Walk | Talk | Think
The aggravated she-wolf continued to look the healer's way and watch as she backed away from Bane and pulled at the bits of moss she had used to clean his wounded face, doing her best to pick off the bloodied pieces and leave only what was clean behind. It was her way of distracting herself, though it was a poor means of distraction. She could still hear her husband speaking, trying to explain himself as she blinked again against the bad weather and steeled herself from openly crying. She did not want to cry, not even if she had been solely in the company of her mate. No, she wanted to yell, to scream, to cry out against the injustice that had been done to her and the dreams she had been clinging so tightly to, to all the plans that were now long gone and lost to her. Twice now her world had been turned on its side, and both times by the foolishness of her mates. Had she done something wrong to deserve this?
Despite her anger, when her mate began to pose his question and mentioned their leader a little touch of shock spread through her. Maverick. Of course! Though she was unfamiliar to the full extent that the young wolf's dislike for Bane went, she knew he had never approved of him and, just like Loccian, seemed to wish better for her. Although, considering that Bane had been so keen on doing things his way and not the way of the pack, it was little wonder why. But they had been too late. Tahlia had already committed herself to him, had already grown to care for him and his rebellious, carefree nature. And just as she could not change her feelings for the man she could not sway the twinge of resentment that stemmed from the thought of the King doing this to her mate.
A simmering breath was drawn in as Tahlia dared to draw her eyes away from Loccian and her work to once again regard Bane and his bloodied features, still roiling underneath the surface with anger and upset. She said nothing as the healer spoke to her mate and issued him a few directions regarding the herbs that she had laid out for him and then proceeded to walk away, leaving the pair alone at long last. Bane's question seemed to hang in the air in the absence of the healer, Tahlia taking her time about answering him. Let him wait and worry and fear that her feelings had changed, that she could possibly turn her back on him like the rest of the pack. But in the end, she sighed, clenching her dark golden eyes tightly shut as she growled and pressed her forehead into his chest. "Oh, you stupid, selfish man," she grumbled, "Of course I love you."
She stayed like that for a moment, simply resting her head against him as the anger began to dissipate. When she spoke again her voice was softer, considerably more resigned than before. "How will we do this? The children? Us?" She did not say it, but the thought of Bane being gone for her and their family brought her great worry. He was so unlike herself, so set on doing things on his own terms. Would these new arrangements change things in his eyes?
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