"I will not play with sharp objects"

Avantika had tried her best to stay up to date with the pups and the Hallows in general. Really, she had! But trying wasn't always good enough, and she knew better than anyone that her best wasn't, either. It wasn't her fault -- there were so many of them scampering around and she just couldn't keep track of them all even when she longed so desperately to. For as much as Avantika loved her family, she was realizing that the constant influx of new wolves, both born into and joining the pack, was... kind of overwhelming for her at times. So many new lives that she had to defend. Those joining from the outside were targets for little more than her suspicion for at least a while, while the pups carried the weight of their own constant vulnerability. Sometimes it was hard to resist the urge to disappear into the blind routine that had once crippled her, even though she knew how dangerous it was.

She shook herself as she approached the meeting, forcing the worries down as she had so many times before, letting the familiar ache be at least briefly coated over by a different kind. Scanning the crowd as she slowed, she spotted Audra first and quickly looked away. Not anywhere near her. She would stand near Mercury and Fern, giving them each a soft smile and nod in greeting; her eyes would continue sweeping, though, almost without her permission, finding each of the pups present. Dusk up on a podium beside Art, looking oddly guilty -- strange, of course, but Avantika could be patient and wait until the matter was explained --, Meadow huddled against Fern as usual, Ciaran, Talyssa, and Bramble all together, but her breath almost hitched at the sight of Caladia. She was with Laeta and Audra; while Avantika had no quarrel with Laeta, she had quite justifiable -- in her opinion -- reasons to want the child away from her disloyal traitor of an ex-girlfriend. She liked Callie. The kid was tough and eager to learn. She only hoped she wouldn't learn the wrong kinds of things.

She looked away before she could be caught staring, but her anger still festered like hot coals.

"Speech"