Flair didn’t know where her children were buried. After her miscarriage, she had left Chan to deal with the bodies, and never asked where he put them. She hadn’t wanted to know, didn’t want to think of them as bodies, puppies who could have been alive; she just wanted to forget.

Of course, that was easier said than done. She’d tried to keep busy, burying herself in work without time to think of anything else. Focusing on the living helped a lot, supporting Jethro in building a proper sanctuary for their group, a space to keep them all safe – the pups especially. Finley’s boys by far, had been her strongest motivation to keep going – she might have lost her own children, but if she could help protect these two, maybe it could help make up for it, at least a little bit. She couldn’t help but feel a special connection to Chan’s foundling, now growing up into a fine young wolf, both smart and handsome, and with a family to support him: As it should be…!

It was only at night, when she curled up to sleep all alone, that she could no longer escape the grief, and the guilt that still plagued her. Often, she found herself wandering into the early hours of the morning, trying to distract herself until she was too tired to stay upright. Today her paws let her to the shores of the lake, as they so often did. However, she was surprised to see that she was not the only one there. It took her a moment to recognize the white figure, whom she hadn’t seen for months, but when she did, furrowed brows lifted in surprise; “Colette?”

The lake was a place of peace, even as the water swirled with memories, both good and bad. Perhaps it was simply the sense of safety, after last year’s scarcity, though she suspected there was a lot more to it. Even with the group settling deeper in the woods, the budding leader suspected the lake would remain a meeting place, as well as a source of constant visitors no doubt, both wolf and prey.

Still, seeing Colette of all here was a shock. The woman was truly a ghost, lurking in the periphery of their group, seeming to prefer her solitude, and yet she remained around; For whatever reason… Flair didn’t know exactly what had happened between @Chan and his former partner, only the state he had been in after their reunion. Seeing him that upset had truly rattled her, and she’d been inclined to hold it against the pale stranger; of course, that was before everything had changed.

Now, as the one-eyed woman turned away, Flair called almost desperately: “No, please! Don’t go…” there were so many things she wanted to say, questions, demands even. But one trumped all the others, her voice quiet and almost trembling; “I… I never got t’ thank you. Fer that day…” It was a statement full of mixed feelings, because it did not at all feel like a day to have any gratitude for. However, it was very likely that if Colette and Jethro hadn’t shown up when they did, Flair would have lost her own life along with her pups.

Time stretched into eternity, silence making each second feel like a year. Flair stood frozen in place, watching the ghostly woman intently, afraid even to breath out of fear that she’d scare the other wolf off. With her face turned away, there was no way of telling what Colette was thinking, and the anticipation of her response made Flair’s body tense up.

The dejection in her words, when they finally came, where like cold water splashed in the fiery woman’s face. She blinked in confusion, trying to meet Cole’s downturned gaze, trying to understand why she seemed so weighed with guilt; What more could she possibly have done? Flair was constantly beating herself up for what had happened, knowing that she bore the blame for all of it, that guilt had completely immobilized her for a long time, and it still hung about her like a dark cloud. But she’d never even considered her rescuers holding any blame – she certainly didn’t blame them.

Still, Colette insisted on turning all Flair’s gratitude over to Jethro, minimizing her own role in a way that made a bit of irritation stir in the fiery woman’s chest. Brow’s furrowing, she couldn’t help the slight sharpness in her tone as she countered: “That distraction saved my life!” She had no doubts that the dark devil would have continued her assault if Cole hadn’t drawn her attention, and without the white woman there for support, Jethro might not have scared her off, but ended up hurt too: “I’ve plenty t’ thank y’ for!” It was important to her that Colette accepted her thanks, for whatever reason; You had no reason to save me… Yet if it hadn’t been for Jet and Cole, she’d have paid for her mistakes with her own life as well as her children.

This was a truly absurd situation, and certainly one Flair had never imagined she’d be in, basically pleading for this almost stranger to accept her gratitude – growing increasingly frustrated as she refused to. She couldn’t possibly know what was going on in Colette’s head, what past horrors she was struggling with – if she did, she likely wouldn’t be pushing so hard.

But the pale woman was stubborn in her denial, appearing to grow irritated herself as she finally met Flair’s eyes with an audible huff. The leader clenched her teeth, waiting for the next words, though they took a little while to come. She almost expected an attack, a verbal one at least, but instead Colette answered calmly, still insistent that her help had meant nothing.

Now it was Flair’s turn to breathe a soft growl, her own head shaking in refusal; Why can’t you see…?! It was so stupid, to argue about this at all, to squabble about what might have happened instead of accepting what had. She was about to tell Cole as much, when the other spoke again, her tone giving the fiery woman pause. Rather than anger, there was a note of anguish in her voice that Flair hadn’t noticed before, something beyond what had happened at the Demise.

Subconsciously, she’d assumed Colette’s reticence was about her relationship with Chan, but this seemed like much more than jealousy. Brows furrowed, Flair watched her companion silently, wondering just what might drive someone to think so little of themselves. But that wasn’t a subject to broach right now. Instead, she simply said, in a quiet yet firm voice: “You have it anyway.” That was the end of it as far as she was concerned.

Colette clearly wasn’t happy, but she finally seemed to be giving in, her muscles relaxing even as she continued to huff. In the end, her answer was still dismissive, but not entirely, which was probably all Flair could hope for at this point.

Still, as the pale woman started to turn, she couldn’t keep from affirming: “It is.” One day, they would need to have a longer conversation about everything, but for now this would have to do. Flair watched the other woman walk away for a few moments before nodding her own head and turning around herself; It’s a start.