Swiftcurrent Creek and I am beholden to no gods here.

not trespassing, but here for @Kavik @Ruenna & @Alessia I'm not sure if they would be involved but feel free to jump in at any time. Forward dated for 1/30ish

She was supposed to be dead. 

What did it matter if her leg throbbed with every step? What did it matter that the weight of her ruined leg was now gone, a charred stump in place of what was once a disfigured limb. 

The ache in her chest was worse, the ice nymph could no longer be certain if it was lingering pains from the whitecough or the remnants of heartache that she couldn't seem to shake. She was supposed to be dead, the pain reminded, needled. 

Perhaps it would have been better if she were. 

The fallen leader might not have turned towards the borders of Swiftcurrent Creek - she'd had every intention of skirting the territory as she passed by - if not for the scent she caught on the wind. 

It made her blood run cold as glacial meltwater - freezing in her veins as a strangled noise of shock escaped her throat. Liri's head turned towards the distant territory, daring not to hope. 

Was it possible? 

Could it be that Kavik thought her dead, that he moved on to some other pack by mistake? 

Fueled by hope, the tracker raced to the borders, nearly crossing in her haste to find him. There, on the borders, she could smell Ruenna faintly, the silver bird she'd called friend and Beta - and even more promising, Kavik.

He was here. 

Too startled by the fact that she'd found him, Liri didn't bother to think what it might mean. Her mind was racing with the possibilities, her heart alight with excitement. She'd howl and Kavik would come, he would explain her identity to his new Alphas and then they'd be together again - perhaps they'd even be permitted to have puppies this spring once Liri was accepted into this new group. 

Without waiting another moment longer, Liri let her howl fill the air - a hoarse cry filled with utter joy at having found her mate. 

Even as the days passed and new routines were formed, the guilt and grief never lessened. Every night his dreams still held only Liri--something he had not told Myrren, knowing it would upset her more than she already was. Plus, it didn't really change anything--He loved Liri, but he had a responsibility to the soon-to-be mother of his children now. He had irreparably wronged her in more ways than just making her a mother when it was the last thing she wanted, and he was done messing up. 

Every morning, he woke to the same crushing guilt that was his constant partner. It was what plagued Kavik's thoughts as he made his way along the border searching for something to distract him from the mess he had made. He always kept up a stoic front for Myrren, feeling like she needed him to be strong and supportive rather than the heap of guilt and sadness that he actually was. Solitary patrols were the only time he really allowed himself to wallow in his self-loathing. 

As he walked, he tried to focus on the rhythmic sound of his paws in the snow, but he was having a hard time focusing on anything but his abhorrent thoughts. He knew it was because Ruenna had recently left the creek, and he had taken her departure harder than he thought he would. It had been comforting to know that he had someone else on his side here. He paused and looked towards the mountains, silently hoping that she was doing okay wherever she was. He whipped his towards the howl the moment it rang out through the winter air. Liri. He would recognize that voice anywhere. Relief washed over him, but it was just as quickly overshadowed by panic. Now he would really have to face the consequences of his mistake. He would give anything not to have to see the look on her face when she found out what he had done. Still, after all the searching and despair, he would finally be able to see that she was okay. 

When his eyes finally settled on her tiny form standing near the borders, his heart began to race. His stomach churned painfully, and he had to swallow against the building nausea. She was skinny and--her damaged leg was gone? He couldn't even begin to imagine what she had been through. His love for her took control then, and before he realized what he was doing, he was closing the distance between them to push his face into the soft, white fur of her neck. I--though you were dead or lost, he whispered, shaking a little from the contradicting mix of emotions coursing through him currently. He knew he would need to tell her about how badly he had messed up, but it could wait a few seconds while he allowed himself a moment to appreciate the fact that she was here and alive. He would obliterate them both with his confession soon.

cameo! @Liri if you want something set after this, feel free to tag me!

