Naia’s tail flicked nervously as Maksim closed his eyes, mulling over her report before he spoke aloud. When his eyelids fluttered open, his green eyes were uncharacteristically soft; concerned, Naia thought. He began to speak, leading with information Naia already knew—they were sided with Minka. Thank the gods. If they weren’t, it certainly would have strained her new relationship with the Black Thorn Downs Second, Inali. Inali was just as loyal to Minka as Naia was to Maksim, and so it was just as well that the two pack leaders were on friendly terms. Naia was quite uncomfortable with the idea of having to choose between her love for Inali and her loyalty to Maksim, but with the current alliance Naia couldn’t conceived a situation where that might ever happen. Ash Hervok however had not been so lucky.

The scout’s expression darkened as Maksim detailed the Caverns leader’s betrayal. Her reaction was not only to Ash’s violation of loyalty; it also pained her to hear of a wolf who’d had to make the very painful choice that Naia hoped she was never faced with. Love or Loyalty? It was as if someone was asking her to choose which half of her heart she wanted to keep. She pitied the poor man who had been faced with such a choice. And then, just as Maksim spoke of the pup Ash abandoned, Naia’s pity dried up. No. Leaving a pup? While escaping a flood, nonetheless! That was hardly conceivable to Naia, and she understood Maksim’s grudge right away. She thought about sweet Karina licking her nose, and her older brother—the thoughtful, protective Aleksei. She thought about that clever middle child: Orren, with markings as dark as the river rocks for which he was named. Not for all of Inali’s love would she ever drop one of those children.

Maksim moved onto his assessment of Willow Ridge, and Naia nodded. An ally without loyalty or honor was an ally you couldn’t trust. Surely Angier would realize that Whisper Caverns was a worthless ally once he knew this story. Maksim gave her permission also to smooth over relations with Hollowheart Keep, and the scout blinked in surprise. For some time she had desired to make peace with the reclusive Keep wolves—she had friends there, after all—but she had stopped short of mentioning this desire to Maksim, fearing his anger over their transgression was still too fresh. Even mellow, pacific little Naia was enraged in the weeks directly following the incident. Time healed many wounds though, especially injuries as superficial as this one.

”Yes, Sir,” she replied to his advice not to travel alone. Her mind was churning from the new information, and at the moment the simple agreement was all she could manage verbally. It seemed their affairs were not as bad as she thought—at least recent events had not opened any new wounds with Whisper Caverns. No, it would be the same old scars and the same old hate in Ash’s eyes, hardly reason to start a war afresh. Soon the River wolves would take steps to neutralize other possible threats, and it would be back to life as normal for Naia the scout. ”Knowing the full story eases my mind,” she assured her leader. And it did; she was glad her pack had not violated any treaty with Whisper Caverns—betraying any ally was not behavior befitting of Cut Rock River wolves. ”Thank you for listening,” she continued, grateful for his audience so early in the morning. ”I’ll start on this assignment at once.” She moved toward her leader, licking him under his chin in a respectful request to make her leave. Once she had permission, she exited quickly, intending to run the quickest border patrol in the history of Cut Rock River before departing to inform Inali of her plan.

Exit

Her father had been sleeping so much these days... Karina knew that something must be wrong because Kisla was so unhappy, but the little pup couldn’t help but feel just a tiny bit glad that Maksim was home more often. It was the best of both worlds—her mother was busy doing all the alpha stuff so the cubs were able to sneak off on their own more often, and then whenever Karina wanted a parent Maskim was always right here waiting with a smile and a calm greeting. Or a snuggle, if he was sleeping. Although… her father did sleep an awful lot. Karina’s eyes blinked open in the darkness, and she shifted restlessly next to her father. She heard a shuffle at the mouth of the den—that must have been what woke her from her doze—and the pup sensed that it was her mother outside. She gave her father’s sleeping form a nuzzle goodbye and trotted quietly out of the den to join her mother.

Karina’s little tummy felt tight as she drifted past the fresh rabbit carcass—she was always hungry these days. The pups had been eating solid food for a while now, but if Karina begged she still might get some of the already-chewed-up kind from her mom. No doubt this rabbit had a friend or two in Kisla’s stomach at the moment. KIsla lifted her voice to the sky as Karina approached her, and the pup forgot any desire she had for food as her mother’s beautiful voice echoed across their home. The accidence of the howl was nothing special, just the usual check-up on their packmates, but behind the words Karina thought she detected something sad, haunting..

The pup leaned against her mother’s foreleg, though whether it was for her own support or her mother’s comfort was anyone’s guess. Karina did not lift her voice to join her mother’s. She hadn’t quite gotten the howling thing right yet, and she was just old enough to be embarrassed about it. Her ears perked to attention as she listened for familiar voices to reply. She was too young still to comprehend what their dwindling numbers or an ailing leader meant for the future. For the girl, her parents, her brothers, even Lachesis and Naia.. they were her family—they had always been here to protect her and always would be.

She may have been growing like a weed, but she certainly wasn’t too old to enjoy kisses from Mom. The littlest Baranski whined happily at her mother’s touch, rearing onto her back legs to return her mother’s greeting. Once all four paws were back on the ground Karina leaned against Kisla’s sturdy foreleg and swept her cloudy gaze across the forest, searching for... whatever it was her mom was looking for. Karina let a puppyish growl rumble in her throat at the mention of her brothers. Couldn’t it just be the two of them for a little bit? There were so few moments they could just be alone together, mother and daughter, without Orren and Aleksei demanding attention too. ”Orren is.. he’s just so..! ..Whatever.” The child was having a hard time expressing her feelings about Orren’s frequent disappearances. The two were just so different; he was the yang to her yin. She got the feeling that Orren was avoiding their sick father, which Karina couldn’t understand in the slightest. Maksim needed them now more than ever!

”I dunno about ‘Leki. Maybe he’s with K-karpos?” The girl stumbled over the swarthy yearling’s name, growing warm behind the ears as she thought of the older male. ”Mom.. I did something really bad.” Karina stammered, knowing that the woman looking down at her would love her no matter what. She kept talking, worried that if she stopped to wait for a response from Kisla she might not work up the nerve to keep going. ”I fell in l-l-love, Mom. Do I have to leave home now?” It had never been quite clear to the girl why wolves got kicked out when they fell in love, since it was such an easy mistake to make. It had happened to her and she wasn’t even trying! She couldn’t deny that what she felt for Karpos wasn’t anything like anything she had ever felt before.. even if she hadn’t worked up the courage to tell him. Or even have a conversation with him. Or do anything but avoid him at all costs and then stalk him when he wasn’t looking.