Living in a nightmare

The short but fierce battle to drive off the male lion who had threatened an Aerie pup had left him tired and bleeding, but he'd sent Kida and Cypher to escort the pup home safely and limped on, looking for a vantage point he could watch from. Watch that they made it to the border safely, and also to make sure the lion stayed away. He had no lionesses to defend, so it seemed unlikely he would return to reclaim the territory he'd just been driven from, but for Aerie's sake Eligos needed to be sure. His shoulder ached and bled from the first heavy blow he'd taken, his muzzle burned fiercely where a claw had caught him across the bridge of his nose, but it wasn't until he'd turned a corner and unexpectedly come face to face with Riva that he really hurt. The pain of seeing his brother's mate, the mother of the child that he'd murdered, took his breath away a moment before settling into his chest in a sharp ache. "Riva," he breathed out. The guilt and the self-loathing mixed poignantly with how much he missed her, missed his brother, missed his nephew, missed Aerie and choked him back into a bleak, longing silence.