She didn’t know what to think of what had transpired in the past weeks. She had been pondering for some time what to do with the woman when finally she was… gone. Zelda made sure that, other than her general accommodation of being stuck in her pit prison, she was well cared for. She provided her plenty of food, allowed her out for walks in her lands, heavily guarded of course, then one day she was gone. She had investigated it herself and to her surprise Diveen’s scent had been all around her cell. Why? Why did Diveen come here? She knew they had no alliance, not formally at least, but they knew their Son once called this land home… What had happened? Why her of all wolves did they decide to take. It wasn’t as if the black and silver female was guarded carefully at all times, but Zelda never thought she would have to take such… extreme measures. Especially not from a pack that had forever been one of Taviora’s closest allies. She had been planning on going, seeing what they needed her for it hadn’t been long since she was stolen away, but it seemed soon she was going to get some answers… rather more questions.

The smell of Iromar was actually comforting to Zelda. She smelled her cousin and Pine very soon upon their crossing. Honestly she had been expecting a visit all spring, for some reason she thought perhaps they would be providing Zelda with a bit more family for the year. Already she had more cousins, her mother told her of the… precarious situation her uncle was in, and it seemed like this year had boomed with more pups than any for some time. She thought maybe that her cousin would be bringing her news of his children, but the moment Pine had called out to her her tones serious all thoughts of such joy were ripped from her.

She had turned with a broad smile upon her maw, her tail waving at the sight of the pair initially. She had heard of their new proclaimed mateship, but the gravity in her voice, despite the warmth caused Zelda’s features to almost immediately falter. She looked to Cenna then, concern etched into her features even as he gave her a small smile as he held some branch or another between his jaws. Her gaze flicked back to Pine, silent as she explained that a wolf had been murdered in her home and it was the scent of Taviora over the scene. Her mind did not jump to Arace in the slightest. Astonishment and words of empathy as well as trying to explain immediately jumped to her mind and almost her maw, but Pine put the words right into her mouth.

A sigh of relief came to Zelda, thankful that Pine knew her, her pack, well enough to know never would they do such a thing, especially not in cold blood. She did not know of any issues between their two lands since Pine had taken control. Even in the past it was only Aranak that she was aware of that had caused any problems and well… that was over with. To frame them though? She watched as Cenmatl placed the branch at her paws. Knowing what he wanted she took a sniff up and down the branch before her head jerked up and surprise and understanding finally hitting her.

”This is… Arace’s scent.” She knew how badly that must have sounded, that she knew the name of the perpetrator almost immediately, ”At least… I am pretty sure. She’s not a member, she was our prisoner up until recently at least. I was meaning to go to Diveen to figure it all out, but they had stolen her from us. I wasn’t too terribly worried, Diveen had long been close to us since Taviora’s founding… I thought that maybe she had attacked one of theirs and they sought to take her. See… she attacked my lead warrior suddenly two seasons ago, and she was prisoner up until recently… I well, I didn’t know what to do with her. She wasn’t being honest with us, and.” She said it all very quickly trying to explain all that had happened. ”I couldn’t…” She sighed unable to say ‘kill her.’ Guilt hit her in the chest, if she had been more cautious, had been more strict… a wolf wouldn’t have died.

”I’m… so sorry. Pine… Cenna.” She said her ears falling her gaze averting. She couldn’t make this better, surely in Iromar there was a wolf suffering from the loss, perhaps the wolf slain had a family. Arace… Zelda could never have killed her because of Starfall. That was when it hit her. ”Starfall… I have her imprint here. He’s my elder, he’s a very good wolf, I know that I-we- will do whatever we can to help track her down with you.” Zelda assured them, but then something struck her. Unlike Zelda, Pine was direct if nothing else, in dealing with her problems. She had slain Aranck without second thought, would she with the same vengeance upon the one that killed her member? She had seen the pain losing an imprint caused her grandfather, and worry started to rise up once again in her chest.

”What would you plan to do with her if you caught her?” She asked tentatively. Her eyes going to Pine’s once more. She wanted to know before she called him, he would be invaluable for helping with this...of that she was certain but she wasn’t about to go send him to find his imprint just to watch her be killed. That would be a fate more crueler than anything else. Zelda knew she shouldn’t have thought twice. The wolf attacked Tithe, tried to lie about it, then turned around and did who knew what to Diveen before escaping and then killing a wolf of Iromar. Why did she still feel the need to give Arace mercy? For Starfall of course, the kind male didn’t deserve this fate, but it was quickly seeming that it was the only way to end Arace’s deeds.