Her jaw ached from how hard she was gritting her teeth as she trudged toward the shore, desperately trying to get within calling distance of Fenmyre. Every single part of her ached at the very least or seared with pain at the worst. She had to struggle through each and every step, inching her way toward the Cove while she tried to hold herself together and keep from either breaking down or passing out, whichever might come first. She had lost consciousness toward the end of everything that brute did to her and when she came to she was still laying atop her poor mastiff. Somehow that felt like the greatest loss of all even though she knew she could get another fairly easily. Her and her dogs had grown close and knew each other well. Both of her companions had grown up together and she dreaded having to tell her remaining mastiff the news.

The second her paws touched the sand at the Hermit's Cove her legs gave out from under her and she collapsed on the shore. The didn't know how much time had passed or how long she had been gone, but it was at the very least much later in the day than when she departed Fenmyre that morning. The sky was colored in shades of pinks and oranges as the sun began to set. She could see the island in the distance from where she was laying on the beach and she tipped her head back slightly to call for anyone that might hear. Her throat was still sore from where than man had gripped her neck to drag her away so her attempt at a howl was rough and not nearly as loud as she would have wanted it to be, but she desperately hoped that it would be enough to get one of their attention. At the very least maybe Chimera had noticed her absence by now and would be paying attention.

With that done she slumped down into the sand, too tired and torn apart to do anything else. All she could smell was the blood and sex that clung to her and she desperately wanted to wash it off, but even when she tried to get her paws under her again she couldn't get her legs to agree. She was caught somewhere in-between terror of the brute that was able to brutalize her so easily and fury at herself for not being able to stop him. What had all of her training and skill in battle been for if someone larger than her could just sweep her legs out from under her and over power her before she could even react? Tears both from her fear and frustration welled up in her eyes and she cursed under her breath, trying and failing to blink them away while she waited and prayed that Chimera would find her soon.

"Dalila Vista Klein"

The fates seemed to have their paws in the mix today as Chimera had indeed noted Dalila's absence. There were a few things that he needed to speak to the woman about and so he sought her out in the chambers that she shared with Siren. His tiny sister hadn't seen their joint lover in quite some time and the brutes brow furrowed. He had an uneasy feeling, but he knew that Dalila was capable, so he simply waited for her to return.

It was the ragged forcefulness of the howl that had the King of Fenmyre instantly on his feet, as though Dalila was using every ounce of power to make that call. Chimera made a mad dash across the island, following the direction from whence the howl had come. The brutes heart hammered hard in his chest as he pushed his body to the brink, running as fast as his muscular legs would carry him. Skidding to a halt at the edge of the island, the man's pale eye scanned the opposite shore. He could see her there, laying in the sand. Or at least he thought that was Dalila. There was no time for ferries or rafts, so the dual-toned brute merely dove into the salty water and swam straight across to the cove.

Dripping water from his pelt, the moment that Chimera's paws touched shore, he leaped out of the ocean and towards the form of Dalila laying on the ground. There was blood upon her, both topside and underside but he could see the rise and fall of the fae's rib cage and he knew that she would be alright. "Dalila," he spoke her name softly, a paw rising to gently part the matted, bloody fur on the back of her neck to inspect the wounds there. He could see the jagged tears as though she'd been bitten and shaken and fury flared through the man. Who would fucking dare?

Gently, as though the woman was the tiniest puppy, Chimera scooped her up, holding her in his embrace. "Dalila, what happened?" He needed to know so that he could kill whoever did this. Already the issue of security and safety was flitting through his mind. Chimera was protective on the best of days, but he may very well never let any of his queens leave the island after this.

"Chimera Klein"

Dalila continued to lay in the sand on the opposite shore, the island taunting her across the waves. It was so close and yet still so far, impossible for her to reach on her own in her current state. A couple of times her eyes tried to flutter closed as she edged on the brink of unconsciousness, but she forced herself to stay awake even though the thoughts racing through her head kept making tears return to her eyes. Thankfully, by some small shred of luck, as she blinked and pulled her gaze back into focus again, she saw Chimera's slightly blurry form emerge from the water in front of her. A heavy, shaky sigh escaped her and she tried to push herself up onto her paws to greet him, but barely made it a couple of inches off of the sand before her shaking limbs gave out and failed her. Her vision swam for a moment, but when he rushed over to her and spoke her name she was at least able to blink her vision into focus once more to glance up at him with grateful relief.

