With Careful Steps

He spoke of the territory he had come from, and she looked at him with gentle bafflement. The volcano? She could see it, if she got up high enough to look over the trees. It was practically looming over Abaven, and yet.. And yet, she had never explored it. How had a pack lived so close to her without her realising it. She cursed herself mentally as she regarded him, he had more to explain as he mentioned his pack and his brother. Was this the same brother who had fathered the pups? Shaye couldn’t help but wonder.

As she watched him, she would see his lip curl, and see the frustration, the anger in his expression. Whatever he thought of the pack and his brother now, it seemed to leave a sour taste in his mouth. Shaye’s curiosity grew, and she could only guess at the situation that had landed Ace here, to her.

She had joked about her sanity, but he sounded deadly serious as he replied. He had seen crazy? Her silence remained as she regarded him. He was scarred, a warrior, but there was something wounded about him now, despite his strengths. She couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to him.

“Err, no” she said as the conversation was directed back at her. She was still considering his compliment, and her answer lacked finesse. My Uncle ran the pack when I was child, I left for some years, and I returned shortly before Sparrow passed away. I kept the pack, because I could not bear to see what had once been my family's, disappear. In the days of my childhood, my family was prominent here. Now… there's almost nothing left from the old days.” she hadn’t meant to let her voice get so wistful, or to say so much. “How did you end up looking after the kids?” she would turn the conversation back to him.