For once in what felt like ages, Ash had finally decided to sleep inside of the den area instead of outside. It was usually damp outside or just completely soaked, but lately the rains had stopped and now the lands were starting to become much drier. This was what Ash liked, preferring the dry lands over the wet areas. It was one of the reasons he had decided to live on the mountains…it was mostly dry. Unfortunately, that night, Ash seemed to be an extremely unlucky man. Thank goodness all of his other pack mates were out doing their duties, for it would have been much more of a disaster if they were all to be here. Small sounds of rocks hitting the ground was enough to wake the alpha up, but not enough to completely awaken him when a large rock came tumbling down right in front of him. Jumping away he watched as the entrance to his sleeping quarters were blocked and he had no way out.

Nooks and crannies were noticeable here and there, but otherwise, he could find of no way out. The only way to get out would be to climb over the rock or to get a large mass of wolves to move the rock. Even if he looked hard enough, it was hard to tell if there were any loose areas around the den for there to be enough force to break some of the rocks. This kind of thing would have only been noticeable on the outside. He knew he needed help and he was the last wolf within the pack who ever wanted to admit such a thing. So lifting on his hind legs and pressing his front legs against the large rock he let out a long bellowing call for his pack mates. He let them know that he was in trouble and desperately needed their help. Hopefully, they would all come and would understand that part of the den had collapsed with him in side. Letting out a soft whine, he slid back down to the rocky ground. His mossy green eyes were taking in the walls. He was completely and utterly alone.

It was all the same now. Namara had sank into a routine, though it was not a depressive one as she had been in before. Now the she wolf was training, constantly, she would go just until a twinge of pain came on anywhere in her body. Namara could tell now that she was getting stronger, gaining her weight back and turning it into muscle. Her fractured leg had begun a steady healing process, and she was happy to notice a change every few days at how much stronger it would feel from time to time. Even with all of her training the she wolf marked borders, hunted, and slept with hardly a word spoken. She was locked in her thoughts most days, trying to find away to make it feel alright. But something was missing, there was a piece she had not found yet, a feeling deep inside her, an attachment she could not name, and it ate at her and sometimes, Namara thought she may go insane,

Once again she was on her way to the den, her eyes fixed forwards. No particular though in her head other than the fact that Namara felt odd tonight, not sick like she had before, just off, like something was out of place. The large wolf deposited her kill on the cache and headed to the den, it was time to talk, Namara had to know for sure where a certain green eyed wolf stood. When she entered it was apparent something was definitely wrong, she scented freshly turned earth, the tumblers in the wolf's head linked together and her face twisted into a mask of fear and shock, silver eyes glaring. Just before a loud howl echoed through the den. "Ash! What happened and what the hell are you even doing in here? You always sleep outside, why are you here?" The words were howled with a twist between fear and anger. Stupid wolf what are you doing in here, you never stay in here, never!

In a panic her wide eyes searched and searched among the rocks when she saw off towards the left of the larger boulder an area of smaller rocks and lose earth, probably invisible from the other side but if she dug, Namara thought she could make a small passage for Ash to wriggle through. Though the sides would likely be much harder, Namara was prepared, the wolf that meant so much would not be left to die. So without a moments pause Namara started digging, snagging her claws an debris and wincing from the tiny pains that came from each little stone that snagged and frayed her claws. While she dug her maw opened once more to howl, "Athena! Steel! Kyadi! Anyone come help! Please I cannot do this on my own." The howl was filled with rage and pain while in her mind her own voice called out. Not again, not again dammit, I WILL not lose anyone else!

He sat there for so long in a silence, one that clung to him like a heavy fog. Silently, he stared up at the ceiling wondering if he could find any cracks so that he could see Stars up above his head. Whilst Nina had her Gods…he had Stars and without their guidance, the alpha felt somewhat lost. After awhile he gave up on looking at the black rocky den above his head and lowered his body so that he was lying in the ground, his dark ears pinned back against his head, making his face look much smaller than it usually did. No one had headed his call yet and without the help of another pack mate, the Guardian felt completely lost. Flicking his tail behind him to try and relieve some of his stress, he waited, hoping that someone would heed the call that he had given out, which seemed like hours ago…when he knew it had not been that long.

Eventually, the sound of a furious Namara, something he honestly did not want to deal with. If he was hearing correctly, it almost sounded like the woman was scolding him. Flicking his ears forward so that he could hear better, he waited for her to say anything else, but instead her claws clicking on rocks. She was trying to get him out… Lifting himself off of the ground, he trotted towards the place where he was sure that she was digging and froze when he smelt blood. The sharp metallic smell made him cringe back and a small whine escaped his muzzle. I could have fallen in love with you. A sharp growl emitted from his brain, a female whispering harshly in his mind, No! No you couldn’t have. You are Athena’s and Athena is yours. Glaring at the wall in front of him, he snarled back in his head, Yes I know that. I love Athena, I know that. I was just unprepared for what was happening next! I can’t want her less though; I’ll just push Namara further away. Happy? He heard a sniff in his mind before he heard the answer, Now that sounds more like the man I fell in love with.

