It had been so boring lately. So amazingly boring in Taviora that I had worn a trail so deep into the forest floor that snow couldn’t even cover it up. It had, but still, I’m pretty sure it was still there! Over the heat of the summer and the dying of the fall, I have managed to get my bdoy back into shape. I wasn’t as fat as I had been before, the constant voice of my mother in my head telling me how annoyed she would be if she saw me. Aithne was not a rotund lady but neither was she svelte and neither would I be despite hours walked and hard travel. At least now I didn’t tire so easily anymore nor did I grow so winded that I needed to rest.

I shouldn’t complain about being bored. My life had been a mess of things. The death of my parents in one day, bam, the loss of Asteraia, bam, the theft of my children in Iromar, bam, the subsequent fallout of my family. One might say I was cursed. Whoever my creator is, I hope she rots in Hades.

Some of my life drama though was mine. I was hot-headed and bullish. The longer I wore down that path in Taviora the more I grew to desire things again…. I remembered a time I wanted to be Empress. A time when I had trained for, thought I’d be good at it. Time had mellowed me somewhat. So I thought but then I heard the news that Eden had stepped down from Glorall (good, I never liked the dude), and one of his elder sons had taken it. Surely not Elohim? No, no way… he would tell me. But I think back and when was the lsat time he had visited me?

The longer I thought about it, the more agitated I grew. Halcyon and me had not spent much time together in a long while. Our family was fractured. My son blamed me for Idrisa and Aspis’ absence and while I blamed myself, I had tried to get them back. Didn’t that count for something? I felt… alone. Untethered in a world alone.

So I decided to race my way down to Glorall. It was freeing to finally leave the forest. I hated it there. In the wide open plains of the Ruieze fields I could admit that. It was home to Halcyon and Yami but to me it was a prison of trees, a reminder that my life sucked. My fire was there, ready to blaze, and there was plenty of kindling there… but I held it in check for them.

The faster I ran, the closer I got, the more sure I became that something had to give. Also, the more sure I became that Elohim was now an ALPHA. That son of a bitch had done it! HE WAS AN ALPHA AND HE DIDN’T WANT TO BE! He had always claimed to not want power, or at least, I assumed it. HE who didn’t want it, given it, and I, who wanted it, lost it. It made me mad.

So mad that I raced into Glorall headfirst, reminiscent of my days of childhood when I first met Elohim. Ears flat, teeth baring at any wolf who might dare near me. I was a larger figure and ready for a fight, my obsidian fur on end, red markings like pikes. Elohim is true to his style, elusive to find, and I decide to make a circuit around the pack. Which means I end up at the beach when the tide is out, the sandbar to the island open.

And I see her, a silver and black-tipped figure that stands at the edge of the sandbar, slender figure round with pups. The scent of it is clear even now. Elohim. I don’t know why, not really, why I stare at her and feel fury rising. Why I feel.. jealousy. Anger, rage. Elohim had not come to see me, had not asked after me, had not been my friend in so long…. Yet here he was, taking the life I had always wanted. A kingdom, a mate, pups….

I snarl even as the slender girl disappears in the grasses quickly, as if she is running to hide from me or someone, but I leave her be. Instead I spin back into Glorall, on the prowl once more, until I finally track his most recent scent trail. My large paws slam into the ground as I finally spy him in the distance. ”YOU!” The word is a snarl of sounds in my throat as I growl, stomping towards him. Do I intend to fight him? To challenge him? The urge is there, the need to spit, to claw my way to the top. ”Where the hell have you been? Since WHEN did you want to be a leader? All this time you’ve been plotting haven’t you?”