Despite her almost single-minded focus that she no longer belonged in Glorall and needed to be gone even faster than she had appeared, a voice stopped her mid-motion, her claws digging into the loose soil not yet hardened by the frosts. The voice was female, which was part of what stopped her. Her solo journeying in strange lands had only served to cement her fear of males. Had the voice been male, she probably would have continued to run.

The other female was close enough now that the ocean breeze and foreign pack scents no longer overwhelmed her’s. Not quite believing what her nose was telling her, Alana turned her slim body around, facing the newcomer. The confusion across her muzzle cleared as she finally realized who was before her.

“You!” she said, taking a step forward in her excitement. “You are the daughter of Tesseract and Caligula!”

Her tail, still held passively behind her, wagged cautiously. The female had still been a pup when Alana had been a member of Glorall, but seeing her, there was no mistaking that the adult before her had once been that youngling. There was no mistaking her unique markings. Even in her travels, Alana had yet to see another wolf with a crimson coat but grey features.

Alana’s brow furrowed slightly as she tried to remember what her name was.

“Cersei?” she questioned, not quite sure she had gotten it right.

Still, if Tesseract’s daughter was here, perhaps there was hope that she might find protection again.

“Cersei, I have to ask,” she began with a quiet urgency, “are your parents still here?”

In truth, she hoped more to find that Tesseract was near. She trusted him to protect her. Alana had been familiar with Caligula, and the alpha had been willing to allow Alana’s den near her own the spring that - the spring before she left. But despite their home’s nearness to one another, Alana had not often spoke to the other female.

She wasn't unhappy to have found Cersei either. In truth, she would probably trust any of Tesseract's line to have the same loyalty and code of honor that he had seemed to have. She had been afraid that she would not recognize anyone upon her return and would have braved the freelands for no reason.

“When he was alpha here, Tesseract had said he would be willing to protect me, even to help me learn to protect myself,” she said quietly, feeling as though she owed the other an explanation. Despite the years between then and now, Alana was still no better at protecting herself than she had been then. She had mostly succeeded in avoiding danger by avoiding others entirely, running away at the first sign that another was near.

Alana
. female . thirteen years . 29 inches 75 pounds . no mate . no life . no home .
. mother of Grendal .