There was little point to countering what he said. We saw the occurrences of the past from our own perspectives, under different lights and with emotions unique to ourselves. Though this conversation was needed, in some regards it was also futile. Nothing either of us said could instill any level of trust between us, that was clear. I felt that he had turned his back on me long before the fight, and he felt that I had betrayed him in calling him to challenge. We had both done what we thought was right by us, not knowing how it injured the other. What was done could not be undone. He claimed to never have intended to kill me, but I remembered well how he had gone for my windpipe. "You came to defend something you never had any right to," I replied. If he had ever been loyal to me, he would have stepped aside. It was what would have been expected from a pack member who stepped forward to claim a pack that had fallen into quietness only to hold it so long as until their alpha was able to return and stand for themselves. But he had taken the power for himself instead and let it go to his head.

My nostrils flared, breathing in the smoky air as a silence fell between us. I watched him, as he drew his breaths slowly, and I was aware of the child who no longer feigned disinterest. Something softened in Tithe then, but his questions did not calm me. I was no longer worked up, my own breathing having brought the hurts within me under control once more. Brows raised in surprise, though my voice remained controlled. "A perceived betrayal? Have you heard nothing I've said, Tithe? There was nothing to perceive - you came to Diveen. Where I was recovering. Hours after the fight. And called for a party. Perhaps those who left Spirane and did not follow me to Diveen hurt my pride, but at least they did not slap me in the face with it."

I had already proven that what losses I had suffered I could regain. Spirane flourished once more, and there was promise for our future. The usurpation had caused such unease, even in the months after my return, that no pups had been born to the mountains since before the upheaval. It was my hope that next spring that would finally change, and the future of the mountain would be secured in the next generation. Everything that had been undone had been fixed, or was being repaired now. Whatever personal losses I may have sustained did not matter - what mattered was the wellbeing and longevity of my pack.