She had been scarce since her return—barely crossing the borders, preferring to lurk on the slopes she had once hated, or on the far side of the lake, out of reach from a pack she wasn't sure she could still fit into, yet guilty about abandoning. It was twice now, twice in a year, and it hadn't done much for her except tie her head into knots. It formed a complicated pattern, odds and ends, bits and pieces, a tug-o-war between cold rationality and the strange thing going on in her heart.
It frustrated her. She felt like it was just one, long break-up, like she was slowly severing the ties binding her to the Cove, but.. But. It hovered above her day and night, making her irritable, so she kept away even from Kajika, only coming by occasionally to let him—and no one else—know that she hadn't left again.
She just didn't feel like socializing. She didn't feel like doing much, aside from prowling the lakeshore during sunrise, or watching the stars slowly wheel ahead, or brave the slopes to hunt in the lowlands beyond.. and worry. Worry, about the pack, because even though she didn't care, she still cared, and it would soon be winter, and they had Chan to protect and feed. Worry, about her parents, for both were missing, and though she had learned young to live with the heavy weight of grief—for her sister, gone to the wind—it didn't lessen the blow. Her parents, who had sworn to always be there for her, or something along those lines, had left.
By extension, left her, and that hurt.
The call cut through the dark fog of her thoughts, and for a moment, she hesitated. Water dropped from her nose, raised above the lake's placid surface, and her ears folded back against her head. She wasn't stupid—she knew Kajika was in charge. The border reeked of his scent markers, her Papa was gone, and he had always ranked above Tagg. Still, it was a harsh reminder of how much things had changed, a fleeting shadow rippling through her blood.
Everything changes, she told herself glumly, you do, too. Change didn't have to mean anything.. something.. she grit her teeth. She couldn't ignore the call. For better or for worse, she had chosen to return.
Head low, tail low, ears back, the silver shadow called Lunette slunk onto the scene of the meeting, folding her narrow frame to the ground in the shadows. No one could miss her arrival, yet she hoped they all would.