Alana breathed in, allowing the salt air to calm her, the cold air a comfort to her. This wasn’t the freelands, this was Glorall. She should be safe here. But whether she imagined it or not, she could still smell the male mixing in with the salt from the ocean. Could it be that he had followed her here? It wasn’t impossible to be sure, but still. She hadn’t slept since it happened, not well at least. He could be anywhere.


Any relaxation she’d gained from the ocean left as Tesseract asked if she was alright. Her mind flashed over all that she could say. She could tell him what happened, but what would he think of her? She was too weak even to protect herself. What use would that be to any pack, much less one with a new alpha. She could lie and pretend she was fine. She was an accomplished liar, she could probably get him to believe her. Glancing over at him, she realized that she had delayed her response too long. Even if she did lie now, he would see through it. Even a pup would.


“I was…attacked in the freelands. A female wolf jumped me, but a male rescued me. But then he turned on me and – “ she broke off, unable to speak of what followed. Her gaze dropped from his eyes to her paws, looking at the indents her claws had made in the soft sand. “I suppose I will have children, come spring.” The last she spoke barely above a whisper. She truly didn’t know how she felt about this. She wasn’t prepared to raise children, she had never intended to. She didn’t know what to do with puppies. But she couldn’t abandon them either. Not her own. If Rhoedias hadn’t stepped in to care for Noel, she wouldn’t have been able to abandon him either. But what if he looked like that wolf? Would she ever be able to look at her child and not see her attacker? It made her sick even to think about him.


She was grateful when Tesseract spoke again, drawing her from her thoughts. Before was easy to think about. She looked back up at him, a vague hint at the confidence she could possess evident in her features. “Silvertongue had thought that I would be good attending to the pack’s children. In truth, I’ve never really known what to do with puppies.”


She paused for a moment, briefly caught up in her own predicament again. She supposed she would have to start being good with puppies. She didn’t really have much of a choice. “I would be interesting in learning almost anything you ask of me. I doubt I would ever make a good warrior, though.”


She couldn’t even protect herself, how could she be expected to protect others.





“speaks like this”

Alana
. female . six years . 29 inches 85 pounds . no mate . no life . Glorall .