She was bored. Her last excursion had left her miles away from the Cavern and after finally finding her way back home, the young Thanne made sure to keep near the border so that she did not get herself lost again. The last trip was for her mother, the sudden absence of Athena's scent had made the growing pup curious and bold and she was curious to find out why her mother was spending less time in their borders. She did not know the reason for her mother's departure and could not tell that within a short span of time, perhaps a month or more, that her mother had opted to create her own pack, apparently without her. Rory was unsettled by her absence, confused and hurt, but she knew that returning back to Ash was the best thing that she could do for the pack, the russet male needed her almost as much as she needed him and there was no leaving that behind. He had always been there for her, while Athena had not.


She couldn't shake the disappointment she felt for her mother, and though the dingy girl was not as vocal as her peers she was just as smart and observant...perhaps maybe too smart for her own good. She lingered without movement near the den that she and her guardian shared and sighed deeply, her growing form leaning against the solid form of the entrance before she shifted in wait. Her mother should be returning home now, she usually did around this time and since her scent was still riddled with those of the other pack mates, she knew without a doubt that Athena was still around...for now. Her head jerked in the direction of a rustling sound with anticipation of seeing the white looming form of her mother but it was just the passing wind and she relaxed enough to release the breath she was holding. Where was Athena and what had she been doing?

As she sat in silence, thoughts played like a cinema in her head; a mixture of sadness, anger and frustration were the primary culprits as she fought her emotions. She had never truly known these feelings, as her age and lack of experience kept her innocence but as a juvenile without the proper love and guidance from her parents, the white dove was bound to be a ticking bomb by her first year. She could not understand why she thought of her mother in such a negative light, but the fact that she thought of her at all was a positive sign--it meant that with time, patience and the right attitude, she could be mended. Her father had become a different story, she'd easily replaced him with Ash and did not think twice about the possibility of him returning, if he did he was dead to her, and there was no way that he could repair what he'd done.


Her mother, sweet Athena, had always been a different story. She knew that with all that happened with her and the abandonment that she felt from the alabaster woman that she should not trust her to be better and yet the bond that a child felt for their mother could not easily be broken. She waited, patiently, for her mother to appear and when time passed and she did not she realized that perhaps the pull of her mother's wanderlust was stronger than the love she held for her. At least there was always Ash, it had always been Ash at her side and she was happy for that...he had yet to let her down. The baritone of his voice caught her off guard and she turned to stare at him, sadness brimming at her pale eyes but she turned from him before a tear fell from them, she could not be weak, not now, not ever. "I am fine..." she lied and it showed in the fact that she could not turn to face his acid colored eyes, instead her eyes lingered on her growing paws and she sighed heavily.


She did not want these feelings and she did not want to think of Athena any further, "did I wake you?" she asked, her head cocking to the side. She had not meant to worry him, that had not been her intentions and yet she knew that regardless, the russet male would strive to seek out her happiness, it was what had made her love him from the beginning. "do you love me pa?" she questioned, knowing the answer but craving to hear it within her ears and from his mouth. She clung onto the need for love and despite all that Ash showed her, she needed to hear that she was wanted as his daughter and as a member of Whisper Caverns.

As she had grown to learn, the wolf before her, the wolf who had become her father, was a wolf who possessed magic beyond anything that she could imagine. He was a mysterious wolf, and pleasant wolf, and a wolf that so many that lived in the Caverns had grown to love and respect but to her he was Pa, a wolf who not only could work magic but held a heart of pure gold and could weave stories that made her mind run a mile a minute. He was her everything and yet, he was not truly her's, he was her false father and her true parents resided a few miles away from the Cavern's where they started their lives over again, without her. It was a sad truth that she had never hoped to experience and yet her life revolved around finding and revealing the truth; no matter how hard it was.


"Father, I am fine..." she started, her eyes searching his but averted them once more when she realized that she had spoken to him with a tone of impatience, she had not meant to overstep her boundary and yet she knew that everything he did was an attempt to preserve her innocence. "I am just worried about her", she was certain that he could decipher just who the her was. She was a curse to both of them, a love that Ash could not shake and a mother that Rory could not pick, it was an unfortunate circumstance of events for both of them, "do you think that she loves me pa?" she blurted next, her fierce gaze searching his. She needed to know whether her mother actually cared for her, it would help to quell the confusion she'd been feeling since reaching her fifth month and yet, as she stood to stare into the green eyes of her father, she wondered if he even possessed enough magic to tell her.

The moment the question left her mouth she found her gaze turning to the ground, ashamed that she had even asked her of the very woman who had abandoned her. Her father, loving father, had always been there for her when her mother had failed on more than once instance and yet she stood to stare into his green eyes and ask him why her mother did not want her. It should no longer matter at this moment, she knew this, but her young mind was yearning for some kind of explanation for why Ash had even trusted her in the first place--but than again, without him, the young Thanne would not be alive. "I do not like her Pa..." she started, saliva thick at the base of her throat as she admitted these feelings to her father. She could not forgive the woman who had so easily given her up, even if her father had assured her that it had been for the better. Athena had failed where he hadn't and in that instance, she wished that Narime had been her mother instead, at least she didn't leave her when she needed her most.


She thought long and hard of her father's words and forced the saliva at the base of her throat down, casting her eyes back to Ash when she felt that she could finally face him. She should have figured that her mother would desert her to lead another pack, it was so Athena to seek something new and fresh to take care of; Aurora could never compete. "How do you know that she is leading a pack?" she wondered, questioning then if her father had been keeping this news from her when it would have been beneficial for her to learn of this sooner. She hated being treated as a tiny whelp, especially when she had gone through more events than any puppy her age had since birth. "where is this pack?" she wondered then, her head cocking to the side. She would attempt to visit her mother one day in hopes of getting some kind of closure she felt that she deserved by now.