She held still while he parted the fur around the wounds that were tore open across the back of her neck, wincing a little from the movement around the tender flesh. Chimera lifting her off of the sand and pulling her into his embrace hurt worse, making her aching body protest, but she didn't complain. She was just grateful that she had managed to get to him and that he had come so quickly. As long as he was there she knew she was going to be okay. His question of what happened was more difficult to answer, but after leaning into him for a moment with her eyes closed and catching her breath she replied, her voice a bit hoarse and quiet, "I was scouting the canyon... trying to find places I could take Ruse that she'd like..." Her ears flicked back at the thought of Ruse, frowning at the idea of her having to see her injured and beaten like this. She didn't want their little girl to be exposed to anything like this, even if she was nearly a year old now.

Dalila pushed away her wandering thoughts, forcing herself to go on and focus before she got ahead of herself. "A brute found me... He killed my mastiff and overpowered me..." That was the easiest and simplest way to explain what happened and she didn't really feel like Chimera would want to hear the gritty details any more than she would want to tell them. Her memories of the whole thing were a little foggy as it was with just the most impactful or painful moments standing out like highlights through the mist. The words her attacker said to her right before he vanished filtered back to the top of her memories though and she blinked her eyes open as her brow creased, lifting her head just enough to be able to look up at Chimera again. "He said... He said he was a Carpathius... Isn't that The Hallow's family...? I thought... He looked..." Her words trailed off as a wave of exhaustion washed over her and she leaned her head into him again, panting lightly as her eyes closed.

"Will... Will you help me wash off... before we go back...?" she asked after a moment, weakly lifting her paw to point toward the water. "I-I don't... I don't want Ruse... Or Siren..." She trailed off again, her tired form slumping into him. A soft whine escaped her as she remembered what the stranger had said about carrying his pups, about how he would find her if she killed them, all of the memories of what happened slowly returning to her the more she thought back on it. "And I... I need to get herbs from Ali... I don't... I don't want his..." She wasn't in heat yet, thankfully, but they weren't far off from her season so she truly didn't want to take any chances. She wasn't going to give the bastard a chance to follow through on any threats since she wouldn't be having his pups to begin with.

"Dalila Vista Klein"

As he settled the woman against him, she began to speak. He could hear the roughness in her voice as she told him about scouting a nearby canyon in the hopes of finding an interesting place to take Ruse. She continued, and every word she spoke after 'a brute found me' brought his jaws clenching tighter and tighter until his rows of teeth squeaked against one another. He knew what had happened without Dal going into the sordid details. Now that the sting of saltwater was out of his nose, he could smell the stench of sex upon her, mixed with the iron tang of blood.

Though Dalila had suffered the damage, Chimera felt as though he had failed her. Wasn't he supposed to protect them all? Wasn't it his duty as King to keep them safe from things like this? Gently, Chimera lapped some of the blood from Dalila's face, trying to rid her of the proof of what she'd gone through. It was only when she spoke again that his body stilled, stiff as a corpse. The man that had raped Dalila had admitted to being a Carpathius. The woman stammered and the dual-toned brute spoke softly, "What did he look like?" Once he had Dalila home and safe, he was heading straight to The Hallows. Artorias had some explaining to do and the blue man had better give him some damn good answers.

The battered fae asked him if he could help her wash up. Of course he would. She voiced her concerns, not wanting others to see her like this. "Don't worry," he attempted to soothe the woman. "No one will see you, love." The brute nuzzled her ear lovingly before he gently slid his head beneath her small frame. As careful as he could be, Chimera lifted his queen onto his wide back and gingerly walked her to the waters edge. Moving a few steps into the ocean, he crouched, allowing her to slide down beside him. He knew that the salt water would sting, but it would also serve to help cleanse her wounds for the time being.

Chimera stayed beside Dalila, using his big paw as a scoop to lift water onto her back and neck where he tenderly cleansed her of the superficial wrongs done against her. "You can hide for a time, if you'd like," he offered quietly. "I've a place that you can go and I can send Erystotle to you. We can say that you send a message with your dog telling me that you wanted to visit The Hallows or some other pack." He gave her ideas. Though they would wash away the blood and other things, she would still be damaged and others might demand an explanation. "A few days at least would let you heal enough so that Ruse won't question you." Their daughter was very observant and would likely notice the wounds and the stiffness with which her mother walked.

Concern was expressed as to conceiving the bastards children and Chimera's vision shook with fury, but he held it back, instead nuzzling once more into the woman's damp ear. "It won't happen," he assured her. "I'll make sure that you have everything that you need." The brute inhaled deeply, calming himself enough to tamp down his ire. "Then I'm going to find the one that did this, and I'm going to kill him."

