Just as he did when he rolled off of her, Mai so too did – standing and shaking the refuse from her pelt until it was clean once more. But then, she was shaking her head – no. She laughed and smiled, clearly happy to see him, but Aindreas could not figure out why… or why she was so easily giving up her meal. Was it because she was yielding the meal to her Alpha? Or that she was yielding the meal to a friend? He could not figure out the answer to that… but he did figure out the answer to something else. After all – the last time that they had spoken, Aindreas had implored her to stay hidden, stay safe, stay away. And she had done exactly as he had begged of her. He had not seen her since long before the fight between the vampire clan and the tempest clan – he had given her ample time to get away… and yet despite that, there had been other nontempests who had been part of the fight, on both sides. Khaleesi and Seraphina had put themselves in harms way out of their loyalty not only to Aindreas, but to the pack as a whole. It was luck only that had saved them from the painful fate that accompanied the fate that followed after the bite from a vampire. As it was, they were lucky that Kalgalath had survived the bite – that he had neither died nor turned into one of their enemy… fate had surely been on their side.

But to digress… surely it was the fight that she had been worried about. And it was true – that Aindreas had failed the pack after the fight. He should have called a pack meeting immediately – reassured them of their victory and of everyone’s safety. But instead, he had been forced to succumb to the exhaustion his body had endured. He had been forced to spend an insurmountable amount of time in solitude, in the deepest slumber imaginable until his body finally recovered. And even past that, he had instead fled from his pack to stretch out his limbs and go on a hunt instead of first calling to his pack. But that was it, wasn’t it – he would not lead this pack for much longer. His reign as an alpha had never been meant to be permanent, nor was it meant to truly be his throne at all. He was a pawn, a placekeeper, until his half-brother came of age. Only that time was well-past. Vladimir was an adult… he was meant to be Alpha, not Aindreas, and yet Vladimir had made no move to steal the throne from his brother. No, not steal, claim. And so Aindreas had given Vladimir an ultimatum – claim the throne before his next birthday, or give up the throne for all eternity. If Vladimir would not claim the throne, Aindreas would find another to take the throne. He would continue to guard over them all in the meantime… but he realized that that time was short.

‘It has been way too long, are you okay? Did everything go okay? Last time we had any sort of conversation was after... well, you know... Your scent has not been as strong in Dierne Hrof lately, I have kept up with as much as I can. I even changed dens to one closer to yours, trying to keep where everyone could get to me if need be, or if you needed me for something if need be. Don't let me keep you from your meal though, I'm just here, happy to see you're still alive.’

Aindreas nodded – he was as okay as he could be. His body was healed from the battle, in more way than one. “Everything went as well as it could have – we were unable to kill any of the vampires, but we managed to severely wound them. As for my scent… after the battle… after any battle, a Tempest must heal. When we fight, the adrenaline that our body releases comes from a neverending well, but as soon as our battle is over – win or lose – we have to pay the price for that. We fall into a deep, dark coma that lasts as long as necessary for our body to recuperate. And then, afterward? I just found that when we awake, we are starving, have a voracious appetite for we need to feed our bodies once again. And so for the last few weeks, I could not run the boundaries, nor mark it with my scent because I have been in that sleep, unable to wake until now. I could not scent your perfume, but I appreciate the gesture – I appreciate that you stayed far from the fight. I could not have beared to have you injured, especially as you are vulnerable to the bite of the vampires. I need nothing from you other than the knowledge that you are alright. As for the meal, I will eat it swiftly, and then we can keep on with the conversation.” Aindreas smiled, and before long what he said was true – he swallowed down the rabbit in two gulps, fur and bone and all, and after licking his lips clean, he tilted his head, his brows furrowed. “I am sorry, Mai, if my absence caused you fear or pain.”