Grinding Joints [Justice]

Her quest to test all the pack's fighters continued and she made her way to Aurielle's family den where she knew she could find Regulus, Paladin, and probably Cairo as well. She stomped her way down the main branch, ears pinned back in a peculiarly pissed off expression. She wasn't really mad at any of them, except that Regulus and Paladin were both a bit difficult to track down anywhere else. No, she was just pissed because up until now she'd been pretty successful at avoiding this place. It was packed to the gills with memories and insecurities she didn't want to confront.

Of sitting in here watching her mother die because she had cared more about losing Surreal and Falk than she had about her own children. Gwen's children had watched her die too, and Aurielle's own mother had given up on life and died the same way Justice's mother had. So was it any wonder that the idea of having children that she would - based on all evidence in her life - end up abandoning in some way? Two of the three mothers she'd known well had chosen to die knowing fully well what they were leaving behind. What did that say for the "maternal instinct" bullshit?

Paladin's voice dragged her roughly from an increasingly furious stewing, and she had to backtrack a few steps to duck into the alcove he'd called from. Her purple eyes swept over him and the things surrounding him, and in her grumpy mood the only thing she could feel was more annoyed because of course he was doing something useful that he couldn't be pulled away from. "Paladin," she greeted crossly. "I was going to test your fight readiness but it looks like you're busy. I can come back and test you later when you're done."

But she made no effort to leave, instead hunching up against the wall with her gaze fixed on the mortar he was using. The greasy scent of tallow mixed with that of the herbs he had ground into it, that she couldn't quite identify over the woodsmoke smell of the fire.