"Chimera Klein"

Chimera asked her for the brute's appearance and she frowned a bit, looking off across the water at the blurry island in the distance with her head still on his chest. "He was as big as you... His eyes were dark. I couldn't really tell if they were brown or gray... Mostly bluish gray fur and his teeth were so sharp..." She struggled to remember any more distinguishing features besides the very distinctive scattered stripes like the ones that adorned Scylla. It was also a small white lie to say that she didn't remember her attackers eyes. She had seen them very well as he was threatening her to bear his pups and telling her to run, but they were the same gray as one of Scylla's eyes. She had held true to Siren's secret all this time and she didn't want to reveal enough to give away her suspicions. It was entirely possible that similar traits popped up in both wolves all by coincidence, but she had a hard time believing that. If it wasn't this bastard in particular then maybe a relative of his.

Chimera eased her worries as he assured her that no one would see her like this, making a weak smile pull across her lips as he nuzzled her ear. With a gentleness she wasn't even sure she knew that he had, he moved her onto his back to carry her down to the water. As gentle and careful as he was, her body still hurt and ached with every movement. Her muscles were worn down from trying and failing to get away from that man and all of the brutality that he had put her through and all of that was aside from the open wounds on her neck and between her thighs. She grit her teeth and held back any sounds though, letting the pain of the movement help keep her awake and alert instead. She carefully slid into the water from his back, the water both soothing and painful at the same time. The salt water stung terribly in what felt like every part of her with the small scratches that were mostly hidden under her fur from the scuffle, but it was almost calming in a strange way. It felt like everything awful that was clinging to her was being burned away. She had to lean into him to stay sitting upright while he scooped water up onto the parts of her that weren't submerged in the water.

She shifted her gaze up toward his face as he spoke and gave her some options to help her hide away for a bit so she could recover. Her immediate reaction was to say no, she wanted to go home and be where she knew she was safe and to be with him, Siren, and Ruse, but she stopped herself from replying straight away and let herself think on it for a moment while he continued to help her bathe and the blood that clung to her started to spread out into the water around them. She knew he was right. Even if she cleaned up a bit, Ruse was observant and inquisitive. She'd figure out something was wrong within a moment of seeing her. Their daughter was so young, bright, and brave... She didn't want the real terrors of the world to effect her. At least not while she still had a say in it. "Okay," she finally said with a heavy bit of reluctance. It would just be for a few days till she could get back on her feet and the wounds on her neck could start to mend. She could survive for a couple of days. She had survived much worse and she wasn't going to let this break her either.

She leaned into his touch as he nuzzled her ear and assured her that she would have everything to prevent what she feared and then promised to find the bastard and kill him. She smiled softly again and tipped her head to be able to give him a small, grateful kiss. "I know you will..." she rasped quietly, knowing without a doubt that he would always do anything to protect and defend her and any of his Queens or family. It was one of the things that drew her to him the most after she was able to look past and forgive the beginning of their time together. Dalila gave him another soft kiss and then leaned into him more heavily, her eyelids heavy and hardly able to stay open now that she felt safe and the scent of the sea water had drowned out anything else that was turning her stomach. "Where do we have to go...?" she asked as her eyes closed and her head leaned into him, fully trusting that he would get her wherever it was that she needed to go so she could rest.

"Dalila Vista Klein"

The description of Dalila's attacker was filed away. Every little detail that she gave him would be remembered and only forgotten after the bastard was dead. He didn't deserve to be remembered, even in such a small regard. Every part of the fucker would be erased if it was up to Chimera. No one would remember him and every little trace would be extinguished. That's what he deserved.

One he had Dalila in the water, they both worked to clean the grime and gore from her fur. He noted that a lot of it wasn't hers and, though it was unfortunate that her mastiff companion had been slain, he was thankful that she hadn't been damaged more. Again and again he splashed water over her matted fur, using his claws to gently separate the bloodied clumps until she was eventually clean. She'd had to lean against him the entire time due to how weak she was. That alone was a testament to just how much damage his strong little woman had taken.

After he gave her the option to hide away for a little while, Chimera could see the hesitation on her face. Of course she wanted things to just go back to being normal right away, but Ruse would ask questions. They both knew it. Eventually, Dalila agreed and the two-toned brute nodded. He knew just where he would keep her sequestered. "No one is supposed to know about it, but I've fixed up one of the ships as a kind of refuge for myself," he admitted a little sheepishly. He hadn't told any of the women about it. It was supposed to be a man cave. Dalila was much more important than that though. "It's stocked with food, fresh water and lots of comfortable beds. A few days there to regain your strength should be enough."

