Bass Destruction He had officially listed his mate as missing from Abaven. His heart broke at the thought, and he knew that he needed to gather his children and speak to them about it. They must have realized her absence, and he should try and gather their thoughts about all of it. Bass realized that he was more angry than he was hurt, but maybe that was just to protect himself from the hurt. She hadn't been there when he needed her most. She had been absence through most of their youngest litters life, and hadn't been there when Finch needed her most. Bass growled, lashing out with his teeth and snapping the stalk of a cattail. He never thought that she would abandon them like this, to just leave without a single word. She had done it before, and now she was doing it again. Why did the most important wolves in his life just leave like this? Allen, Quelt, and now Wren. He shuttered, looking at the cattail that now lay on the ground. His pale head hung, his golden eyes slipping closed. His form quivered, and his nose nearly brushed against the ground. He had come here to look for her, but had stopped by the edge of the lake instead. There was a part of him that wanted to give up, to just let her be gone. She had left on her own accord, why should he be wasting his time and energy to bring her back. If she wanted to come home, she would have done it by now. He gritted his teeth, jaw tightening together. Why the hell did she leave? Why did she just abandon him! Bass growled again, his claws biting into the earth. Damn her, damn it all. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"

Cascade didn't often venture up this way. Truth be told she didn't often venture out of pack lands at all these days, even before summer had come and brought her heat cycle again. She'd been gripped by a strange feeling, equal parts exhaustion and restlessness, and had made no effort to socialize with any of the other Imperium wolves though it usually soothed her boredom. She hadn't even seen Valentine outside of meetings and such in ages. Which was, she admitted, her fault rather than his. He had a large family and an even larger pack to look after, while she certainly could and should be putting more effort into helping him. She was being an awful friend, but remedying that seemed to be beyond the scope of effort she could put into her life. Which made it even stranger for her to be way out here, wandering far from home. She just felt like she was missing something that hadn't been missing before, with no way of finding it because she didn't know what it was.

A momentary relief from the monotony of her own thoughts came in the form of Bass Destruction, sitting beside the lake with a morose slump. A faint smile lifted her lips at the thought of the mischief she could manage here, but the smile faded to nothing. It seemed like too much effort to be herself today. Still, she was here, she was already on a track that would bring her up to him, and she had nothing else to do, so the ebony bitch meandered up beside the pale alpha and dropped her haunches to the damp ground beside him without preamble. "You look like shit," she opened with complete candor, eyeing Bass. He did, too. She couldn't decide if he looked more like he was exhausted, or about to cry, or about to bite something, or all of the above, but he definitely didn't look like his annoyingly goody-goody Boy Scout self, that was for sure.

Bass Destruction He let out another rumble, and was about to walk into the lake to cool down when he heard the crunch of someone walking towards him. His right ear flickered, and he looked over his shoulder to see the familiar form of Cascade coming at him. She plopped at his side, and he let out a sigh at her words. "Thanks, feel like it too," he muttered, a low growl sounding in his throat. It was then that he really looked at her face, and a deep frown tucked his lips down. "You don't look much like yourself either," he commented. Cascade was usually a very chipper wolf, almost sickeningly so. She usually liked to try and push his buttons too, but there was something about her that seemed slightly off. Even though he was in a bad mood, he was a little glad that it was the ebony female that had come to join him. She always knew just what to say, even if it wasn't quite what he wanted to hear. Bass wondered what brought her here anyways, he didn't run into her too often, and when he did it was usually on his borders or with the rest of Imperium. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, having dropped his head back down to gaze at the dirt below him. His claws had dug grooves into the soft earth, making his mark of anger. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"

Whatever was wrong with him, there was nothing wrong with the Abaven alpha's ears, and he turned to her as she plopped down, confirming her oh so clever analysis of his condition and adding an observation of his own.

"Well, I'm in heat, sweetie," she huffed in retort, rolling her eyes. Convenient excuses were just that, quite convenient, and she wasn't above lying through her teeth quite cheerfully. "It's one of those joyous mysteries of female kind." She stuck her tongue out with a blat and eyed him. "And you don't have that excuse, oh great pillar of masculinity. So what's got you so down and out then? The other kids teasing you or something? Thinking about getting in another war? You might as well just tell me, you know, I'm a lot more stubborn than you are and you'd tell me eventually anyway."

Bass Destruction He blinked at her when she stated she was in heat. Taking a small breath in he finally realized it, it hit him full force up the nostrils. How had he not picked up on that before? Perhaps his despair was a lot worse than he originally thought. His ears flickered as she complained about it, saying that he was excused from it. Bass snorted, raising his head to look at the woman again. A tiny smirk touched his lips, head shaking slowly back and forth at her teasing tone. But his smile wasn't true, it hardly lingered on his face for more than a few moments. "None of the above," he said, before he looked back across the water. His ears pinned back against skull, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. "My mate is gone. She disappeared without a trace, not a single word to me or the kids." He finally admitted after a moment of silence. "I guess I didn't mean enough to her." Bass whispered, closing his eyes shut tight. His form quivered, his teeth gritting. He couldn't figure out if he was more angry or upset, or what he was even feeling at all. But now that it was brought to his attention, Cascade's heat scent was a bit distracting. He peeked at her again, eyes opening into tiny little slits. His nostrils flared, but he mentally shook his head and looked back at the lake. Nope, he wasn't even going to think it. He clenched his jaw again, while it had been a long time since he had had sex, he was not going to hump Valentine's... mate? He didn't know their relationship, and didn't want to start guessing at it. "SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN"