Secret Woodlands the darkest past

Nina remained silent, allowing him to process her suggestion in his mind. Truly, it was what she was there for, advising, now that she had retired from her position as leader and she hoped she would make due with the time she had left with them. She could not deny that she was getting older and that there would be a day when the Woodlands would be without their founder. A small smile came to her lips at Bane's question, always so considerate of his mother figure. She laughed softly, her voice soft when she responded, "It is relaxing. Stepping down is what's best for me and the pack. I think everyone knew it." She looked over at him with her single emerald eye.

If it came to it, she had no doubt that Aideen would have eventually come to the conclusion that Nina was failing in health, as a fellow medic herself and the Hervok woman never wanted anyone to call into question her word. Her reign had been a beautiful time and she wanted it to be remembered that way in the future when she was long gone, even if her legacy was also no longer within Secret Woodlands. She knew that her memory would live on within those that she touched in her life, including Bane. "I'm glad you came home, you know. I missed you quite a bit while you were in Round Rock Crest." Her single orb glimmered at him.

It seems when you're around, my life is complete.

He listened to her speak about how relaxing it was to no longer be leader of the pack. Bane could only imagine, as leadership was something he would never consider himself. It meant having to be the most dominant within the ranks, consistently making sure his subordinates knew their placement within the ranks. It meant watching over each and every one to make sure they were doing their jobs correctly, which might not have been so hard if it did not also mean he would have to reprimand those who did not. Making sure each member was cared for and protected during the winter. Accepting new members, meeting them at the border... judging others when he did not like being judged himself.  It all seemed like a lot of work, a lot of social work. He would not be more proud of his leaders for all what they had to hold together within the ranks. To him however, Nina could have been a wonderful leader up until the day she died, though he completely understood that the stress of leadership may not have any longer been what was best for her, and that was what mattered the most. "I missed you too. Every day... But Minka and Tokino were good to me. Their son Kova I enjoyed caring for very much..." Now that both his parents were gone, Bane could only wonder what had become of him after Bane left. "Secret Woodlands has always been a battle for me... It is familiar, safe, and harbors the wolves I love. But growing up here was not easy. Bad memories, you know..." Surely she would know what he had meant by this. Although Bane had always been very close to Nina's heart, in his earlier years when his birth mother was still around, it was a struggle trying to accept her and a struggle as well growing up in envy of Nina's true kin, where he had no siblings of his own, his father was a murderer and rapist and his mother inevitably, went insane. "Did you go over the mountains? When the Aniwaya were destroyed?" A bold question, yes, though the information he had been given in his youth had been so very vague. He had never bothered to question of more until now,