Between a rock and a hard place

It made the crimson male smile as she remarked upon the Aeris spirit, a soft chuckle escaping as he admitted, “She looked healthy, but very much like she needed a break. And she does give the impression that she can give a very good chewing out. My own are so well behaved I worry my daughter sometimes forgets to be a pup. They’re the only children their age in the pack, so they’ve no one to really cause mischief with.”

As the serious time arrived, he studied her features as she spoke of her experiences. A brow point lifted, then was followed by the other as she spoke of the fact that Dragon hadn’t even let her in on the reasons of why he was wandering around blind. “Forgive me if I’m being presumptuous, but you carry his scent far more strongly than most pack wolves would. My guess is that you are his mate, or at the very least a very, very close friend. My own mate knows every single detail about every moment of my life, and I of hers. We keep nothing from one another. Since your leader has neglected to be open with you about his wounds, I will fill you in.”

He drew in a breath, and blew it out in a sigh, tail drawing to tuck about his hips, as he began, “To answer your question as to why we were the target, I’d love to tell you I know exactly why. Truth is, I have no idea why there was a raid in the first place. As far as I was aware, we were on, at the very least, cordial terms with Talis. My late cousin Kavdaya’s mate was Creed Ancora. Dragon’s cousin. Their children are in my pack, and were in my pack at the time of the raid.”

A soft click of his tongue followed the words, ad he growled out, softly, “Creed was murdered last year. Valor, his son, was badly wounded by the same bitch who killed Creed when he fought her off his son. Justice, Valor’s sister, went to Talis and informed Dragon in person, of the murder. And then, quite soon after that, in spring… Talis comes a-raiding upon my pack. When he knew damn well that his own family members were members of my pack, and that they had just suffered a heart-breaking loss.

“The gist is that they were after herbs. Which, to me, makes no sense. If they were truly desperate, Dragon could have come to trade with us. Celestial helps others. If he had come peacefully to ask for help, he would have gained a good reputation as being level-headed, and he wouldn’t have put members of his pack in danger.”

Those fathomless sapphires gazed into Iskra’s eyes, and there was nothing but pure honesty there. “They went away empty pawed. We fought them off, but not before one of my hunters was fully blinded, one of my now former members was half blinded. My uncle was half blinded, my brother maimed, and myself? Well, I’m sure you’ve noticed my right hind leg isn’t exactly working correctly. Not only that, but he took Valor prisoner. And this leads to why Dragon is blind. Justice, his own cousin, blinded him. Both in retribution for the actions against Celestial, and thus, her family, but for Valor being attacked. She didn’t find out until afterward that Val was actually force claimed.

“Valor is unaware that their mother died this past Autumn. Dragon not only stole him from his siblings, he stole him from his mother’s side while she was ailing, dying… and he has stolen the chance to say goodbye from him too.”

A slow shake of his head followed the story. “I don’t believe the raid was an ‘act of desperation’. It was an act of hubris. And a raid on my pack is a hostile action, and taking one of my members prisoner, no matter what he did afterward with Valor, is an act of war.”

To her final words, he chuckled, softly. “I prefer making friends, to making enemies. Allies are useful when it comes to stamping out threats.”