Several days had passed since Chimera brought her to his no longer secret hideout, but she wasn't entirely sure how long she was there. For the first couple of days she did little more than sleep, only waking up when Aliana came to check on her wounds and reapply any herbs that they needed. It was rest that she had needed though and even though it was hard to be away from her daughter and her love she was glad that she did. By the time she was ready to come back to the others the bites on the back of her neck had begun to stitch themselves together so they were no longer noticeable with the thicker fur of her scruff around them and the bruises and damage she had in other places had healed enough that it wouldn't show in her walk. She hadn't let herself consider or address what the toil would be to her mental state, but she knew that once she got the physical healing out of the way she would have to turn her attention to that sooner rather than later.

Once she was ready, she cleaned herself up and did her best to make it look like she had been on a short vacation instead of a stint in a makeshift ward. She stepped off of the ship and carefully made her way around the island so that when she approached the estate that she shared with Chimera and the others she would be walking in from the direction of the ferry that crossed from the main shore to the island. There was a rush of relief as she stepped into the familiar structure and she had to pause on the wooden decking for a moment to collect herself before she moved on. It was a feeling of finally making it, of knowing that she had survived, and was able to come out on the other side with her pride in tact. Whether other parts of her were still in one piece or not were yet to be seen, but right now her only focus was on making it to her room and finding the two wolves that she had been dying to see.

Luckily, she happened to catch Siren and Ruse both within the suite and as soon as she walked through the door her daughter was bounding toward her, practically tackling her and making her wince a bit, which Ruse luckily didn't see. She laughed lightly and hugged Ruse tight, affectionately nuzzling her daughter who was getting taller than her by the day. "Oh I missed you so much, my darling! I'll tell you all about my trip in a little while, okay? Give me a little time with Aunt Siren. Why don't you go tell Aunt Ali that I'm back and find some lunch for all of us?" Ruse reluctantly accepted her tasks and Dalila gave her another squeeze followed by a kiss on the head before she let her go and watched her spit fire of a daughter walk out of the room. That's when she turned her pale blue gaze to Siren and the emotion that she had been doing so well at holding back and keeping firmly locked behind a wall of determination and stubborn will broke free.

"Siren..." she breathed once Ruse was out of ear shot and she hurried across the room, wrapping her love up in a tight embrace and letting herself bury her face in Siren's long, silky fur. All of the feelings of not knowing if she would make it home, of knowing that the brute that did this could have just as easily killed her instead of letting her go, of feeling helpless against the situation she was in all came crashing down on her while she held Siren for the first time in what felt like ages and she started to cry tears of relief and release into her fur. She honestly had no idea how much Siren knew about where she had gone or what had happened. She hadn't asked Chimera to warn the others, but she also wasn't sure if he had or not. Either way, there was no way for her to hold back this flood of emotions and she would rather it happen now than while Ruse was around to see it.

"Dalila Vista Klein"

Her heart worried for Dalila. The woman had become so closely integrated into her life that she missed her only after a few hours. Being apart from her for so long now tore her heart in two. She knew Ruse was feeling the same way, the girl missed her mother almost as much as Siren did. So they spent much of the time together, it was easy when Siren was missing Dalila along with her two children. Who weren’t really children anymore, they were young adults and they were spreading their wings. Time moved much too quickly for her.

She enjoyed the girl’s presence, but her heart leapt into her throat as Dal entered the room. She lost her breath she was so relieved to be in her love’s presence again. Of course Ruse was first to greet her mother, the two of them embraced. Siren felt bad when Dal sent the girl away, she had missed her mother so much, but she caught the look in Dalila’s eye.

Her name was on her lips and then Dalila was rushing into her arms. Siren held her tightly, kissing away her lover’s tears as she guided her to the bed that dominated the room. She held her to her chest, soothing her softly with little kisses and sweet whispers. Siren didn’t know what had happened while she was gone, but it wasn’t anything good. Not when she hadn’t been warned and not when she returned like this.

"Dal,” She whispered back softly, nuzzling into her ear. "It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

"Siren Primrose Klein"

Dalila was more than happy to fall into their bed as Siren guided her to it, holding tight to her as she buried her face into Siren's chest and finally allowed herself to feel the rush of emotions that she had been carefully holding back as she tried to preserve what little bit of strength she had left. She whined softly in response to Siren's reassurances that everything was going to be okay, leaning into her touch while she reveled in the feeling of finally being with her love again and knowing that Siren was right, it was all going to be okay. It was a hard thing to fully grasp after being so very close to never feeling this again, but logically she knew that as long as she was here, as long as she was with Chimera and Siren and the others, she really would be okay and that she was safe now.