Instead of keeping his attention on his past love’s voice, his attention got caught by another alarming call from Namara. With a sharp growl he barked at his subordinate, "Don’t bother them, Namara. And don’t try helping anymore. I can…try to help; I just don’t know where you are digging from." Flicking his tail behind him aggravatingly. I can’t reach for them. I want to see the bright, burning stars. Pressing his face against the cool rock in front of him, he tried blocking out the scent of blood and focusing on Namara’s scent only, picturing her brown fur and her stubborn light eyes. The picture did not last long though…for soon he felt a jarring ache in his head and another sharp jab from Treena’s voice jarred him, Stop that! With a small sigh, he opened his eyes and concentrated on trying to get himself out of the collapsed den.

Namara dug until she began to feel tiny stabs of pain through her bad leg. Still she carried on, for she knew by instinct that it would not break from this, she had survived worsening the injury any more and now the she wolf had only to deal with the much smaller pains. So when eventually she began to near the corner of the stone and heard Ash's voice tell her stop she merely smirked. Not likely Ash, even though you were a jerk, I'm still saving your life. Ash could have howled every curse in the world at Namara in that moment and she still would have ignored him. Wordlessly she continued her work, ears pinned to her head, blocking out all the sounds around her and ignoring the pain. Her world now consisted of but one thing, this very event. If she had to stay by this rock until the next rain so that she could utilize the water she would. The large gray and brown she wolf was not letting Ash die trapped, even if she dug herself to death.

At last she came to her next obstacle, with the smaller rocks removed there was a small gap, up the side of the stone. Namara squeezed her head in to see if she could see Ash, no luck. It would seem the boulder had a recess that had created the small pocket that was almost big enough for a wolf to squeeze into though it ended in earth, so that it appeared as a wall from the other side. Namara called out keeping her head in the small space. "Ash! dig where you hear my voice! There is a hole, I'll widen it while you dig from your side." Once again she did not wait for a response, even if he kept saying stop she would not, he could never dig himself out alone, even if he knew where to go, Ash would tire eventually and with no food... she did not like to think of it. Namara set to work digging out the sides to widen the gap, large enough for one wolf to squeeze into. Sharp growls escaped her muzzle every time her tender claws would snag on anything from roots, to a particularly hard chunk of dirt. But the pain was very little, compared to the powerful things she had felt in recent days, and the one that was boiling just under the surface unknown even to Namara.

He was greeted with no response from the other side but more scrapping, and Ash could only tell that the woman on the other side had ignored his order. Angry snarls emitted from his side of the den, curses and shouts rising in the air. "Namara! What the actual fuck? What do you THINK you are DOING?" Almost being the fool he sometimes was, he almost barged himself into the rocky wall in front of him. But a screaming voice in his head threw him back, Don’t you DARE do that. I don’t need you getting hurt on me. The voice in his head was reassurance enough for him. At least Treena’s voice still had concerns about him. Flicking his tail, he continued his yells until his voice became hoarse. The smell of Namara’s blood becoming more and more pronounced and the fur on his back near his spine began to prickle. When her voice came to him, he guided himself to where she said she was.

Getting on his hind legs, he clawed at the dirt above him, trying his best to ignore the pain in both his hind legs and his claws every time that they snagged against a rock or any other loose object. Finally he had to sit back down, his hind legs giving out beneath him and his breath coming in ragged breaths. Never, in the past few months, had he had to exert himself so much and none of these things happened to involve him standing on his hind legs for a long period of time. He did not even realize it, but when he looked back up…he was almost sure he could see a Star. Getting back up, the large man continued to claw at the dirt packed ground, ignoring the pain for as long as he could. The cycle went on for what felt like forever, but eventually, both wolves made the hole big enough for him to get out of the den. Pushing his legs hind leg as high as he could, he gripped onto the dirt outside and pulled himself up. This took a lot of effort but eventually he made it up, his paws bloodied from his chipped claws.

