Beneath a Bloodred Sky (IVORY RIDGE)

Karabela's limbs tingled and burned, her whole body felt like it was on fire.  She could feel sensation coming back to her, thankfully she'd been barely pricked.  If the wound had been deeper she shuddered to think what that might have meant for her and all the while Rœkia was getting away with it.  Cold dread settled in Karabela's stomach.  Did this woman have allies?  Was her tiny, dwindling pack now in peril all because she had the audacity to think herself an alpha?  Karabela grit her teeth and swore.  She wasn't sure how much time had passed until Birna had found her.  It probably hadn't been that long but the seconds felt like hours to her while their quarry continued to get further and further away from them.  

Chaos arrived then and she felt a stab of embarassment that he would see her like this.  Defeated.  The word stung more than any wound.  If it had been a fair match, if she'd lost in battle to a superior opponent that was one thing but to be so terribly cheated. It was infuriating.  She opened her mouth, working her jaw a bit as she managed to sit upright in a sphyx-like position panting.  "Mm..okay."  Panting she set her jaw and spoke. "Chaos is right… we've come… to far.  Birna… go after her."   Birna gave Karabela a searching look but she just stared back.  They'd shared many late night conversations when the rest of the pack was sleeping and both knew what the order meant.  What the decision meant.  Birna turned and started in pursuit and Karabela whispered a soft prayer for the woman.  She'd join her soon.

They had skeletons in their closet, threads of the past that were frayed and loose and threatening to unravel their futures.  It was time to tie-up loose ends and she couldn't do that as an alpha.  It wasn't fair for her to put the members of her pack at risk.  Rœkia had targeted her.  She poisoned Dagmær to get at her and Birna was a part of this as well.  She'd been present at the siege that lead to the death of Aerndís Thyre.  She couldn't bear anyone else getting hurt for a grudge that she barely understood herself

Live by your convictions, understand that every downfall brings with it a rising and do not be surprised if at an end you find yourself once again at a beginning.

Her mother's words came floating back into her head.  They'd seemed so vague and strange when they'd been spoken to her in Somnium but now they rang clear and true in her head.  A premonition.  A promise.  Shakily Karabela stood on her feet, swaying before leaning against the cliffside.  She turned her head to Chaos with a grin. "You bet I got in some good bites."  She licked at the blood on her muzzle. "A shredded scruff and a broken leg ought to slow her up enough but…"  She frowned.  "She's tricky and I've a feeling this isn't over by a longshot."   She stared at Chaos for a moment. "Chaos, I'm not going back to Ivory Ridge.  I'm stepping down as alpha.  This threat needs to be dealt with and I can't do it from within a pack.  Whatever this is, it's a deep-running feud in my family line that I don't know enough about.  My aunt Aserlín may be able to provide me clues, she left Boreas some time ago after we helped her find her son Káti.  The longer I stay at Ivory Ridge the greater chance someone else is going to get hurt and I can't have that happen."  She'd tested her members enough with the terrain and her crazy ideas of fun.  It'd been a harsh living without much pay off and one by one they were falling away.  It was time to let this go. "Chaos, I've known you since we were pups and I know our lives led down different paths but I've never met a true Imperialis that didn't have a gift for rule.  If you want it, the pack is yours.  I only ask that you break it free from its old tethers.  Tear down the name and the old ranks, make something new of it and lead well.  Tell Dag if she…" Karabela's voice caught in her throat and she swallowed sharply before continuing. "If she survives tell her I love her."

Karabela took a few shaky steps and inhaled deeply.  "The feelings coming back in my limbs.  What say you Chaos?  Ready to follow in your parents paw steps?"

"Speech"