Iromar had me hidden away as its best kept secret since my return and I was soon on my way to completing my given tasks so that I may rise to a rank of recognition. The desire to be more had always been there even when Andras was around but other details had always altered my path. Now that I am completely unhindered by things such as imprints and love interests I am able to focus my entirety on what I can add to the pack.

Yet another factor had now been added into the mix once again—make that two factors. From the distant lands to the north there comes the faintest howl of my littermate, her chords barely carried along the wind this far south, yet they are there nonetheless. Ears of pale gray immediately perk upward as they catch the flowing tune of her call and I am quickly moving in the direction of Aithne’s grounds. ”I must attend to… family matters. I will be back in about two days’ time,” I offer her a reason for my absence as any loyal pack member should and hastily jog off through the most northern area of the moorland.

Ashen paws are splattered in murky water as my pace gains speed into a headlong run toward the upper woodlands. He is unaware of what her howl could have possibly meant as far as details go – I only understood that she needed assistance and that it was urgent. My feelings for Taji were contradictory at best. The death of our mother weighs heavily upon my mind each and every day and only Taji is to be blamed for the crime. She had been playing atop those wretched hell dragons that swarm the waters of Iromar, like the fool she was, and mother gave her life to save that of Taji’s. It was not worth it, I had always believed.

But Taji is still family and a part of our mother makes up much of her genetics—it cannot be denied. So I run to her if only to ensure her well-being.

My pace slows as the heady scent of Taviora’s borderline reaches my nostrils and it is without much hesitation that I slip in through a less trafficked area. My nose is immediately to the ground as I seek her out and it is only when I come across the trail of Malleah that I truly pick up on something of worth. I pursue her scent for a while before it intermingles with Taji’s and within a short time my dark sister is coming into view within the trees. Her head is dipped downward into the den of which I can only assume Taji lays, yet it is the odor of birth and blood that causes my ears to prick forward with unease.

I approach Malleah at a restless jog, pale eyes of pink and jade peering around her as if I could see into the shadowed den. Her words are the only thing that draw my attention from the place in which Taji hides. ”Malleah, what are you talking about? We will always be family,” I had only caught the last part of her words and as such figured I had better place some input on the matter before the two females became any more heated.