It took a bit of time for her to gather herself again, her tears subsiding with small shuttering breaths while she nuzzled into Siren's neck with a gratefulness that was overwhelming on its own. Once she had caught her breath a bit, she continued to lay with her head on Siren's chest, letting her eyes close while she savored the comforting feeling of having her Queen's scent filling her nose. "I was attacked while I was out scouting," she explained softly once she was able, her voice still a bit rough from her sobbing. "He... He killed my mastiff that I took with me and over powered me out by the canyon." She didn't feel like she needed to elaborate more than that for her to understand what had happened. "I was in... really rough shape by the time I got to the shore and managed to call for someone. Chimera found me and brought me back... I didn't want you or Ruse to have to see me like that so he gave me a place to hide and heal." She knew Siren probably would have wanted to care for her and help her heal, but she didn't want any more eyes on her in that state than necessary and worrying her dear Siren would only have made her feel worse.

She lifted her head from Siren's chest then, bringing her teary eyes up to hers with a soft, tender kiss. "I was just... I was so afraid I wouldn't make it back to you." Dalila brushed her paw against Siren's cheek, smiling softly as she just let herself take in all of Siren's delicate, beautiful features for a few moments as if it was the first time. "I'm so happy I'm here..." Her muzzle brushed against Siren's happily as she breathed in this relief as if it were air, savoring these few moments alone with Siren before Ruse returned. As difficult as it was for her mind to fully understand that she truly was safe, that there was no more risk and no more reason to be afraid, it was slowly becoming easier as she relaxed into Siren's love.

"Dalila Vista Klein"

Siren wasn’t sure exactly what Dalila had been through but there was an eerie familiarity that had her feeling very off. Her love did not hesitate to follow her up onto the bed and into her arms. The tiny queen caressed her fur as she wrapped her tiny arms around Dalila’s neck and gave her little kisses over her forehead and whispered supportive little words as they settled there. She let Dal cry into her silken fur, just holding her and reassuring her quietly.

Dalila could take all of the time that she needed, Siren wouldn’t press or push her to explain. She would be here holding her no matter what had happened. She had lost Dal once and she wouldn’t let it happen again. No matter what. She wasn’t sure how long they lay there together when Dal finally started to speak and admit what had happened to her. She had been attacked, her dog was killed and she had been overpowered…

Dal didn’t have to explain any further and Siren knew what had happened. She squeezed her tighter as she went on. Siren felt tears prick in her own eyes at the profound emotions and empathy she felt for Dalila. The memory of being tossed into the water after she had been used up, somehow floating back to the island fluttering in and out of consciousness. She whined softly and squeezed her eyes shut tight.

Dalila did pull away at the sound, and their eyes met, both wet with tears. Siren had been worried but she had hoped that her nightmares hadn’t been real, yet here they were. Siren was holding her, but there was a chance that this never would have happened. She could have died in the encounter. "Dalila,” She whispered her name as their muzzles touched in a tender moment. "You’re here. You’re safe, you’re with me.” There wasn’t anything else that mattered more than that right now. She was alive and she had all of Siren’s love. "I’ll never let you go if you don’t want.” She promised as she kissed her softly, revealing all of the deep emotions playing within her.

"Siren Primrose Klein"

Dalila smiled gently as Siren continued to reassure her and Dalila let her, listening to her words and knowing they were true. She was here and safe and in Siren's arms and for now that was truly all she needed. She savored all of the small affections they shared, passing kisses back and forth and just being grateful that this was the reality instead of the alternative that could have come to be. She was home, in their bed, with her first love, her sweet daughter somewhere in their family compound, the man that had brought them all together somewhere near by. Everything she loved and cherished was right here and she could rest easy knowing that all of them were safe. "You know I never want you to let me go," she replied softly in return, giving her a loving grin. There was a time that statement wasn't true, but that had been a mistake—one of the biggest mistakes she had ever made and she was so happy that they had managed to pull their relationship back from the brink. That time felt so far away now, washed away by all of the love they created since then.

She settled into Siren and let herself relax in her love's embrace, but as the quiet fell between them again and they just let themselves enjoy one another's presence the question that she had kept lingering in the back of her mind through her recovery started to creep back to the forefront again. She had never pressed Siren for any details about the man that fathered her children and had never breathed a word about it since the day that Siren's pregnancy and come to light, but with the similarities Dalila had seen she just had to know. It would eat at her endlessly until she knew. She didn't know what she hoped to accomplish, but she wanted to know either way. "There... is something else," she began quietly after a few moments, hesitant as she brought it up and making sure to keep her voice soft enough that if someone was outside the door they wouldn't hear them. "The man that attacked me... He was a massive male with mostly slate blue coloring with scattered, dappled markings of gray and black and his eyes were a dark, dark gray." She watched Siren's face as she spoke, looking for any hints of recognition or understanding, wondering if she would understand what she was asking. "Does... that sound familiar to you?"

"Dalila Vista Klein"