It was as I had predicted from the start. Roman had failed.

His assumption of the throne of Spirane had been temporary, as I had known it would be all along. And for what? To scatter more than five dozen wolves to the wind, in the hopes of finding shelter for less than half a dozen followers and to bestow an ill-earned title upon oneself? It made my blood boil. Before I had even had the chance to return to the peaks to reclaim what was mine and restore it to its former glory, the mountain people had deemed him unfit to rule and turned to one of their own to lead them. The silence that his rule had cast the mountains into was reminiscent of that which had gripped Spirane during the time of Purge. But as I had moved towards Spirane, when the laws of fate no longer protected him from my wrath, the mountain people spoke. They cast him from his throne and rising up in his place was one that I felt no less questionable about - Tithe. It set my teeth on edge, but I was forced to return to the hospitality of Diveen.

Here, too, change had come. Achilles had abdicated his throne, Solara taking her brother's place and assuming the title her mother had once bore - Archangel. Isola and Achilles had offered me and mine sanctuary here, and though I had not yet met the new Queen I held faith that she too would extend such generosity to me. Over the months since Jericho, Taliesin and I had brought our family here, much had changed. I had my doubts that Taliesin would ever lift his roots from Diveen again. Tithe had come to do Roman's bidding mere hours after my defeat, a claw dug deep into my fresh wounds. A wolf whom I thought I could count as one of my own had so readily pledged his loyalties to another. I had expected nothing else from Pan - he had served as advisor to Purge before me, and probably would have served even the lowlife Covet had he succeeded in taking the throne. So it was no surprise when the latest usurper had clawed his way to the top that Pan had offered his services to him as well. It was who he was, and who he would always be. But perhaps, now that I had heard the claiming howl of Tithe upon the breeze, his true intentions were brought to light. Had he planned to topple the mountain all along? Perhaps my faith had been misplaced in him from the moment Sleekwing had brought his fellow hunter into the fold. There was no wolf that one could trust, it seemed.

And so the laws of fate would keep me from my home for longer than expected. I jogged back across the borders of Diveen without so much as a hitch to my stride. Meryl had looked in on me frequently through the healing process, and I had been afforded the chance to remain sedentary throughout that time. Despite how much I hated it, how much I craved to be training or running in the hunt with my family, it had allowed my wounds to heal perfectly. No lasting damage was done to the musculature of my hind limb, and the other bumps and bruises had all but disappeared within a few weeks' time. Scars were hidden beneath regrown fur, and the only obvious indication of the battle lost was a single scar that was ever so faintly present upon my muzzle. Ever since Meryl had cleared me for more strenuous activity, Jericho and I had been training on a daily basis. Despite all of Roman's claims that his challenge had not been of malicious intent, the bastard had tried to rip out my throat thrice over. And it had been my intention to repay him in kind when we met again. Asserting my dominance had not been enough - I knew I would have to debilitate him in some way to prove my point. It had taken the constant pushing of a creature who had thrived in the belly of the beast of war to mold me into the machine that had moved back towards Spirane to save it from the weak grasp that Roman held upon it.

As I moved through the familiar outskirts of Diveen - where I spent the majority of my time, even now when I no longer made daily checks for those of my pack who might have followed in the aftermath of the usurpation - I did not seek out Jericho. No, perhaps this afternoon was not meant for another training session for myself. Perhaps it was more suited to time spent with my children. My young dragons had only visited a few times since I had taken up a temporary residence here, but my daughters had all chosen to stay so long as I did. Nymeria seemed angry more often than not these days - angry at 'that prick' who had taken our home (where she'd ever learned such foul language at such a young age still befuddled me), angry at her favorite cousin for not coming with us, angry at her elder brothers for not staying close, angry at...me? For my failures? I had failed her, failed them all. Someday I would right that wrong. But today was not that day. Today I sought out one of my girls, hoping to restore some type of faith in me for them.