The weather matched her mood since leaving the borders of Wild Rye Fields and the disaster that had become. All she could do was shake her head at herself and wonder what had gotten into her. Actually she didn't need to wonder, the rude behavior of Askan and the other man, Reyes. The things they accused her of, not loving her sister enough to come looking for her sooner. Inna was reminded of the time she'd left him for a few months before her father died, it was her family that had pulled her back, the need to be there for them. It was what kept her in Hearthwood now, her family, keeping their legacy alive and her mother's children, they were her responsibility now and she had failed. How she had let Risaela get all the way to Wild Rye fields? Inna sighed, she didn't know how to make this right.

Laying under the trees that had served as shelter for she and Lorcan since they decided to stop there Inna looked out across the tundra. Her gaze rested in Lorcan as he looked up to the sky just after a rain cloud covered the sun from view. They had been there for what felt like forever watching the rye wolves since they had not been able to bring Risa back. Inna missed Oksana and was sure her daughter was worried, she'd left the child too soon. There was nothing to be done about it now but hope Ayti was taking good care of her. Her feelings in this stakeout were mixed especially with each passing day and no sign that Risa was returning home.

The child was known to wander Inna knew that and that was fine, as a child she'd done the same but she had never stayed away from home this long. It worried her for the future, would Risa be like the rest of her siblings? Inna wouldn't let the Tainn child do the same as the rest, she would not continue to be hurt by her like she had been Alek. Her mother had been right when she had made her threat and Inna would follow through with it if that was what she had to do. Until Risa returned home her feelings would remain mixed but with each passing day that there was no sign of the Hearthwood pups return and had to wonder if Risa ever would come home. Inna trusted Jessie would bring her back as soon as Risa asked.

The rain grew heavy falling in sheets around them forcing Lorcan to take shelter under the trees with her. And affectionate lick was placed on her muzzle before he took up the place next to her. Inna lay the side of her head against his shoulder as she watched the rain. “It worries me Lorcan,” she told when he informed her that he still had not seen anything yet. She raised her head to meet his gaze as he spoke of Risa leaving the fields, “It's been on my mind as well and it worries me she is in there with my brother, Askan, and Reyes. What are they filling her head with? I'm worried we will lose her forever.” The thought had crossed her mind more than once and each time she tried not to entertain it if she could.

The rain had forced Lorcan from his lookout position to join her under the trees. She looked out into the white of the rain hating that they could not be closer. So many times over the days since they had left the rye wolves borders she'd wanted to go into their territory and take her sister back. When he sprawled out next to her she'd leaned her body against his seeking his warmth and the comfort his presence.provided her. Her dark head rested against him as she first started to speak putting voice to her worries as she watched and listened to the rain fall around them. Her worries went deeper even still than her worry over her sister. Was she to follow in her mother's pawsteps and lose all those she loved? Would Risaela be just another lost sibling she would never see again.

He shared her worry as she knew he did, if they didn't then they wouldn't be there trying to catch a glimpse to make sure Risa was okay. Inna heaved a sigh knowing that Lorcan was right, it was the same thing she'd been thinking too. “We have to hope that she is too young to understand Aleks wandering ways and whatever likes those brutes told her. I can't believe I thought Askan could be a friend.” She'd vouged for him to Lachesis, told him the dark man was good. She was wrong and it made her want to vomit. Now her little sister was in his clutches and there was nothing she could do about it. “I’m sure you're right most certainly nothing good,” she agreed as her head rise with his sigh.

Her eyes closed as she felt his lick on her crown, his words telling her to remain positive but she wasn't sure she knew how. With every moment that passed she felt like her sister was slipping further away from her. She was the last thing she had that had been her mother's, she couldn't lose her. “We would have seen them leave and Jessie said...they haven't so Risa hasn't asked to leave. I just…” she trailed off as she buried her face into his fur. He tried to reassure her that they would get her back, that she would see her sister again. “Thank you Lorcan,” she whispered hoping hear would hear her over the sound of the rain.

He finished the sentence that she had ended, she didn't know either. “I want to go in there and drag her out by her tail,” she finally admitted after the last four days of waiting for some sign Risa was heading home. “But I know that we can't, Lachesis would kill us if they didn't first.” She moved turned her head to meet his gaze, “She wouldn't have our scent anymore,” she told him slowly as that realization came to her. “She will smell like them when she comes home.” Inna just didn't understand.

