She'd been meaning to spend time with her older children, though she had been hesitant for some time because she was convinced they hated her for her choices. She was...somewhat happy. She has good friends like Bass and Valentine, Amachi and Creed. She had a mate, though he was an odd one and distrusted among her family. She had a young new litter to care for, and she knew they'd want to follow in their brothers foot steps, or at least, she thought so. Because despite their hard headedness, she wasn't mad at them. Change was never easy, and only time would lead them forward. She did want to speak to Lykos today, and perhaps the others if she could find them. Lately, it seemed they were scarce and she didn't blame them for wanting to get out and about to cool off. Then again, it could be that they didn't like the north. While she loved it, perhaps they should consider moving for survival sake. After all, there were only so many herbs and so much prey to find...and perhaps sharing a border with a pack they hardly knew wasn't such a good idea. Even then, she knew she probably should still seek out Katja, since Vereux had given up so quickly after having called the Viking at her borders. That had been on her mind too, and didn't very much approve of the man leaving so quickly. Either way, she would handle things. She was tired of all the discord and tension, it stressed her out too much. As everything came to her mind, she hadn't realized that she'd wandered into the polar sound. It reminded her of the festival, and that had been a very eventful and successful event. She was glad her guests had fun, and her pack as well. Or at least, she had hoped. She decided that she would probably spend the day here and try to wind down, maybe even find something to hunt. But first, she'd howl for her largest son to join her, they needed to spend some time together and reconnect. "Talk" "You" Think

Lykos paused in his winter-y trek, head lifted and ears pricking fully in the direction of the call. That was his mother, calling outside of pack territory. Concern flitted through his gaze - was something wrong? Only a moment later he dismissed that worry; if there was something wrong that howl would have sounded quite a bit more urgent than it was. No, his mother just wanted to... talk. Well, he supposed that was a good thing; he had something he needed to talk to her about as well. He started off in her direction, at a moderate pace; he wasn't going to keep her waiting, but he wasn't exactly going to run full-force when it was unnecessary to and would simply tire him. The snow crunched under his paws, and it was quite the pleasant sound; soon, there'd be no snow, even in the North, except for a few regions. He cherished the cold underpaw, and would miss it when it was gone for the summer.

It didn't take long for him to arrive where his mother was, and he eyed the shorter woman. What was it she wished to speak of? He knew he had to speak of Vereux - this man's... deeds, what he did to Yfir... that was not right. It was not fitting for a wolf of Ivalice and even less so as the father of his siblings, let alone his mother's mate. Surely, she couldn't have known about any of this when she chose him. At least, he certainly hoped not. Either way, he'd let her speak first, and greeted her simply with a tilt of his head as he seated himself.

"Speech" | Think

It didn't take long for him to arrive, amber gaze looked up to find him quietly approaching. She smiled and nodded to her quiet son, tail wagging mildly. "I thought we could spend some time together. I...know I haven't been the best parent...but I'm trying." Truly she was. And she felt like she would never be able to make up for the times she felt like she'd failed as a parent. Never had she thought she'd be a single parent, and she had never really talked about their dad to them either. He was a part of her life that she wanted to forget.

But perhaps, this day would lead to more then just spending time together. She wanted to tall about some other important things that had been on her mind, and she was sure he had some things to get off his chest as well. They were things she felt like she couldn't talk to Vereux or amachi about, or even Creed or Bass. She wanted the input of her son. Her kids. Her family. "Do you have the time? I understand if you're busy."

His mother spoke first, as he knew she would but her words drew him up short, and his head cocked to the side. Bad parent? What made her think that? A flicker of confusion crossed his face. She had been stupid, lately, especially with Vereux, and also with this new litter (which he hated, honestly, they shouldn't have been born), but... that had nothing to do with her being a parent and everything to do with her being an idiot. That was beyond the level of parenting, that was... on a personal level, instead. As a parent, he really had no complaints about her. She enforced rules when they needed to be, gave him and his brothers freedom, and generally was pretty good, in his opinion. "What makes you say that?" he inquired, obviously referring to the latter part of the sentence.