Her attempted journey, and subsequent return to the Creek, has drained the last of the fight from her. She feels weak; broken. All of the fire and sharp edges that had made her have dwindled and dulled to nothing in the face of her life's most recent tragedy. Ruenna's departure has only deepened her sorrow; she can't help but feel she's lost the closest thing she'd had to a friend. She's been listless, sleeping often and spending her waking hours wishing she'd died back at the Plateau. Or in that plain where Aditya had found her, perhaps.
Or with Rosalie, as she'd deserved.
But nothing in life is that easy, and though she remains ignorant at first, the call at the borders is one to remind her of that. She doesn't know why she feels compelled to answer; perhaps the lingering anger and wariness following her encounter with the dark man at the borders. Later, she might call it twisted fate. She sees Kavik first from a distance, and then past him a woman with stark white fur. She slows to a halt as she watches the way he greets her, ears pulling forward to catch his words — but she doesn't need to hear him to understand who this is, watching the way he embraces her. Liri.
She turns before she can think about it — before she can think anything at all. She goes blindly for the borders, face hot with shame and eyes stinging as she realizes that she can't face her. She can't meet the eyes of the woman whose life she'd ruined, stolen. All her life she has accepted each challenge readily, even eagerly at times — yet with one swift, cruel blow, she's been reduced to a broken, miserable thing. She wishes she'd died before she'd even been born.

Trembling, she waited - half fearing that he would not come. 

When at last the trees gave way to a flicker of motion, a dark shadow shifting through the foliage, the woman froze - turning towards it apprehensively. 

Dark eyes trailed the smooth grace of his dark limbs, watery as they lifted to his face - forgetting her abandonment in the face of his arrival.

"Kavik," she breathed in relief, her tones soft with adoration as she forgot about her manners and crossed the border with no mind paid to the consequences. 

How could anything so trivial as borders matter now? Now that he was before her in the flesh?

Two moons spent in the dark, delirious with illness. Even half insane she had ached for the nearness of her mate - half afraid that her sickbed would become her deathbed and she would never again see his face. 

Liri buried her head in the crook of his shoulder, murmuring his name almost drunkenly as she returned his embrace. 

She smelt of ozone and burned hair, of the heat that would soon take over her body and grant Kavik children, of wild things but the hunter didn't care how messy she looked or how she must smell.

All that mattered was that she was safe in Kavik's arms once more. 

He had never been so happy and so devastated at the same time. Liri was here, her scent filling his nostrils with every inhale, still bringing it's usual comfort even when tainted by something that smelled of singed fur. He didn't want to pull back--to have to tell her how he had ruined their future by abandoning their vows. He didn't think he could feel worse than he already did, but right now as he lingered in her embrace trying to force himself to muster up the will to ruin them irrevocably, he felt more miserable than he had even on the day he had lost the plateau. With one last deep inhale, he pulled back enough to see her face, staring into her chocolate gaze for what he was sure would be the last time--at least the last time before they were filled with hate and disgust at the sight of him. He drew in a shaky breath, closing his eyes as a horrible dread caused his head to pound and his ears to ring. He wanted to explain what had happened to their home and ask where she had been, but he didn't want to prolong this. He was afraid that if he waited, he would lose his nerve and make the wrong decision yet again. Before you say anything, he started, taking a step back as guilt forced a hard swallow from his throat. There's something you should know...something I've done that is unforgivable. He opened his eyes as regret and misery filled his expression. I was in a bad place...and I made a mistake. His gaze dropped again, not wanting to see her break as he continued. I got someone else pregnant, and I've agreed to stay with her and help her raise the children, he admitted, feeling nauseous again as the words rolled from his mouth and settled on the woman he was supposed to have loved enough to wait forever for. I'm sorry, he whispered, still unable to meet her gaze as he waited for her reaction. His being sorry meant nothing, though--like with Myrren, it wouldn't change what he had done.

Tears of joy filled her oak eyes, squeezing free to mingle with her mate's dark coat as she trembled, tail wagging fiercely as she struggled to remain on her feet. She was exhausted, both from the trip and from the disease that had weakened her. The loss of her limb, no matter how damaged it had been prior to the bolt of electricity, had not helped with this situation at all - she was lucky to still be conscious. 