If they weren't staking out the rye wolves and her world wasn't in so much turmoil Inna would live staying under the trees with the man she loved. With her eyes focused toward the border they had been watching for days she wondered if they would ever get a moment where they could ever just lay under a tree with the rain falling around them and forget the world and everything in it. “You saw the real Askan before I ever did, I was stupid to trust that he could be a good man.” It was a lesson learned that she wouldn't ever forget. She'd tried to be so kind to Reyes too and it seemed he meant to ruin her life, or at least try to. “I don't trust they won't tell her lies to bring back to Lachesis, they are a bad influence Lorcan and there is nothing we can do to stop it.” More and more as her thoughts of what could be happening behind the borders Inna was starting to lose hope for ever truly getting her sister back. Inna feared they were destroying her loyalty to Hearthwood and Kisla, she wanted more than anything for Risa to prove her wrong but with her sisters prolonged absence she couldn't count on it.

The thoughts that she'd been entertaining we're then brought to the surface when Lorcan asked what she thought about what was said about their daughter. Inna let her orange gaze meet his golden one, “I do, Alek thought it was you and in fact seemed almost certain about it. If he is in the Fields running his mouth then we have to expect he has told them you're Sana’s father. We have to prepare for that because it's not just us that knows anymore. I can't lie to Lachesis Lorcan, he hadn't asked so far but he may one day.” She was prepared for any punishment she might receive but she did not want anything to happen to Lorcan. She felt the comment and their reaction to it did not confirm or deny anything that might he thought or assumed. She had accepted Jessie's congratulations as she felt any mother would but that had been the extent of it. She hadn't been there to talk about Oksana, they had brought her into it and that angered the Raven more than she could express.

She'd buried her face into Lorcans scruff to block everything out but she could not. It was always there hovering just over her shoulder, whispering in her ear. She would continue to lose her family members and there was nothing she could do to stop it. That fear was why she held Oksana so close and had Risa stayed she would have done the same to her. Inna had let her mother down only days after her death by allowing Risa to get away from Hearthwood into Alek’s clutches. Would she be able to repair the damage that had been caused in her sister?

Inna had turned her head to gaze back out into the rain. She thought she witnessed a figure disappearing behind the border through the rain. She couldn't he sure with the rain falling as heavily as it was. Lorcans comment brought her gaze to meet his golden one once more before he placed his muzzle over hers. “I don't understand either unless the reason she has wandering paws is because she was never meant to stay.” It was the only explanation she could think of, that Risa was more like Alek than she would like to admit. She didn't even want to consider that because it would mean Risa would end up the same as her brother. “It's a chance I'm going to have to take,” she told, “I'm telling him what I did and why when I get back. I'm sure he will understand. He would not agree with us being treated as we were when we came to them with respect and courtesy. If they had been at our borders they would expect to be treated well would they not?” This had been on her mind a lot since she had made the decision to threaten the alliance, what if they had been at Hearthwood and were treated so disrespectfully?

She didn't know why it had taken her so long to realize that her search little sister no longer smelled of their home. When Lorcan spoke of their scent it's like she finally realized just how long her sister had been away, how long they had been away from Hearthwood. She could tell that this had angered him, it angered her too but what were they to do about it? Inna licked his cheek as he looked at the ground between his paws, “What are you thinking?” She asked him. He needed to say it out loud and she needed to hear it. What it the same thing she was thinking, that they couldn't continue to stay out here when they were needed at home? It seemed Risa had made her choice however unwise Inna thought it was she had and there was nothing she could do to change it if she couldn't even get close to her sister.

Inna didn't know Reyes well, her first impressions of him we're not good ones. He was rude and dismissive, had she had the power when he showed up at her borders she may have turned him away. At the time she hadn't due to her worry over Askan and now she felt foolish for that worry. Lorcan's words were comforting as he expressed that he’d run into Askan more often than she had. “He puts on a good show,” she stated disgusted with herself, “I should have know that first meeting. It bothers me that I didn't.” The only excuse she could allow herself was that she had still been young but she wouldn't let it happen again.

Lorcan spoke of not trusting the rye wolves which brought her back to the conversation she'd had with Lachesis about them. How she had been on her mother's side and thought it would have been a good idea to form an alliance with them. “Having men like Askan, Reyes, and my brother in their midst makes me wonder what kind of wolves they really are.” Her trust and willingness to have anything to do with them had been damaged. “Did they cause trouble for Whitestone?” She asked but it was what he said about not wanting her to go to visit the rye wolves alone that her placing a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you Lorcan. I'm very glad you came. It means a lot that you didn't want me to come alone.” She usually felt she could take care of herself but she still liked the idea of him wanting to look after her.

