Not What's Expected [Pack Meeting!]

As Vali began to speak, Sparrow's heart dropped. Her minty eyes widened. Her father was leaving with Finch?

To find Storm's pups. He hadn't told anyone. Finch hadn't told anyone.

Just like their mother.

Sparrow felt numb. Her very being seemed to inch far within her body, leaving the shell sitting there. Other voices registered in her mind. Dart was leaving. The red woman was leaving. The hunter was staying. So far everyone else was staying silent.

"You were right."

Lark's voice cut through her numbness, piercing her heart. She was right. She was. They had been replaced.

Sparrow's eyes narrowed as she shot Storm a harsh look. "Blind bitch," Sparrow tossed silently towards the woman. Her sharp gaze was then transferred back to Vali. She was at a loss for words for a moment. Vali was there, looking at her like she had expected Sparrow to say something.

Sparrow's nose wrinkled, then she pinned it down. She tried to keep calm but she could feel the heat building in her face and ears. Her eyes and throat stung.

"So, let me get this straight," she began softly, her voice quivering behind her clenched jaw. "When anyone else went missing: my mother, any of my siblings, or anyone else, he just let it slide. When Finch was poisoned-" Sparrow thought of Lillianna for a moment. Did Vali even know about that? "- he did nothing to look for her assailant, but when suddenly Storm's pups go missing, he decides to look for them. Okay, that makes sense, right, but then one night he- as you said- bumped into you and decided to tell you he and Finch were leaving and that he wanted to leave the pack to you? You? He didn't tell anyone else anything. Not Dart, not his kids, apparently just you and all just because he bumped into you last night? Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you call for the pack, or his family, or anyone?"

Sparrow's ears flattened. It didn't sound like her father at all. The same father that shunned their mother for leaving them without saying goodbye.

"Did you check his head? I know the leader of Imperium got sick with the plague-like sickness a while back and simply ran off on his pack. Did you make sure my father didn't have any of those symptoms? Did you see Finch or talk to her? Was she alright? Did they smell like anyone unfamiliar?"

Of course Vali didn't check for sickness, she wasn't a healer, was she? Oh wait, she was- at least she was SUPPOSED to be. Apparently just being handed a pack one day was totally normal to Vali. Wow, this woman sure showed the level of deep thinking an alpha needed.

Sparrow looked back to the blind woman and her pups for a moment, then Lark before looking back to Vali, "Yeah, sorry, I don't buy this story. Whether my father was lying to you or whether you're lying to the pack, I don't know, but I don't buy it."

Sparrow looked back to Lark, tears beginning to surface. "Help me," she pleaded to her brother, her eyes going to Piper with the same look. One of them had to back her up. It didn't make sense. This wasn't like their dad. This wasn't like Finch. Someone had to do something.