Sereinty had been quiet and maybe even invisible to the rest of the pack, but she hoped her efforts of providing and protecting the pack hadn't gone unnoticed. She'd understand if they had, but she was only doing the best she knew how. She was social once among others but didn't seek out to be around them. It was much easier to hang around on the walls or do patrols alone. The silence between her and her thoughts was mostly peaceful. At least she didn't dwell on how harsh her life had been prior to joining The Hallows.

But she had other things on her mind the last few weeks, especially while keeping herself more isolated and protected by the walls of the castle from everything strange happening to the world around them. She wasn't the only one who was sick, though she wasn't necessarily sick other than the strange mushrooms that grew out of her wound and an occasional cough. Fear was a new emotion for her, and she certainly didn't want to get tangled up in any more mess that was the world today.

She wandered over to Ulric's room, tapping nervously on the door and calling for him, "Ulric?" She swallowed a hard lump down her throat from the slight anxiety she was feeling. Though she didn't think Ulric would object.

"Serenity"

Ulric was laying in bed in the room that now felt too big and too empty without Eska there. His mate still hadn't allowed herself to leave the dungeons since her illness began and he honestly hadn't spent much time in their bedroom since this began. Sometimes he would fall asleep leaning against the bars of the cell while he was visiting her and occasionally he'd drift off in the lounge or in one of the spare rooms. Being in here just reminded him too much of what it had felt like to be alone and was too much of a glimpse into the future if Eska didn't get better. He refused to let himself think of that possibility though. He only let himself think of her getting better and the future they would continue to have together once this was all over. It kept him afloat even though he was worn down and exhausted by the stress of it all.

He was drifting somewhere between being awake and asleep while he attempted to take a short nap when he heard a tap on the door and Serenity's voice calling for him on the other side. He blinked open his blurry silver eyes with a yawn, lifting his head to look at the door with a bit of confusion. He didn't know what would bring his eldest daughter here to look for him, but he most certainly wouldn't turn her away. He pulled himself out of bed and walked toward the door, pulling it open to look at her curiously. "Serenity? This is a surprise. Please, come in," he offered, leaving the door open as he moved away to sit by the fireplace that had a fire burning in it, tossing another log into the hearth. Now that Auster was dipping into its cooler months they would need to start collecting more firewood again. Attempting to keep his mind on track, he looked to her again with a tired smile. "What's going on?"

Ulric Adravendi

Ulric had opened the door for her and her steps were almost reluctant to come in. Maybe her nervousness was showing through, it was something that grew overtime since the strange events that came through the winter months. She had always been easy to overcome what was brought her way, she didn't understand why suddenly this anxiety was taking over most of her.

With her head lowered, she joined him beside the fire, taking a seat and finding her gaze more in the crackling fire as he threw another log in. Her eyes flashed towards him as he asked her what was up, and she in turn gave a little nervous laugh, "Well, it's just that uh," Her voice was more hesitant than anything, maybe seeming unlike her in same way. "I know I'm not really out and about all the time or like always around..." She mumbled into her words before perking up a little more though still not making it easy to find Ulric's form with her eyes. "But I've never felt more like... like I belong. Like Lillith and Ezra have made me feel welcome here, in the pack, in the family." With another flash towards him she added, "And uh, you too."

"I was wondering if I could... take your name. Be an Adravendi."

"Serenity"

Even though Serenity seemed too nervous to meet his gaze, he let his eyes linger on her curiously with a little tip of his head, wondering what could possibly have her so on edge. Even when they were fighting the saber cat together she had seemed so certain of herself so seeing her like this was surprising. At first he was worried that something had happened and part of him wondered if he could handle another piece of bad news. Luckily, it seemed like that wasn't the case this time. She began uncertainly, mentioning how she wasn't always out and about around the others, but that she had never felt more like she belonged. A smile pulled at his lips at that and at hearing that Lillith and Ezra had made her feel welcomed into the pack and the family. If there was nothing else he could take pride in just knowing that he had managed to raise Lil and Ezra to be the way they were made him feel like he had accomplished something wonderful with his life. He hadn't been sure how they would react to Serenity's appearance in their lives, but they had welcomed her in without hesitation and he couldn't be more grateful. He knew he should have done more to incorporate her into their family himself, but with everything going on time had slipped away from him yet again and it felt like a nice gesture to tack him on at the end, but he knew he didn't deserve it.

Her request surprised him, but not because he hadn't expected her to want their family name. It was only surprising because he felt like it was something that didn't need to be asked. He blinked with surprise at first until his expression quickly softened into a warm smile. Without hesitation he leaned over to rest a paw on her shoulder, his tail wagging gently behind him. "Of course you can," he told her, "You're absolutely welcome to take my name... our name. You're family." Letting his paw fall away to rest on the floor again he thought about the journey his own name had taken. It was an identity he had struggled with and reshaped to fit what he was happiest with and because of that it honestly touched him more than she probably realized. He understood what it was like to chose his family and who he wanted to be associated with and it was an honor to be that for Serenity.