It seemed even outside of Hearthwood her brother could still cause problems for her. She was certain that he had expressed his suspicions about Oksana's father to the rye wolves. This worried her. It didn't matter if there was truth to the claim or not, the subject of it was Lorcan and she worried what would happen now that the two of them weren't the only ones who knew the secret. Askan and Reyes had made it clear they were not happy with she and and the tawny healer. So Inna had made herself clear to Lorcan or at least she thought she had. His question though stuttered out let her know he wasn't. “Only if he asks, so far he hasn't but if he asks I can't lie to him Lorcan but you must not worry,” she told him as she looked up to where he stood. She knew he wasn't happy about Lachesis finding out, she wasn't either but it was something they had to prepare themselves for. The only thing is if it came to it and they were forced to leave Oksana was old enough that living outside of a pack wouldn't be so hard on her. Inna just didn't know where they would go if that happened.

So much had gone into keeping their secret and to imagine it all crumbling right before their eyes. Her gaze dropped to look at the grass between her paws, this was her doing. If it really came to something bad happening because Lachesis had found out it would be her fault, all of it.

When she looked up after a sigh expanding her chest fully she noticed movement near the fields border. She watched for a moment to see what the figure would do. She knew it wasn't her sister for it was too big but someone else. She couldn't be exactly sure, the rain made it difficult to see anything. Her attention returned to Lorcan as he came to lay next to her again a reminder that they were in this together as always. Whatever happened they would face it together like they had done in the past and how they were in the present.

Inna had made up her mind a few days ago that when she returned to Hearthwood she would seek Lachesis out and tell him what happened at the border. She would tell him what she had done and accept his punishment whatever it was. Though she hoped for his understanding and backing in the situation she wasn't going to get her hopes up. She had done wrong so fully expected na punishment but she hoped that by telling Lachesis she had realized her mistake and tried to fix it he would be kinder.

“I don't know if he will but I know that is something I can't keep from him. I have to go and be up front about it. I didn't earn his trust just because I'm Kisla and Maksims daughter. I have worked hard for Hearthwood since my father's death and Lachesis recognizes that. Besides I didn't try to sever it I only said I would recommend that it be which isn't really that bad.” Again Inna was brought back to the conversation she'd had with Lachesis and the fact that Kisla had wanted the alliance with the rye wolves. This isn't to say that it wouldn't have eventually happened but Lachesis hadn't trusted them at first. Perhaps that fact would play in her favor and maybe not it was a risk she had to take to keep the trust of the pale leader intact.

Inna was angry with herself for not realizing sooner that Hearthwood was gone from Risa's pelt. They had no way to track her and had not caught sight of her, it was also clear she had not asked to be taken home. Inna knew what it meant even if she didn't want to admit it to herself. The question was what were they going to do with this realization. It was frustrating that she could not take her sister home because they were keeping her within the territory. If she went in without permission she would be severing the alliance and then Lachesis might really kill her but would she be willing to risk it? With so much at stake Inna didn't know. She didn't want to give up in her sister but without being able to talk to her she could only come to one conclusion. Risa had chosen the rye wolves over her own pack, if only her sister had made the choice to talk to her, explain things anything.

It was now getting to a point where they had been away from home for far too long and needed to get back. Her daughter needed her, Oksana was probably distraught by now and giving Ayti a hard time. The pack needed she and Lorcan back especially when there were four pups that still needed care. It was quickly getting to the point of having to give up whether they wanted to or not.

Lorcans obvious distress over the situation had her inquiring about what his thoughts were on the matter. She didn't feel they were too far from her own because despite their differences there were plenty of times when it truly counted they had the same thoughts. As he spoke this time he did not disappoint for his thoughts were inline with her own. “I think you're right and sitting out here with some false hope isn't getting us anywhere but further in trouble.” Lachesis had to he worried about them by now since they hadn't shown back up. Inna had only expected to be gone six days but now they were on their seventh day and still had a three day journey back to Hearthwood. “I know, we either have to wait her out and abandon the pack and our own daughter until she makes up her mind to leave or go home and trust that Jessie will keep her word and bring her home.” Inna would love to stay there and wait for Risa, to show her support for the child even in she didn't know her big sister was there. However she couldn't choose another sibling who so far had shown herself to be like all the rest over her own daughter.