Blood Trail

He listened, nodding quietly at her thanks. As she gave Tornach her permission and his brother went to work, he bent to take in what scents might have been left over in her fur from her ordeal. They would be crucial to the future days; however long it might take to abolish the threat. Under a young male’s scent – her son, he assumed, as the scent was very similar to her own – there lingered a stale remnant of another male; a loner as far as he could tell, reeking of testosterone and brutality.

He nodded to himself, memorizing it. There was another scent, very faint, but clinging dimly to the male’s. Too muddied by time and travel, and her swim in the river to guess at an age or gender. Marina’s question turned his thoughts away briefly, and he studied her. “If that is truly your wish, then I have no issue with allowing their birth. I’m a sucker for kids, anyway.” He offered a gentle smile before his analysis of the scents resumed. As far as he could surmise from just this bit, there was at least one wolf up there in the north that was a deep threat, possibly two. And Lirim was closest to that area.

But there was another thought that sent a chill through his spine. Valor and Creed’s scents had been heading north. And a wolf that was stupid enough to attack a pack wolf and rape her, likely would have no qualms in attacking a youngster and an old male. And neither held what could have been Marina’s saving grace; that of being female and bearing the chance for further hurt and humiliation than simply mauling and killing.

He listened to Tornach’s words, nodding. It was what he’d expected to hear after his own initial examination of her legs. “I can have Laisren or two similarly sized wolves come down with a litter, in a few days, or whenever you feel she can be moved safely… The river may be a problem. But I can’t wait here. The issue of that male needs to be dealt with quickly, before more damage can be done to, someone else...”

He rose to his paws, going momentarily still as a further thought occurred. Justice could choose to follow her father and brother’s scents. Those could very well lead her north. And depending on where they’d gone, possibly right into danger. He had no doubt she was a scrappy individual, stubborn and proud, but she was still young, and not trained very far beyond what she had learned on her own in order to survive alone. And it could be multiple against one.

“Marina, if there were signs of more than one wolf there that are like the one you encountered, they are a threat to the whole pack, and anyone who goes in the north. And they’ll be a threat to my sister and her pack. This does threaten more than you.” His head turned as he sought to catch her eyes with his own fathomless gaze, stare intent.

“Did you smell more than one there before the attack? I thought I could smell traces of another wolf with that male’s scent in your fur.” Swift movement was important, he knew. The faster he could get a warning out, and the faster he could wipe out the threat or threats, with help or without it, the better. The thought of one of his sisters' kids wandering out of Lirim's borders and exploring up north, and what could happen made him feel queasy.