After a moment of silence he told her, "My name used to be Ulric Adravendi-Lore," he explained, his eyes shifting back to watching the fire. "My mother's name, your grandmother, was Roza Adravendi and your grandfather was Ganta Lore. Ganta... When I was very, very young he challenged someone to the death and lost. At the time he was the alpha of a pack and the pack went with him. It left my mother, sister, and I alone. To this day I still don't know why he did that, but I had to take care of my mother for a very long time and I tried to take care of my sister and eventually her children, but..." He trailed off, shaking his head with a sigh. He was already physically and mentally exhausted—he didn't have it in him to consider things in the past that he would prefer to leave in the past. "After a couple of years of being my mother's caretaker I decided to drop the Lore portion of my name and only keep my mother's family name. She was a wonderful woman and I strive all the time to be someone that she would be proud of." He paused and was quiet for a moment before he lifted his gaze to look at her again with another smile. "I'm glad you've decided to take the Adravendi name. It's something I'm quite proud of so I hope you will be as well. There are a lot of Adravendi wolves around—especially in Boreas—so you might run into them occasionally."

Ulric Adravendi

It was probably easy to notice her relief as Ulric welcomed her, though she didn't really expect him to deny her. She did feel as she spoke, not really in the loop or looking for attention. In fact quite the opposite. But she hoped that she had showed her dedication and appreciation in other ways.

She was able to turn an eye to him if only for a few seconds as he accepted, and then became more intent as he started relaying more of his own story. She couldn't really say that she could relate, but none the less, she admired what he had shared with her. She supposed losing a father than not really having one to begin with was certainly two different feelings. And she expected that when the time came she would express her own feelings of loss to Ulric differently compared to Lillith per say. Having her father as an adult felt more like a friend than a father, and she wasn't sure if maybe he felt the same way.

"I don't really think it's something a father would want to hear..." Just as his gaze moved into the crackling of the fire with his own story, she did the same. "Bella never wanted me. I'm not sure why she even had me to begin with or maybe she had even failed to abort me." There was nothing wrong with her physically at least, so she could never really be sure. "I don't believe that she had even known you were the father, I could only tell from what life I had with her afterwards." She sighed though she wasn't really showing signs of distraught while she spilled the bit of her own history. "The men never had sex with me but they did... other things." Her brows furrowed as she suggested, but really she had never felt like these moments were the spotlight of her life. She had always looked toward the greater, and never dwelled on the past. "I had left by the time I was a year old. I guess I had always wanted to find you, but I always assumed you were never looking to begin with."

"Serenity"

Ulric didn't know where her story would go as she mentioned how it probably wasn't something that a father would want to hear, but no matter what it was he was just glad that she felt comfortable enough to share with him now. He certainly hadn't expected her to open up to him right away and had just hoped that with time she would be more comfortable with him. He gave her his attention as she revealed how Bella hadn't wanted her. That wasn't entirely new information for him from what she had said before, but it still hurt him to hear. He couldn't imagine not wanting his child to be in his life. His children were his greatest accomplishments and even though his relationship with Serenity was unconventional at best he was glad to have it. It hurt him in the same way that finding out that Aranea had attempted to kill herself and their children had hurt him. Hearing that Bella hadn't been sure that he was the father made him wonder just how many men she had been with before and after him. From how she had approached him he had assumed this wasn't exactly something new for her, but it still spoke volumes about that woman that she hadn't wanted her child and wasn't even certain who the father was.

Somehow that ended up paling in comparison to what she told him next and his frown deepened with concern and disgust when she told him that the men never slept with her, but did do other things. He would never press for more details than that, but there was something about the vagueness of it that allowed him to fill in the blank with things that horrified him and made him hope that he was just jumping to conclusions. Her saying that she had left before she was a year old made it worse—knowing that all of these things happened while she was just a pup... His jaw tightened as he fought with the feeling of wanting to rip the heads off of every man that had ever touched her, but that was so far in the past that it would have been impossible for him to even put together who the offenders were. It was something that would have to stay in the past and perhaps with the way she was talking about it that's how she preferred it to stay.

"If I had known... If I had even had an inkling that Bella could have been pregnant I would have stayed. I would have taken care of you," he said softly with regret. He knew there was nothing he could have done and no way he would have known, but he still wished things could have been different. "The day after I was with Bella my niece found me and I came back to Auster with her and my mother to try and find my sister... Even if I had stayed in that area for a little while longer..." He sighed and gave a shake of his head. "I'm sorry. I know there's no reason to wish and regret about the past, I just... I wish there's more I could have done."

Ulric Adravendi