A wry smile appeared on his face as she spoke again, and he shook his head briefly. "Unless you count a quick patrol as busy, then not at all." He paused. Was spending time with him her only goal in this? No important information? He was more than okay with that, but it gave him the opportunity to speak sooner rather than later about Vereux. "Besides, I have a pressing matter myself that I need to talk to you about." That was an understatement that couldn't be helped. He still felt a bit shell-shocked about what Vereux did... how could one do that? It was utterly wrong. It still made him angry, too - how dare someone do that? Still, he kept these thoughts to himself as he waited his mother's reply.

"Speech" | Think

She didn't miss the confusion that crossed his face, and wondered for a moment if maybe she had been overthinking too much. She wanted so badly to be the best mom she could be, and raise her family right, but she felt like she'd been failing at it for so long because half the time, she had been brooding over her ex-mate and his betrayal to the family. It didn't matter anymore though, he was no longer a part of their lives and hadn't been for over a year now. He was dead and gone as far as she was concerned, at least...until he decided to ever show his face again. She shook her head slightly as she moved over to him, gently nuzzling the side of his neck for a moment. "I just worry that I haven't been as good a mother as I should be...I don't want the family to fall apart the way mine did when I was a child." That honestly worried her to no end. And she didn't want that happening to them. She would be here for them no matter what.

She stepped away at his comment, looking up at him with a small smile. Good, she was glad he wasn't busy right now because she had a lot she wanted to discuss with him. And it seemed, he had the same idea. Whatever it was, it sounded serious. She sat down, full attention on him. "It seems we both have some important things to discuss. I've had things on my mind that I wanted to talk to you about as well. What's bothering you?" She was curious, though something in the back of her mind told her what it might be about. Still, she wouldn't flat out assume. She would let him express his concerns, and go from there.

Had Lykos heard his mother's thoughts, he'd most certainly agree that she was overthinking it. After all, how could she have been a better mother? He couldn't think of anything, and he actually did pause to think of something... but nothing really stood out to him. Sure, she made small mistakes but nothing really that big? Nothing he could think of, anyways. He let her be affectionate towards him, leaning into her motherly touch, and he laid his head gently on the back of her neck. She was one of the few he'd be affectionate with, really; he just wasn't a fan of it. But, she was his mother and was an exception. "Well, don't worry about it," he said firmly, leaving no room for questions. "The family wouldn't split apart, even if some of us choose separate paths." Like he himself was considering.

Oh, well, shit. As she stepped back and spoke once more, his ears flicked back slightly. Well, seems like she did have things she had to talk about - not just spending time without serious things together. Well, then. It was too late to backpedal, so he had to continue. He sighed, super quietly. "Vereux." His voice was flat, a lot more so than he anticipated. "I learned much about him from a very respectable woman named Katja. What I was told is very concerning." His blue eyes were piercing as he stared at his mother, leaving it open for her to decline the knowledge he sought to give. He wasn't certain what he'd do if he did, but he left it open.

Well don't worry about it. Naturally as a mother, she always worried. They were her babies and they always would be no matter how old they got. She was glad that he tried to reassure her about the family, though something in that response also gave her a sense of foreboding. She would dismiss it for now as she didn't want to dwell on it. When he stepped back, she sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws. When he spoke, she tightened her jaw just slightly. Of course, she had a feeling it had to do with Vereux.

They had never trusted him, and treated him like he was some sort of criminal ever since he had requested to be secondary at the packs first meeting. Which of course, she had turned down. As he went on, she listened quietly and no doubt these "concerning" things were similar to what Bass had explained to her. While she had yet to speak to Katja until she found out more information, it seemed her son had taken it upon himself to do the investigating. She wasn't mad at him about it, he was in his own right to want to know about the man she loved. Or at least...She hoped that's what she was feeling and not some lovestruck pups idea of what love was like.

Taking a deep breath she nodded, indicating it was okay to continue. "Katja, yes. I know who she is, we've had the opportunity to meet once or twice. She is respectable and I hold nothing against her. I know Vereux came from her pack some time ago, but...I think when we first met he was still a part of Yfir." How long ago was that? Before she had her first litter if she recalled. When Arian was...sane. Anyways, the next time she had run into him after that...He had told her he had gotten swept away by...floods or something like that, but had never gone into detail let alone really explain why he wouldn't go back. All he really kept saying was...well, what? He feared getting maimed or enslaved? She didn't think Katja would have done that if he really didn't want to stay. But now? Perhaps it was too late. "I meant to see her sooner, but I wanted to find out more from Vereux and get both sides. I'll tell you what I know about it, but first, what did she tell you?"