If truth were to be told, I'd never really held any interest in the other packs of Moladion. I'd been born in Glorall, but my parents were a hodge-podge of heritages. Mom had lived most of her life in Diveen, her training coming from the King of Angels himself. Mum was at the opposite end of the spectrum, she'd been a member of Iromar when her Demon family had reigned supreme. And then there was Sleekwing, my sire, who was mountainborn through and through. Of the three, I'd only ever visited Spirane, and while the mountainous territory had been beautiful in its own right, nothing could compare to Glorall's dunes and beach.

With the leadership of Glorall in question, I found more than just my mind wandering. My paws led me north, across the river that separated the seaside pack from that of the plateaus. But I veered west, heading towards the lake. The words of the elder wolf I'd met in the valley echoed in my mind, ...What then? Do you follow them or do you simply change your allegiances? If Eden were defeated, would I leave Glorall with him? I didn't like the idea of such a possibility, but what about Haziel? My stomach clenched at the thought. He'd just been promoted to Eden's Hand, Beta of the pack. Surely his allegiance to our alpha would see him go. And I couldn't imagine not living close to him, to be able to visit him whenever I wanted. It was all a bit troubling to think about.

I needed to redirect my thoughts, focus my attention on something else and stay distracted. If Eden lost I would cross that bridge when I came to it. The glint of the sun off the relatively still waters of the lake caught my eye. The temperamental waters that fell away from the coasts of Glorall were not always safe to swim within; if there wasn't a strong current that threatened to carry away unsuspecting victims there was always the danger of sea animals taking advantage of a predator out of their element. I still occasionally enjoyed a dip in the salty waters, but suddenly the lake was calling to me and I broke into a gallop.

Soon I felt the familiar soft give of sand beneath my paws, and I did not even break stride as I launched into the cool fresh waters. Water splashed up around me, droplets flying into the air in a beautiful spectacle. As I entered the lake, my pace was finally forced to slow as the water reach up around my chest and only a couple more steps were needed before it washed over my back and I was swimming. The water was cold, perhaps too cold for some given that it was still spring and had not completely warmed up after the thaw. But I was accustomed to the bitter chill of ocean spray, and so this wasn't really all that bad to me.

Paddling in a circle I faced back towards the shore from which I had plunged into the lake, only the noticing the wolf who lay in the sand. In all likelihood I'd run pretty close past her when I'd made a beeline for the lake, but I hadn't really been paying much attention to my surroundings. "Oh hey there," I called out in a friendly tone. Continuing my paddling, I meandered about in the lake, letting its chill waters clear my mind of the diplomatic troubles I may very well face in the near future.