Dalila gave him an exhausted smile and kiss and the brutes heart thumped against his rib cage. Again he marveled at how much they had hated one another once upon a time. How things changed... Dalila questioned him and he could see just how tired she was. Carefully, he slid his body under the water, positioning her paws so that she could hold on around his neck. "Don't let go, love." Dalila didn't weigh much to begin with and the water made her lighter still. The powerful strokes of the dire brute took them across the channel and back to the island that they called home. Rather than let her down, Chimera kept the waterlogged fae upon his wide back. Slowly and carefully he made his way to the opposite side of the island away from the compound where he padded up the wooden dock and onto the massive boat.

Rather than place Dalila on the bedding that was upon the deck, he took the woman into one of the many rooms that the ship possessed. Gently he slid her from his back and onto a fur covered mattress that had withstood the test of time. One paw rose and he stroked the fae's cheek lovingly. "Do you want me to call for Aliana or Erystotle?" He hadn't said Siren's name. He wasn't sure that his sister would be much help in a situation like this.

"Chimera Klein"

Dalila's ears perked with a bit of surprise as Chimera explained that he had been fixing up one of the ships that dotted the shore of the island for himself as a place to get away. It wasn't at all what she had been expecting and a little part of her felt bad that she would be intruding on this space that he had been keeping for himself, but the huge relief that she felt over the fact that she would still be back on their island overwhelmed any of the slight guilt she felt. "That sounds wonderful," she mumbled softly, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips, nearly half asleep as she spoke. She couldn't rest just yet though which she was reminded of as Chimera moved her in the water till she was resting along his back, making her blink open her eyes just enough to see what was going on around her. As her forelegs were placed around his neck she made herself hold onto him and replied with a simple, "Okay," to his instruction. After that she rested her head on the back of his neck and struggled to keep her eyes open, only focusing on keeping a hold around his neck so she wouldn't fall off his back.

She was only barely aware of him getting back to the island and stepping out of the water, watching the tees go past as he carried her across the island and onto the ship in question. She didn't really pay attention to what was happening again until he was sliding her from his back onto a plush bed. It wasn't her bed in the suite she shared with Siren so it wasn't exactly what she wanted, but it was still very comfortable and she was finally home. Even though it had really been less than a day it felt like it had been far longer than that. Every minute had felt like hours when she was trapped under that brute. She shifted a bit to find a comfortable way to lay and then tipped her head to lean into his touch as he brushed her cheek. She considered the options for a moment as Chimera asked if she wanted Aliana or Erystotle. She understood why Siren wasn't an option yet and she wouldn't want her to be. She didn't want to worry her beautiful Queen and thus far she was doing well at keeping herself pieced together which she wasn't sure would remain the case if Siren was here.

"Aliana," she replied after a moment. She was very fond of Erystotle and she would never discredit his skills or knowledge, but she knew from experience that Aliana had an extensive knowledge in a particular area that she wanted addressed sooner rather than later. Even beyond that, she just knew Ali on a much deeper level than she did the sweet ivory man and right now when she still felt so raw and vulnerable all she really wanted was wolves around her that she fully knew and trusted. If she could have her way she would just keep Chimera here with her as well, but she understood that time was probably of the essence if he wanted to follow her attacker's trail. She lifted her paw to catch his against her cheek and gave it a gentle squeeze, saying, "Be careful. Come back soon. I'm okay... Call for Ali and then go. She'll take care of me." Even though she was hardly able to keep her eyes open, she still gave him a reassuring smile and turned her head a bit to kiss his paw. "Go kill him."

"Dalila Vista Klein"

Once Dalila was settled, everything else fell into place rather quickly. He made sure that the exhausted, battered fae had food and water nearby. When she chose Aliana to act as her aid, he internally sighed, but nodded. He could understand that she wanted the expertise of someone that she knew very well, but the child in him was sullen. Now everyone would know where his secret hideout was.

The mottled woman told him to go kill the bastard and Chimera shot her a toothy grin. "Consider him dead, Dalila." She kissed his paw and he kissed the top of her head yet again. He would allow the anger and fury to consume him as he made his way to The Hallows, but for now, only love and affection showed through. Tucking the furs around his woman, Chimera left the ship. He had no doubt that she was asleep by the time his paws hit sand.

Raising his muzzle, Chimera released a howl across the island for Aliana. Within he gave the location and informed her to bring her kit. Once she reached this side of the island, she would be able to follow the scent trails to the proper yacht. He could trust Ali to care well for Dalila. In the mean time, he had some killing to do.

"Chimera Klein"