He withdrew suddenly, causing her eyes to open in confusion. Something tugged at her from the recesses of her mind, something that told her to fear the words to come, but Liri ignored it - assuming he had an explanation or that something, anything else was coming. 

Not this. 

The trees spun sickeningly, or was that she? The cold of winter struck her heart with icy ferocity - so painful she feared it would kill her right there. 

When the gasping sound registered in her ears, she realized it was her own breath that was coming in short pants as panic overtook her. Yet again in the few short years of her life, Liri's world had been ripped apart by loss. 

This time, she simply couldn't comprehend it. Refused to believe. 

"No," she protested weakly,  the word thick with unshed tears and shock. Her entire body shook with the weight of realization. 

Kavik was not her mate. 

He loved another woman now. She was carrying his children. Her. Not Liri. 

"How...," she swallowed, closing her eyes briefly as the words refused to fall from her lips. Speaking of it made it real. 

How is it possible? I'm your wife. You love me. You wouldn't...how could you? Teary eyed, she could only stare at him numbly - words and questions locked behind trembling lips. 

"Was I so easily replaced?" The words would hurt him she knew, but Liri couldn't control herself. Part of her wanted to hurt him as he had so ruined her with those few sentences. They were born of the part of her that was in pain, that felt as if it were dying. 

Selfishly she wanted to beg that he abandon her. That he forget his responsibilities and run away with Liri to start over fresh, somewhere in her heart she could forgive him - if only it meant he would be with her. 

But the rest of her knew it was cruel. She could not blame the children - Kavik's children, she thought with a pained stab, whom would call another woman Mother - for her former mate's mistake. Liri could not ask him to abandon them for her, no matter how much she loved him or he, her. 

Ask me to stay. Tell me you can't live without me. Tell me you need me. She begged silently, tears coursing down her cheeks. I would stay, if only as your second woman, just to be near you. I can't do it again. I can't lose you. 

But he had not asked her to stay. He had only stated that he would be staying, to care for his new family. 

He didn't want her. 

"I wouldn't want to make things difficult. I won't bother you again." Devoid of emotion, for she was still in shock, the words sounded empty even to herself. Liri could force no joy into them nor could she meet his summer gaze and offer any sort of fond wishes for the pair. 

She wanted to flee. She wanted to be gone from this place and the only man she had loved. She could not bear it a moment longer. 

Tear-stained face carefully collected into a mask, she raised her gaze to him one last time. The fae drank him in, as if seeing him for the first time, so as to commit him to memory. 

With an audible swallow, her lips parted. The healer visibly broke. "I can't.."

 She turned from him and ran, the image of his dark silhouette on the snowy borders forever imprinted into the black canvas of her eyelids. 

He closed his eyes tightly as she processed what he had just told her, hearing only a few clipped words from her at first. 

but then Was I so easily replaced?

Her question felt like it literally ripped his heart from his chest--like if he opened his eyes, he would see it lying on the ground at his feet. He wanted to deny it and tell her no one could replace her ever, but what purpose would it serve other than to make it harder for her to leave him like he deserved. Even if he didn't want her to leave, he knew it was for the best. He couldn't leave Myrren alone in this, nor did he want to do that either. He wanted to be here for her, and he also wanted to be with the woman he loved. But, he didn't get to have both, and so he would do what was right and stay here. 

He opened his eyes at her next words, surprised to hear the lack of emotion where there had just been condemnation. Then, he risked a glance at her face, and regretted nothing more; the sight of her tears running down her beautiful cheeks and knowing he had put them there knocked the breath from his lungs. 

When she turned and ran, he had to fight hard against the urge to chase her. But he remained planted at the borders, eyes watching as her form got smaller and smaller before finally disappearing from view. He fell back on his haunches under the weight of his renewed grief, head falling to hang as waves of sorrow rolled though him. He stayed like that for a long time before he finally had the energy to pick himself up to walk from the borders.