Ezra had caught his father with the healer, Aranea. That was hardly an issue. The Aegis didn't care which of her pack fraternized with one another as long as there were no pups involved. It seemed that their interactions together had made them both stupid, however. She'd received word that both had become injured while out frolicking together. Resin didn't know the specifics and she was willing to give the pair the benefit of the doubt, but she wasn't the kind to swallow her displeasure and she would make it known to them both. She decided to seek out the healer first. Crossing the castle to the gardens that Aranea had begun to cultivate, the giant, ash and onyx woman found her there. "Aranea," the fae rumbled as she came close. Her singular eye inspected the wounds upon the smaller wolf. She noted an injury on her back and a few scratches here and there, but she seemed to be whole enough. Good. It would make chastising her easier. She would wait for the woman to acknowledge her presence and gauge her current mood before she leaped into her lecture. "Speech"

While Ulric had helped Aranea with the brute strength of building the green house, Aranea still had work to do inside and on the ground. She had to admit, spending most of the night with Ulric had her feeling lonely without him during the day. Making the garden by his training center had been her idea, even though it was his to make the greenhouse. In the end, it would be her to blame to staying close to him no matter how casual they would act when in passing or working side by side from a distance. Ulric, however, was out doing other things outside his training center, maybe spending some time with his kids. Resin's approach she would hear as she drew closer, but when her voice came to her ears she could't help but feel surprised. Turning to move her gaze up to the large woman she would start, "Resin, hello. I thought I was the only one who would be looking for you." She offered a small awkward smile while she had in fact came to Resin for a few different reasons in the past, so she wouldn't expect her to come to her, unless she was in trouble that was. Her door was always open to her however, or anyone else that needed and ear. "What can I... help you with?" She stepped gently outside the greenhouse so her and Resin could be more comfortable opposed to inside the stuffy room. She was generous to her Alpha as she was to the rest of the pack, but she couldn't push the pit in her stomach about what Resin had in mind. Walk "Talk" Think

Resin could smell the nervousness in the air like a perfume. It wasn't a scent that she wanted to elicit from one of her pack, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. Aranea was already a nervous sort and it showed by their previous interactions. The woman's stance confirmed as much. It was as though she was trying to keep from folding in on herself. Resin paid it no mind. It wasn't like this was the first time another wolf had shown fear in her presence. Unlike some who might eat up the sensation, she simply pushed it aside. "I heard that you were injured. You seem to be getting along well enough." It was good. She didn't want any of her pack to be incapacitated. Not only because it was bad for the wolf, but it was bad for the pack. With the refusal of winters end, their meat supplies were running low. They needed every able body. "I also heard that you and Ulric are having some sort of tryst." She looked for confirmation in the woman's gaze before she continued. "I don't care what the two of you do behind closed doors, but when it begins to affect your performance, and more importantly, his performance, it becomes an issue." Black ears erect, she stared down at the smaller woman with her singular, burning orb. "Ulric has motherless children that need his attention. He is in line to potentially take over this pack. I can't have him injured or worse." Resin didn't want to chastise a grown woman, but there was a lot at stake here. "And next time you two decide to spend a night together, put something heavy against the door. I'm trying to undo the damage that you two inflicted on Ezra, but it's going to take time." Accidents happened. As long as Aranea and Ulric learned from them, all would be well. They were adults and could do as they wished, but their lives weren't the only ones affected by their actions. The loss of the children's mother was too fresh to see their father bedding another woman. "Speech"

Aranea nodded with a turned glance toward her back where she was torn, "Yeah, I do think Ulric had it worse." He was after all attacked by a monster banshee bigger than himself. Aranea only appeared in worse condition when he found her because of the impact she suffered on her head. But that wore off by the time Luta had tended to her, and now she had just that singular wound along her back and side to worry about. But Aranea’s relief that Resin was just coming to check on her dropped quickly, her gaze falling away from Resin the second she mentioned she knew of Aranea and Ulric behind closed doors. A confirmation in itself for the alpha. She peeked up almost shamefully to Resin, still showing she was taking her words to heart and listening to her. The last thing Resin needed was for some kind of immature girl to tell her she could do what she wants and that her and Ulric were in love or some bull shit excuse. Aranea wasn’t like that, and while she may have wanted to please Ulric and herself, she would know exactly what was more important. Exactly what Resin had stated. With her ears pulled back only slightly, she felt a sting to the thought of Ulric’s motherless children. Though ignoring the intention, she had went out of her way to mother them herself in some sort, not that any of them had taken to her yet or that she expected them to. Almost a cold feeling she wanted to fill while she left her children in Abaven. Through her own fault and decisions of course. She couldn’t really put it in herself to look towards Resin’s face, and there was little she felt she could say on the Alpha’s concern. "Yes, Resin. I understand. That you have their best interest at heart." though Resin seemed to acknowledge that it wasn’t just Aranea, it was Ulric too, Aranea didn’t feel that way. Not from the eyes of Resin, but Aranea believed that she drew Ulric in, that she made him desire her, and that she was to blame for all the wrong that would come of it. Resin’s brutal truth made Aranea want to cut off the ordeal completely, but would she even be selfless enough to consider, truly. Walk "Talk" Think

