and neither does she own me," he inhaled sharply, his brows wrinkling, You are an adult now Danica, gain control of your feelings and grow out of this fairytale life you're still living," he paused, looking his daughter up and down and focusing now on the green tint of her eyes, "The fact that you blame me for Tacoma's death is a childish way to deal with his loss Danica, and a lie that I will not tolerate you spreading around the pack." he could sense Unitas in the area and hoped the young lad had heard most of what he said. There was no doubt in his mind that the dark male probably believed just as much about him as his daughter did, and he sought to set some things straight.

She protested when Koda pulled her away. A soft growl and a quick side-way shimmy and then Iopah was free, gaze casting away as she stepped from his daughter. Exasperation was one of dozens of emotions that simultaneously clamored to be heard and voiced. Didn't he understand that a fight meant for him would always involve her? This was not a frivolous relationship, one that she could overlook for convenience-sake. She thought to give him a look, convey some of her annoyance.

Iopah turned her gaze to Koda, waiting for him to finish the circuit around Danica and catch her peeved expression. Her eyes were narrowed slightly, head cocked with a clear 'excuse me, was that really necessary?' look on her face. Danica raged the entire time, intense feeling with little truth or sense. Iopah had hoped her own words would knock sense into her, but was realizing Danica was too far gone to be helped. Koda completed the circuit (facing Iopah now), Danica launched a new tirade, and Iopah met Koda's gaze all at the exact same moment.

Danica's words crashed over Iopah and suddenly it was not mere exasperation in her eyes, but overwhelming despair. The tirade continued and Iopah held Koda's gaze, while the rest of her started to crumble. Ears pulled flat and tail tucked to her belly as if making a smaller target for the words. Iopah was used to bad language, her parents had taught her most of it; it was the truth that cut far deeper. Was that true? Did Nina want her to leave and use that convenient excuse for it?

Iopah missed Nina's actual arrival, she simply looked over in a haze of shame and found her standing there. The reprimand was completely missed, not that Iopah could come up with a retort anyways. She tried to meet Nina's eyes, gaze drifting up ever so slowly to find the single green eye had turned decidedly from her. Oh. There was nothing she could say to Danica's question, she was stuck. She couldn't very well say 'No, of course not.'. There was a reason she was alone when Nina found her, the same reason no relatives had ever come after her. Iopah had left her family, and they had died refusing to leave with her. Bile rose with her shame and she licked her lips to force it back down, it stayed firmly lodged in her throat. Koda was still speaking, but quietly and firmly now. Iopah knew, despite what Nina might think of her, that he would be safe in her prescence.

Iopah slowly turned her body to slink away. She couldn't stay and listen any longer. Briefly she thought of going back out and looking for Aideen and Pacem. She wanted to find them, despite what ever rules Nina and Danica had regarding the issue, she the two lost wolves her family. But now, that simple task had been warped in her mind. Iopah would go out and search, while they gloated over her supposed leaving. Pacem and Aideen were starving and lost, a situation that Danica used the her advantage. The bile rose like a tide and Iopah leaned forward to retch into the grass with a wet noise.

After all the screaming and shouting the quiet was surreal. Iopah could still hear the words. They ricocheted like shard of glass in her mind, the echoes booming over the quiet that surrounded her. The woman felt embarrassed -cowardly- to have left like she did, but she couldn't stay. A salmon tongue came out to wipe the moisture from her lips; several mouthfuls of snow had failed to remove the bitterness. Even now her stomach twisted at the clusterfuck this had become. Her relationship with Koda had become ridicule, despite Nina's earlier acceptance of it. The two wolves were still missing and more energy had been spent berating the couple than searching for them.

The forest felt different, as if it was not the place she'd spent the last two years. It certainly didn't feel as welcome or supportive any longer. Iopah's skin crawled just before the shadowy yearling emerged. Her feet stopped, but mind continued to race. Now what, she thought, Don't you have something to do? Like search for your own brother? Even Silentium had gone out to search already. Is this what Unitas did with his days? Spied on them and popped out to rub Iopah's tears in her nose? She stared, not quite knowing what she was going to do, but aware that it was probably going to be bad if this upstart push the conversation.

Nina's arrival was a blessing in deep disguise. The brown tail went high over it's owner's back and Iopah's curved down to press against her stomach. It was a robotic move made worse by the stress of the argument. It was quite clear what everyone thought of her, even more clear that her happiness did not matter. Nina owned her, simple as that. Unitas could do what he wanted, he always did anyways.

She nodded at Nina's command. It had only been hours since she'd returned from searching and her feet dragged still, but Iopah didn't want to be in this thicket right now. She would rather be searching for Pacem and Aideen that sleeping with one eye open. The woman tensed at Koda's name. Was it a trick? No, she shook her head. If Koda were to catch sight of her expression now he would realize how upset she was; it would make this so much more worse. "Could you tell him for me?" She whispered, wondering if Nina actually would. There was no question Danica would lie and twist reality to fit whatever story she wanted.

Iopah was gone even before the warning look to Unitas, fleeing to somewhere she felt safe, somewhere outside the thicket.