So what was he now? Indru was gone, and a void was created. It was not an unfamiliar hole, but that vacuum tasted entirely different now. Indru was gone, and if he ever came back, he would not be welcomed.

Marsh had been Swift River's second ranked male for a long time. It was a higher position than he had ever achieved, and higher than he had ever wanted or expected. At heart, Marsh was a servant. He had grown to appreciate the authority, but only so he could better serve the pack. He had no desire for authority for its own sake.

He also had no desire to lead.

Yet what else was there to do when the vacuum appeared again, and this time, nobody was going to wait? Corinna could lead on her own - she had before - but it was different now. If it had been only a few months ago, the hole would have been all the larger (indeed, the matter of puppies had been a strained one until Indru's timely reappearance). Corinna was a capable creature. As far as Marsh was concerned, there was no wolf more qualified nor respectable. He would have gladly lived here under her rule for the rest of his life. That had been his very intention.

But Indru was gone. He could not just leave the void unfilled. How could he fulfill his simple wish when he was forced to step up beside her, pretend that they were equals?

His nature was fighting against itself, the pure wolf against the quirks that made Marsh himself, and he did not know who was winning.

It was, perhaps, a twisted joke that he found himself so far from Swift River's borders that day, as though the very taste of Indru's shoes had infected him with that same inability to stay put. But it wasn't that, not at all; though he moved away with the need to clear his head, to scout further than he had done in a long time, the longer he walked the tighter the elastic tried to pull him back to the Grove. He would return, of course he would return. Yet as he moved, thoughts of his past leader swimming in his head, he wondered how anyone could walk so far and never turn back... had Indru never felt that tug, that longing? That leash? Or had he felt it all, and wished to fight it? For Marsh, it was a comfort, a joy. He had somewhere to go, wolves whose scents comforted him, wolves who understood him and respected him. He had Corinna. In his urge to understand Indru, Marsh only alienated him further. He would never understand.

Perhaps it was fate that, just as he was prepared to turn around, he caught a faint scent.

It had not been long ago that he had found the other one. They had been at his side then, Jessie and Hotei and Ice, but he was alone now. It did not stop the rage from rising like bile in his throat, a hatred almost borne from instinct. So quickly did scents and faces become nothing but enemies. Would he react the same way, had it been Indru?

The growl in his throat quietened moments later, though, as he let rational thought back into his mind. It was not that she was forgiven, or that she was any less of an enemy. But they were very far from Swift River with absolutely no indication that she had the intention of coming closer. This was not the same as when he had encountered Rhysis, so close to the borders, such an immediate threat to Corinna's children. Naira was a traitor but she was not wrong in this. Perhaps he had a right to end her life, and perhaps he would do just that, but she was not stepping on their toes. She had the right to live her small life, so long as it was far away from Swift River. Was that right? Or was that him being soft?

The whole situation - with Indru, with the vacuum, the vacuum - was messing with his head.

It only took a moment's investigation to know which way she had gone. As he pursued her, almost casually, the hill came into view and the bitch herself only moments later.

Was it his right to end her here, for her betrayal? Or was it her right to be left alone? He had not scented her near their borders once since that night.

Would she remember him? He came to a stop, watching her warily, almost tired. He did not approach further, choosing to watch, to see what had come of the female who had broken Corinna's heart in her own way. Perhaps that was enough to justify her end - Corinna had had all the heartbreak that Marsh could stomach.

Silently he stood, and watched, and waited.