A slight dip of my snout was given as she affirmed her pledge to keep me informed. Such would be her duty once she had attained the rank she coveted. Perhaps it was a lot that I expected from Natu, for her to divulge her secrets to me. It would not always be this way; I would not always demand to know every personal detail of her life. I could hardly expect such a thing from any member of my pack. But this, this did not affect her alone. Sven was a member of my pack now, and the unknown itched at the back of my mind. I let the silence draw out between us for a moment, and then asked the question to which I so craved an answer. Once more a stillness rose between us, until Natu was given to lean forward and duck her head. My brows rose as I leaned forward over the edge of my throne, gazing down upon the scar that blemished the skin above her eye and the marks along her shoulder blade. They were marks upon her flesh that I had noticed in the past, but always they had been scars. Never had I known their origins.

When she spoke, lifting her eyes to mine once more she was met with a look of intent concentration as I allowed myself to relax backwards once more. I could feel the weight of the importance of what Natu was about to impart upon me. I was unsure of the journey her tale would take, only that it somehow ended with Sven’s presence here. Silently, I vowed to myself that I would not speak until she was finished. I would give her every opportunity to explain herself entirely.

She spoke of happiness in the freelands, of forgetting a lost mate and children. Though my features remained stoic, inwardly I felt remorse for her. I knew the loss of family, though not of my own creating. That burden must weigh entirely different upon a mother’s shoulders. But I remained silent and unmoving, listening as she spoke of Lillith. My brows lifted, showing my surprise at her words. I had never been victim to Iromar’s cruelty myself, but to know that a member of my pack had suffered at the tooth and claw of their alpha female made my inside roil with disgust. Ailith was mentioned, and I realized how important the two wolves must be to one another now. Another thing learned about my pack.

Her sigh is met with my own blink. Though I strongly desired to move to her, to jump down from the rock and embrace my pack mate, I remained as I was, ever silent. And then came the matter of what seemed to be blackouts, entire chunks of time missing from Natu’s memory. Ears remained pricked forward, intent upon her. The fact that she had kidnapped the boy and maimed another caused my toes to curl, claws grasping the rock. But still I held my tongue. Still I looked upon her without judgment. That was when I noticed the moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes.

When the tale was complete, my silence endured. Her remorse for all the pain that she had caused Everchime and Sven and his brother was evident. She confessed to flaws that I was not sure I could see in her. For a moment I remained where I was. But when words came to my lips, I found I could not speak them. I inhaled deeply, sighing quietly through my nostrils, before rising to my paws. I turned and leapt down from my throne, so that I might sit beside Natu. Once more my tail wrapped around my hindquarters, the tip flicking every so often.

“A coward would have left the child in a bush in the valley. You were no coward, Natu; you did what you could for the boy.” I spoke these words softly, feeling the tenderness of the issue. I emitted a soft sigh, and then lifted my voice slightly as I spoke once more. “ I am glad that he knows of Everchime, and his brother; his choice to stay here is his own, and you must have done something right for him to wish that.” My eyes sought hers, searching them for a moment. Her honesty was of a depth I had not expected, and my respect for her had grown, despite all that she had done. Pain, rage, it could do things to a wolf. Transform them into something they do not recognize. There were times when I did not know the wolf who stared back at me in the waters, when the anger consumed me so entirely that I lost the nobility that I displayed now before her. No wolf could be perfect, and I would never expect such from my pack. “Sven has forgiven you, Natu. I think it is time you forgave yourself.”