There were times when she was alone and able to run through the various thoughts that run in the back of her mind that she would think of her first daughter. Beneath that cold façade she always wore within the moorland she deeply, and truly, cared for Raven. If she did not care for the child then she wouldn’t have taught her how to be self-sufficient or think. Tick Tock would not have taught her child anything if she thought she was unworthy to live. It is true her blood was tainted with weakness, but the child held her blood and she was assured that it would save the girl. When it was time to leave her only child to the paws of Andras and his pack she curled around Raven, holding her in that way for a while until Andras came to walk her out of Iromar. The Monster knew very well that what she was doing would be better for Raven. Tick Tock was giving her daughter a chance she would have loved to have, to belong in a pack, and she was proud to see that her painful decision was worth it. When she was still a loner she would haunt the borders of Iromar, slipping through to take watch of her little girl, and hearing that she became Consul elated her to no end. Her daughter became a high ranking official within her pack and Tick Tock was delighted to watch her daughter and grow to become someone important. Though she knew, one day, that Raven would succumb to the cursed mark and she would be there for Raven, to help guide her through it all once more. For now though she did not have to worry about Raven. Her primary focus was on Gunsynd, Nevermore, Tobias, and the rest of her family.

Tilting her head downwards she allowed her sapphire eyes to look upon her shadowy coated son. Why he was so insistent to ask questions, questions that were too personal, she did not know, but she was willing to answer as best as she could. She would not withhold information from one she cared for and in a way trusted, though he was young yes, it didn’t mean she could not trust him. He questioned her decision about Raven and she simply looked down upon him, not in a condescending way, but rather because he was much smaller and she was taller. She explained further her reason behind abandoning Raven, truly believing what she did was right, and it could be heard within her voice.

“No, I saved her, I gave her an opportunity I never could have. I kept her within a pack that would help her grow, that would love her, and she has progressed so very well. She is Consul for her pack now, achieved that rank before she turned into an adult, I am proud of her.”

With a simple shrug of her shoulders she shifts her weight as she sits. She had a pack now. There was no need to leave her children behind, not when she provided them a home. With a candor voice she answers him, slightly puzzled that he would ask such a thing.

“Because, you are in my pack, and I want you both to have the opportunity that I never had to be in one. That and I never made a pact to keep you two somewhere else.”

Really did the boy not listen? He was young and she would not hold that against him. As she stands she notices the scowl upon her sons face and does not miss the irritable snort he releases. He continues to speak ill of Tobias and she would not tolerate it any longer. She is not afraid to look him in the eye at his level, her words quite fervent and passionate all in one. She is assured that he would understand not because she demanded he would, but because she attempted to explain as best as she could. What other Mother answers for their other half amongst the beings they create? Whether he understands or not this is a valuable lesson Gunsynd must learn – that there are times when he must respect what another thinks, even if it is not something he agrees with. She is not cruel when she speaks, she does not yell, she explains as best as she can. She grows silent for a moment when she is done, allowing her son the chance to think and ponder. Yet as he questions her again she leans her face closer to his own, speaking candidly as her sapphire eyes lock onto his emerald eyes.

“I already think of myself as valuable, but to know someone else thinks the same way is special. For someone like me that was never given any sort of permission in the first place, it is meaningful for me to have permission, and I treasure it. Gunsynd, we are given the love that we deserve. If I deserve to love another that may never reciprocate that, then so be it, I will accept it. I was not loved by my own family so I will not have the love you possess, but I finally at least have a little bit of love – and isn’t that better than having no love at all? Tobias is capable of thinking, but it is different from your own. No male will come to me, no male will try with an imprint like him, and that is okay. Fate has given me one to love, and I was able to have you and Never, a second chance if you think about it. I am happy with him Gunsynd, and I hope one day you will too. As for you having a girlfriend tell me Gunsynd, do you know what a girlfriend is, do you love her, do you know a lot about her, or is this some girl just like to spend time with, and there for she is a friend that happens to be a girl?”

That her son would already have a girlfriend is a surprising thing and yet, did he truly understand the value behind it? He would need to know these things soon, but she did not like the idea of him already having a girlfriend when he was barely one years old. She wanted good things to happen for her son and sadly having a girlfriend was not something she wanted for him right now. Yet she would not say no to such a thing, rather, she will allow him to enjoy his childhood and this so-called childhood crush, if it was even that. Already the sun was rising high into the sky and they still had a little ways to go before she would show her son just where and what they were going to do. If he was going to be an Alpha someday, there were things he needed to know and learn, and she would help him. She knew her children were dominant creatures, it was not only in their blood to be, but it was instinctual for them to be. She would get up to walk and a small smile appeared on her black lips when she heard the soft padding of his own paws beating the snow. She made sure to keep her pace slow so that he would keep her pace, flinching every now and then if she felt a stung in the still healing wound along her hock and right paw. It is when he speaks that she had led herself wrong does she halt and the fur along her hackles stiffen. She did not appreciate being challenged into thinking she was wrong. She was right and he would do well not to think in any such way. She turns around facing him again, shaking her head, to think that he would consider she holds value in what others say about her? Whatever they say, it means nothing, because they do not truly know her. Whether it was good things or bad, it did not matter, not one wolf within Moladion attempted to get to know her – let alone her very name. With a cold chuckle that sly voice slithers out, gently, as she boldly teaches her son a next lesson – that what others say about you mean nothing unless they know the truth.

“What have they said...what do they say that I have done wrong? Why should I care about what others think? Why give value to their words when it is lies and rumors? If their words held truth, perhaps I would give value to it, but they do not know me and never will. I have done well for this pack and I will continue to do so.”

She walks towards her son now, slowly, not in a threatening way. As she gets closer to her son, she lowers herself down and begins to curl and warp herself around Gunsynd. His beautiful luxurious shadowy fur mixes in within her own ebony fur that was peppered with grey. Her head is near his own as she nuzzles him gently. This is quite an unusual gesture on her part, but when he was blind and deaf, the night they were born and Tobias went to defend their home – she had curled around her children like so. Protecting them as instinctually as any Mother would, waiting patiently for her imprint to come home successful. She was not one that showed affection all the time, but perhaps in this moment Gunsynd would see, a very vulnerable side that she locked with a very tight key. She knew what she would say may displease him, but she means so very well, and has such high hopes for him. She hopes that the warmth he would feel wouldn’t only be literally – but he could actually feel how much he has of his Mother’s love. She speaks so tenderly, quietly, within his dark ears but through that gentle tone there was much belief and conviction of what she says.

“You are like me, my son, but it is because of that I am thinking Nevermore gets Asteraia. You are a clever boy, my clever son and you can do so much more than be Alpha of the fields. Nevermore is very much like her Father, but do you think she would be capable of leaving the fields and doing well for herself out there? She is clever, in her own way, and you should give her some credit, but to imagine her make followers when she could inherit them already here...wouldn’t it be better for her n for them? Have you ever thought you would want to go out in Moladion and take your own pack and grow it to become something great? You are Tobias and my children, you have dominant blood running in your veins, and neither one of you will be able to submit to your sibling. Can you imagine both of you Alphas with your own land...both of you controlling half of Moladion...it would be a great achievement. You would be a magnificent Alpha, Gunsynd, and I will help you any way I can so you can become just that.”

She curls herself tighter around her son as she licks the side of his muzzle, tilting her dial in such a way so that their eyes could meet once more.

“You have no idea how much I love you and your sisters, Gunsynd.”