Instead of scolding Namara and getting in her face, he leaned down, his nose skimming her paws and sniffing them, his eyes creased in worry. "Come on. We have to wash off your paws so that they don’t get infected." The brown man was already breathing heavily as he said this, lines creasing under his eyes due to the lack of sleep and stress it had been put through that night. Mentioning with his head for the woman to go ahead of him, he waited for her to start forward. Thinking about what he had said, he then muttered a quick thank you, "Thanks for reaching for me." With a sigh and shook out his sweat covered pelt, trying to dry himself off. Oh, how he hated getting wet. If someone who had been with him a bunch recently, it would show that his patterns had grown different and that the man was starting to do things that he did not generally do. He just couldn’t seem to remember who had been constantly with him for the past few months.

It felt something like hours of digging, constant digging. Pain in her paws and legs, new scratches made intricate designs up her forelegs. It looked as if she had been made that way on purpose with one of the more odd spaces appearing almost as if there were an arrow pointing to her slightly crooked paw. But for once the pain was worth something the moment Ash heaved himself out of his would be tomb. Namara lit up and ran to him, he sniffed her paws and she simply stared with a neutral look. Though her eyes belied her happiness, she waited. At his thanks she said nothing butted his shoulder, "If you ever get trapped like that again I'll come in there and kill you. Do not ever scare me like that Ash."

Then as she looked upon the face of her leader, and traced his features green eyes at all, something clicked in her head. He would never be hers much as she wanted him to be, but maybe there could be a reason for it. For the first time in seasons the she wolf's heart stilled and she was able to think in perfect clarity. For she did find the she loved Ash, as a great friend, and as more than she ever should have thought to. It was not a subordinate's place after all, to be mate to an alpha. Besides, The she wolf could never dream of challenging Athena for power, it was not her place to lead Poison Path. So with one final stab of loneliness that would haunt Namara. But not for Ash anymore, no her heart would ache for it's own state, alone.

"Ash.... I... uh.. r-respect your decisions, and whatever you do well... that is just... just fine with me." Her tone had changed, for once, Namara sounded like a subordinate rather than a headstrong yearling. But the moment was fleeting for her next words finally brought clarity to the moment, In Namara's own way. "I just want you to know though, that I won't let anyone ever call you their closest friend unless it's me." She had made it as clear as she knew how, she assumed the reason for her being pushed away was because of another she wolf, most likely Athena at that, judging just by the way he looked at the pups, and the white lady. So if Namara could not have him as mate, she would take the space that had been left open by Athena once she had moved into Ash's heart. Though for season's to come, Namara Laylani's heart would always ask... what if.

He stood there, his green eyes trained on Namara as she spoke to him, but the alpha was too exhausted to even pull his lips back into an ugly looking scowl. He tried so hard to concentrate on the woman in front of him, knowing that if he let his attention slip enough, he too would slip. Though it was dry, he would not put it against his exhausted mind to go against him and cause him to collapse. When a voice that was all too familiar to him sounded in his ears, he felt himself physically relax but only slightly. When his subordinate’s voice greeted him again, he turned towards his, trying to keep his gaze on her, but he felt it flatter. This is not good, Ash. Her voice whispered to him. Nodding his head to Namara’s words, he was relieved when his partner finally came to his side.

He was sure he felt licks upon his paws, causing small pricks of pain to travel through his paws. He bit back a sharp whine and was relieved when Athena’s head greeted his. He hung his head over hers and sagged heavily against her, hoping that he would not topple her over with some of his weight. Now that they were close enough, he was sure she could feel the heavy beating of his heart hammering against his chest. He needed a serious rest, as the one that he had been trying to acquire had been terrifyingly interrupted. Remembering Athena’s question, he muttered so quietly, "I need…to….rest. With…pups." He huffed his last words out, losing his breath extremely easily. The big burly alpha had finally pushed his working limits too far.

It became apparent to Namara that Ash still did not care. He nodded at what she said, what the hell was that supossed to be? Time and time again Namara tried to lay her heart bare for him, so that she could have one real friend. Of course this was an impossible task because for some reason not one single wolf in this entire world gave any sort of thought to Namara Laylani, well. No more, she was leaving now, this instant, and maybe, just maybe she would come back. Of course it's not like Ash or Athena would care, they had each other now. Bastards. Got what they wanted it only makes sense that they ignore the rest of the fucking pack.

"I'm fine, Athena, in fact I think I shall go hunt and mark our borders." Namara's voice was cool and calm. Her gaze became a hot brand as she turned to leave, not caring about the slow drip of blood from her paws, nor the sting. Namara was gone from them, if they decided to miss her, maybe she would come back, though she doubted it. I wish you could have a cared a little bit Ash. Her thoughts began to turn back into hurt, she thought it could be okay but it was clear to Namara now, that she would never find peace. So it was time to wander, maybe she could keep enough of a presence on the border not to arouse suspicion. Hope you have plenty of energy for hunting. Ash. With that she bounded away as if nothing was wrong. With any luck no one would have noticed her odd demeanor.