With Careful Steps

She explained to him about how she came to lead Abaven. He was surprised to know that she hadn't been back long before the former alpha died and that she decided to take over. In his world, it wouldn't have been that easy. There would have been much scrutiny and definitely some trust issues about just allowing someone that had been gone for so long to take the lead. But if Abaven had been led by a single family, and if she was related to that family, then it made sense. Unfortunately, that family also seemed to be dying off. Or at least, everything that used to be. "I see..." He wasn't quite sure what to say about it. After the crap he had been through in his birth pack, he never looked back after he left. And he was a fool to think that his brother would be different from what once was.

She asked him then, how he came to care for his niece and nephew. And the answer to that came rather easily. "Their father was Ruina's alpha for a short time. He was also my brother...not a very good one, but a brother nonetheless. He wasn't really the most...sane wolf. He hurt a lot of people, both family and strangers alike." Crimson gaze turned to the ground as his brows pulled together. "And his most recent victims? His own children. I had taken Ignis with me for training purposes for a few days, and when we came back, there was no trace of Elias, or the pack. The scents were already fading, and there was no word about any of it. Ignis and I found Actaea still there, however. Left to the coyotes. Had we not gotten there when we did, she wouldn't be here." He took a deep breath as he thought about those events. Actaea could have very well been killed, no thanks to his brother. "They have more siblings, but I have no clue where they are. Everyone else was just...gone. Ever since then, I decided I would take them and care for them."

His gaze turned to her for a moment, softening a bit as he spoke about them. "I'm all they have left. Granted, they have older siblings, and their mother...but I don't even know where they are. They all just disappeared, almost as if they, and Ruina, never existed in the first place." He cursed them all in his mind. Elias. Zuriel. Drakan. Every single one of Ruina's old members. When he thought about it, everyone in Ruina was pretty much in it for themselves. Elias expected everyone to rise in reputation, perhaps to see who thought they were the biggest, baddest, wolf there. But Acere never cared about any of that. His mission had always been to teach, and train, and be a mentor for those who needed it.