Blood is Thicker

Manea chuckled as Larisa spoke of having no faith in her at the mention of her just passing through, her tail brushing across the ground as it came to curl around her hip. Age was certainly starting to show on her aunt's features and there was a small part of her in the back of her mind that wondered what state her mother was in these days. Was she still alive out there somewhere? Was she still with that man that had tempted her away and stolen her from their lives? She shoved the brief thought away as Larisa surprised her by going on and saying how she was indeed here to rejoin their family and how she had never really left—only temporarily stayed away from them. She scoffed softly at that, but she didn't comment. They had all scattered to the wind in one way or another after her mother's exile so she couldn't necessarily blame Larisa for spending time away from them, but when Poe and Naráca didn't have any information on their mother when they reappeared in her life she had written Larisa off as going off on her own for good. Apparently she had thought wrong.

She watched Larisa stand, considering her for a moment as she was asked if she would accept her aunt back with a mention of how that responsibility fell on her shoulders now. Manea smirked and rolled to her feet as well, replying, "That it does." For a brief moment she considered denying Larisa's request. After all, would it ever benefit her to have someone who doubted her and held a long simmering resentment against her among her ranks? Would it be better to cut out the poison before it began to spread? But in the end she knew that if they were going to continue to rebuild their family they would need every piece of it they could find. "If you truly want to return then I will not stop you," she replied after a moment, thinking of Poe and Naráca more than herself in that moment. She was sure her cousins would have some strong words for her at the very least if she had denied entry of their mother to her band.

"My mate and I have accumulated a band of wolves and we will be traveling to the southern continent at the turn of the season," she informed her aunt, giving a small nod of her head back toward their camp. "Poe and Naráca have been traveling with us along with Antonia's daughter Imperia. You have a niece and nephew to meet as well." There was a pause as Manea looked at her aunt with a calculating look before she added, "I hope that we can put the past behind us, Larisa." Perhaps if this meeting had happened earlier in her journey, before she found Alastor and had her children, she might have reacted more rashly, but having a family of her own beyond her more distant relatives and siblings had certainly put things into perspective.

Manea | Temno | Ciemny