you'll always be

Shaye, who longer for a quiet retirement, surrounded by family and bouncing grandkids, had long since realised that this would never be her future. Abaven would always need her, there was always going to be a disaster, and she would give everything to keep her family safe and whole. Just as she had taken that first plunge after Sparrows death, and taken on Abaven because of what this pack meant to her, both in his history and its place in her heart as family.

She trained Theory, and had wished for the girl to take her place, but she could not abandon her to the difficulties the pack was facing. She had begun to realise she would lead this pack until her death, and even then she felt her spirit would be reluctant to let it go, to leave those she cared about without her.

She couldn’t remember closing her eyes, she had fallen asleep with herbs spread out before her - the pack was once again low on healers, with Vail… gone, and Epitaph missing. Perhaps he was dead now as well. She blinked the groggy eyes of someone who hadn’t realised they had slept, waking. She had lavender stuck to her nose, she must have breathed upon its pile when she slept, and she sneezed it free. She hadn’t meant to sleep, the herb stock pile was in terrible state, she needed to make a list and begin foraging… but what had woken her again?

She got to her paws and stuck her head out of her den to find Rhyme standing there, and the Alpha rubbed her eyes and looked at the newly-made Beta. “Oh, Rhyme, what can I do for you?” she asked.