Swiftcurrent Creek I'm just a product of the system, a catastrophe.

For @Wylla  :)

Following the unexpected arrival of a ghost, Durnehviir had felt particularly on edge. Wary of crossing paths with the pallid she-wolf who Constantine had brought home despite knowing how she her proximity made her bristle, she feared that her bitterness toward Aria may not be something she was capable of containing. In the days since her mate delivered the news and her resulting rise to leadership once more, the russet Alphess had taken to longer periods of isolation in which she patrolled alone - a poor attempt to pull herself together.

This stress on herself, this need to steal away, had likely affected her pups. Fast approaching their fourth month of age, Durnehviir knew it would be difficult to wear a brave face for them. She did her best to smile for her sons and daughter when they rallied to greet her after a long day, though saw the concern and confusion in their gentle eyes. @Akavir, her sweetest and most sensitive boy, would rarely stray far from her side when she reunited with them, and the fiery Frostfur was grateful for his quiet support.

When a new dawn brightened the morning, Durnehviir crept away while the cubs slept soundly. Even Constantine, likely as exhausted by their strained relationship as she was, did not stir. She moved carefully through the foliage, a ginger ear twitching at the caw of a perched raven overhead, and pressed on into deeper woodland with the sole intention of seeking an unlikely companion.