In Return

As Deathbelle embraced him, Obi laced his nimble fingers into her fur. He held her tightly as tears pricked at his eyes. He missed her, though their relationship had been mostly through Archon. He held onto her for a long moment before finally pulling away.

"How are the little ones?" he asked. They were the physical fragments of what was left of Archon. "I prayed for their safety every day."

He stepped back, "I prayed for yours as well. And that you would forgive me for pulling you away... And for leaving you to suffer alone for so long."

Obi still wasn't sure she would forgive him or allow him to stay near the pups' sides. He wished for nothing more than to lead them in the way Archon would have wanted. He trusted Deathbelle, but not Dea. Not anymore. Nor did he trust the other Kleins.

But he still trusted that he could make things better.

"I brought something," he said, presenting the dirty skin- wrapped pendant in his palm. He slowly unfurled it to show her the neatly polished sigil pendant. "Archon had this made to give to you on the morning of the pup's first full season."