As expected, Aranea seemed to take all of the blame on herself. Resin grimaced slightly, lips pulling back to expose the serrated teeth within her maw. "No, Aranea. I have all of your best interests at heart. That's my job." Her brow furrowed, the scars on the side of her face stretching with the action. "I want nothing more than for all of you to be happy and healthy. If you and Ulric find happiness in one another, I fully support you. Just make sure that the actions you both take are the best actions for all." That was how the grey woman lived. No action was taken without weighing the pros and cons for all around her. If everyone could be like her, life would be much easier. Since that would never be the case, she was used to situations like this and hoped that Aranea would learn from her words and let it go. Now that all of the negative had been shared, it was time for something positive. "I've given you a promotion. Ulric as well. You are now a Sage and Ulric is a Baron. Don't let me down." Pressure. Expectations. Responsibility. It all came with rank. She'd asked for it and now she had it. Making the greenhouse had been the final push that showed her how dedicated Aranea was to setting down roots here. She hadn't wanted to promote someone that would run away to a life left behind. Greenhouse. Ulric. Attempts to bridge the gap between herself and the abandoned pups. Those efforts deserved reward. "Speech"

As much as Resin wanted to get through Aranea’s thick skull, it wouldn’t be as successful which could have been expected due to all her previous behavior. But Resin’s caring actions and words wouldn’t go unnoticed. Aranea still may have felt worthless or that she may cause more trouble than she was worth but Resin continuously reminding her they were all in this together certainly didn’t hurt the fact. She would still draw a blank on how to respond but did she really need to? Resin’s last few words on the matter really pinged to her. The best for all? What did that even mean? Ulric? His children? What about Allegro and her own? It seemed that Resin’s intentions may have been asking her to think on it. That was the best she could do at least. Though while she was indulging in her own feelings, the needs of those around her meant much more than herself, at least in her own eyes. Something her and Ulric had in common. As the topic turned, Aranea tried to look a bit more proud to Resin’s announcement. At least the title of healer meant something to her, she wasn’t concerned about what level in ranks it would bring her to. "Thank you Resin. I won’t." Her job was what she took most seriously, but it seemed everything she did to impress was to fill some kind of void in her, that part where she always felt worthless. Whether it was doing her best in pack life or pleasing Ulric at the end of the day was no different to her. She didn’t necessarily want to turn back on their previous subject, but she also wanted to express more of her feelings on the matter, with out going back to talk of her and Ulric under the sheets. "Have you talked to Ulric? About..." well what they had just talked about, the importance of them being careful not to hurt his children. "Ezra attacked him, I’m concerned for him. But I know it’s not my place and I’ll only make things worse if I tried to get involved." it seemed easier to talk to Ulric’s other children, maybe because they hadn’t witnessed what Ezra had. Aranea did tend to make a point in leaving Ulric’s room early in the morning the last few days she occupied it after all. Walk "Talk" Think

Aranea expressed her thanks at the promotion but she still had that worried look about her. That was just the kind of wolf that she was, Resin supposed. It didn't really matter how she took it as long as she did well with the rank. If Aranea upheld her end of the deal, it didn't matter how sulky or anxiety ridden she was. The Aegis had faith that she would learn confidence in time. The pale lady asked if she'd spoken with Ulric yet and the grey woman gave her head a single shake in the negative. "I have not." She then listened as Aranea spoke of Ezra biting his father and Resin furrowed her brow yet again. That wouldn't do. "Ezra is being dealt with. I'm taking him under my wing. He has a strong spirit that needs guidance. Ulric has enough on his plate." They both knew that much. Mate and child missing. Other children sinking into despair. Rank. Duties. It all piled up. That was part of being a leader though and it was something that he'd have to get used to or he would fail. In this one regard she would take the reigns. Simply because the child was so young and angry. He would be more receptive to an outside force, she believed. Deciding that the conversation was over, Resin nodded to the pale woman. "Remember what we've spoken of and try to be discreet. Even a castle has eyes and ears and some of them might belong to impressionable minds." That was her final word of warning. If Aranea had anything else to say, she could follow along beside the Aegis as she made her way back towards the castle entrance. "Speech"

Aranea in no way considered jumping in to intercept Resin and what she had planned for Ezra. She did feel that Ulric and his children would have known Resin and Tamsyn more given that she was not present for their birth or for a while afterwards. She still kept to herself even now, even in the grasp of Ulric. It felt hard for her to do what she wanted by interacting with the rest of The Hallows, and maybe now that she had been beside Ulric she didn't really feel the need to get to know others. It wasn't ideal sure, but it was almost like Ulric and her attempt to care for his children would replace what she felt for Allegro and her own. She felt the heavy weights on Ulric's shoulders whether he chose to lay them out in the open or not. He may have gave into her differently by telling her different things he felt but he still tried not to seem so down or upset about what was happening to him as a whole. Perhaps the consistent traumas in his life that Aranea had yet to learn about. "I have no doubt you will be able to help Ezra move forward better than I can, or Ulric at this time. It seems he blames Ulric for Azariah not being here." Whether it was because Ulric drove her off somehow or that she was at the bottom of a cliff herself, Ulric had opened up to Aranea about it. It almost reminded her of how Nuada became violent with her, a twitch in her torn ear to the thought. She nodded as Resin reminded her again of what she expected, or at least what Aranea should expect if she kept up her doings. But there was no doubt that Aranea was reconsidering what she could put Ulric's kids through, and Ulric once she was reunited with Allegro. But there was a turmoil in her decisions. She chose to ignore her family's thought back in Abaven so she could be with Ulric. But she didn't know what would happen the next time she was with Allegro. She couldn't simply have both, could she? -Exit Aranea- Walk "Talk" Think