Not even the most finely-tuned and intricately made instrument could measure the dethroned matriarch's mood, much gauge her thoughts as she rested with the fall-chilled air near the mouth of the cavernous den. Her eyes were hardened, lacking in their natural inquisitive luster that had, at the beginning of it all, been so common among her features. She was stone, through and through, without warmth and without empathy.

That steeled gaze had been set upon nearly nothing when Neha's voice called out to the Hervok, and they slid with little more life when her attention was drawn to the lake-born wolf's face. That she was now, awkwardly, the woman's alpha was the only reason that Nineva eventually pushed herself up onto her heavy paws and heeded the request. As much as she might have wished it, she could no longer retain the immense gratitude she owed the other woman for taking on such responsibility in her time of need.

It wasn't that Neha in particular had earned this; it was the cumulation of hundreds of disappointments, big and small, throughout her life. Nineva was losing the will to care about others outside of her ever-shrinking inner circle.

Wearing a subordinate's posture, she took her place before Neha, and silently awaited her words.

Reasons. Those would be good to hear, because in all honesty, Nineva could not wrap her mind around what Neha could have possibly intended outside of provoking the Surge wolves. Even now, while she had always trusted the Vuesain to a certain measure, she wasn't sure if these reason could outweigh the damage that had likely been done.

Lachesis was a pompous ass, but he wasn't entirely stupid. The Surge would know what had been done.

Neha acknowledged that with her words though, and so Nineva would not waste anymore time by speaking prematurely. She nodded once, encouraging the other woman to continue. To make some kind of sense of what had happened today.

No, Nineva was not satisfied even a bit by the reasons that Neha quickly, and passionately, surmised. They were, in fact, more or less what she had feared. The Vuesain had acted purely on emotion and vengeful thinking. Nineva wasn't exactly opposed to the latter, but there always had to be a balance maintained. Rallying back against the Surge would incite more danger than it was worth; that was exactly why Nineva had chosen to overlook their bluster and continue on with her life.

"Those limits were set by myself before the Surge ever made an issue of itself," she corrected, voice far calmer than Neha's but not without its own edge. The decree might have been issued due to the Surge's proximity, but it had been out of a courtesy that Nineva had felt, and continued to feel, was only fair. It had not been out of fear, as Neha seemed to imply.

"Food is still more than plentiful on our usual grounds, especially with the coyotes gone. Instead of taking advantage of their absence, though, you had us step on our own tail. Made my terms inconsequential; worthless."

Made a liar of her, the worst that Nineva could think to be.

"They'll push back, but with both the Fields and the Edge with them. We'll lose our home, if not our lives. Would that really be worth it, just to stick your tongue back out at them? To match their petulance?"

Paranoid. She could understand the feeling, knew Neha's anger well, for it was her own; but the blatant truth was, the Surge did have the upper hand. They needed only pull some strings, and they would have more than enough bodies to push the Keep wolves out. No matter their own strength and determination, the Vigil would not stand a chance. That was why control was so important, why they had to stay on the high road. Anything less would only hurry their own destruction. Remaining steadfast, holding onto their values, they stood a chance at proving to the rest of the East that they did not deserve the Surge's wrath. Right now, Lachesis only looked like a blathering bully. They didn't need to give him any credence.

Impulse, yes. For the good of the pack, Nineva was still not convinced, but at the least she was seeing life in Neha for the first time since their childhood together. While her claws tensed against the rocky earth, Nineva was otherwise unmoved as the Vuesain rose abruptly, a silent snarl rippling her muzzle. Neha took her own shot, but the Hervok would not be so easily cowed.

"A days travel has always been the marker. I could have been more cautious, yes, but I had no reason to expect these wolves would have an entirely different concept of what territory means. That they would try to control us from across a lake large enough to house islands within it."

Justifying herself almost riled her all over again at how absolutely ludicrous Lachesis had been with his expectations and demands. That was meant to be their enemy, if anyone, but instead there had been more unrest between themselves than anything. They hadn't heard anything of the Surge since that day, in fact.

"I asked you all if you were willing to make this your home with me. If you think it a cage, then you spoke falsely that day. Whatever you've made of your position, if violence comes to our door, you've now taken a share of the responsibility for it."

Content with the circumstances, did Neha really believe that to be Nineva's state? She wasn't content with anything in her life outside of her daughter, in fact she felt like she was right back where she'd been leaving the Hollow; ineffective, mired, powerless, tied down by the fucked attitudes and actions of others. Her eyes had drifted away from Neha's features, focused less on the real world as she fell into her thoughts. This transition affected more than her gaze; her muscles loosened and the thin line of her lips relaxed, tilting into the slightest of frowns. She looked older than her age, the sickness that was still resident within her body more evident.

Neha's last words were long faded by the time Nineva spoke up to reply.

"Perhaps the mistake was in thinking this is where I belong," she answered quietly.

"Maybe you're what the pack needs."

Because she couldn't do this anymore, not unless she wanted to rest in an early, and shallow, grave. Once she would have been okay with that, certain that an untimely death would be an honorable one. Now, it felt absolute that if she were to die, it would only be for the hubris and irrationality of others. Ellery deserved more than that from her mother. Nineva had more to give than that and if Neha was what the pack preferred, over Nineva's caution and reservation, her rigid moral code, then that would be what they deserved as well. To have a leader that could representative them truly.

Nineva took a step to the side, ready to turn and go back to the den.

"May I return to my daughter?"