Bend my ear

Lucette listened.

She had not realized that her mother had spoken to Eltrys, that she had asked that favor of him. She hadn’t realized that Hay had fallen for someone, and she gave a small nod. Eltrys, since his arrival, had been kind and supportive. Having someone like him by her side would help her. She watched him, examining his face, listening for the truth and honesty in it. For what he meant in his heart. It was sound, what she could have hoped for, and yet her gaze fell to her paws. There were still struggles in her heart…

…but they were through no fault of his.

“Your words are everything I could have hoped to hear, Eltrys… yet… there is doubt, there is struggle within my heart.” Her words were quiet, saddened. “There is weight in this pack, weight I wished I didn’t have… weight that you would need to bear if we stayed.” She sighed. “I love my mother, my siblings… but the history here, what we’ve done, how we’ve all… changed…” She paused.

“Maybe what I’m afraid of isn’t the pack changing… but some of us going back to what it was meant to be.” She squeezed her eyes closed. “Hell, my mother, who sacrificed everything for us, now feels she can’t even be here with jeopardizing the ones she loves… she’s not young, Eltrys… she will die out there alone…” Her gaze lifted, tears within her eyes as she continued, her words a flowing river of hurt and worry.

“My mother and Bae have both taken their share of flesh. If you mean for this to be a pack of peace, I can not sit here and say that Bae-Syl wouldn’t do everything to protect this pack, even maim another even if he felt they threatened us. I saw what he did to the slavers…” She looked away again. “What if we can’t change…? What if we only cause more harm than good by staying here?” Were they capable of healing…? Or was she just too scared to try, to do her best to shake the cloud that shadowed her?

"Speech," 'Thought.'