It hadn’t been long since she’d accepted the sibling of Anthem and Angele into their lands, perhaps less than an hour it had been. Once Nathaniel had been taken away by his siblings, she’d turned and headed back toward the prey she had buried not long before. She needed to get back to her children, who were undoubtedly hungry and driving their sitter nuts with their mewling. Likewise, she longed to be with them. She loved to be out and out, reveling in the feeling of being able to stretch her legs again, but nothing could beat the feeling she felt when they were tucked away safely at her belly where she could hum and preen them. Namid was, truly, a mother at heart as if it was something she was born to do. As she came close to the prey she stopped, ears rotating forward to catch the faint rustling of leaves and snapping of twigs as if something were creeping toward her cache. Perhaps it was one of those stupid lynxs again, and if that were so they were going to leave with a few marks to show them to never return to her lands.

Her lips peeled back into a growl and she pushed forward into a run, covering the distance between herself and her prize and bursting through the bush before seeing that it, in fact, was not a lynx at all. It was instead a young girl, perhaps only a yearling with a dark pelt that clung to her in rags. Her skin was sunken and her bones prominent to the point of her spine poking out and her likely once brilliant golden eyes were sunken and desperate looking. She skidded to a halt quickly, paws scattering debris as she came to a stop a few feet from the girl. Likely she was terrified by her entrance, and while Namid was certainly not happy about the trespasser inside of her lands clearly attempting to steal food, she couldn’t help but look at the child and see bits of her own within her. This was someone’s daughter, young and still new to the world. She had been in much the situation the girl was in during the winter, and there were times she thought she wasn’t going to make it the next step as her stomach ate her alive, body and all. While she had never stolen, the thought had crossed her mind at times. All this girl was doing was trying to live, and she found she couldn’t bring herself to reprimand her for doing so.

The Lake Queen’s tale rose behind her, though her posture said that while she was wary, she was not a threat to the girl. She looked at her with curiosity and reproach, preparing herself for if the yearling should feel so threatened to attack. She wouldn’t get anywhere if a fight were to break out, and it would only lead to the youngsters misfortune. “I am Namid Vuesain, lead female of Fallen Tree Cove and the lands you have entered. My dear, why have you crossed my borders without a call?” she asked, her voice gentle but somewhat scolding very much like the mother that she was. If something like this were to ever happen to Neha, Aleister, or Cernan she hoped that a wolf would treat them like she would treat the girl.

Her presence obviously came as a shock to the girl, who turned to gape at her. Honestly, though, what had she expected when she came into their borders to obviously steal prey from them? Their borders were well marked, insinuating that they had regular patrols at all times and that there was more than a likely chance that she would be caught. However, the more she looked at her body the more she understood why she had taken the chance. A girl like her probably didn’t have much experience in hunting, which even furthered her chances of not making it past the year. Her brows furrowed as she tried to desperately drag away the rabbit. Even more fear crept into her dull golden gaze as the beta Anthem appeared from the brush behind her, a growl forming in his throat. One look from Namid and he silenced it, the sound dying in his throat though she could see he was still waiting readily for any signal from her to chase the starving girl from their lands happily with teeth scouring at her haunches. A new growl came, and she was surprised to find it was coming from the dark yearling. A brow raised indignantly at this, but also with a faint bit of respect. She was still willing to fight in the current state she was in, and it only made Namid want to help her even more.

The thudding of more pawsteps approached, having heard Anthem’s rather unneeded call most likely, and bursting through the brush came her friend and subordinate Desideria. One look between the theif and ex-thief and one could tell they knew each other. Noble, she named her, and the alphaess could have scoffed at the name. It was quite ironic, for what she was doing there was certainly not noble. Her next movements set an edge to the leader as Desideria tried to pull her away and out of their lands while the girl still clutched the prey in her jaws. The pale queen took a step forward, her mismatched gaze landing hard on her subordinate and a sharp growl escaping her maw. She might have been her friend, but she was also her lower rank and thus should not be making her own decisions in a situation such as this. And she especially should not have been aiding the thief, who seemed more than happy to follow her.

Her gaze traveled to the girl who was staring at them all wide-eyed, still desperately clutching the meal that was supposed to be for Namid’s family. “I am sorry, but I am afraid you will not be able to leave quite so quickly. Noble, as I heard Desideria call you. You are not going to be harmed unless you attack us, and you and I both understand that you are not in a condition to be doing so,” she said gently, a faint mothering tone lacing her words. Staring at the young girl, she looked to her subordinates briefly to let them know to keep her where she was. Her gaze returned to look over her form again, wanting for purge her stomach at the sight of the girl’s all but completely skeletal frame. She could not and would not be able to bring herself to take the hare from her clutches, for she needed it more than the queen did. She was already overfed as it was, and she had not technically stolen from the pack. Only from the queen herself. “My dear, you have stolen from me. When I say me, I do mean me for that rabbit had been intended for myself to feed my children. Therefore, I take it as an offense to myself and not to our pack. I had been in your paws not too long ago, and I understand your struggles. I would like to make a proposition for you. You may keep the rabbit, under the condition that you sit and let me watch you eat it and have a conversation with me. Then, you may leave,” she said, giving her an ultimatum. There was still an underlying motherly tone in her voice, but there was also a warning that if she didn’t take the offer she would be run off foodless if she didn’t. Namid was generous, but she did not provide food to fools.