That Crazy Old Hag

"As their guardian for a month, you had many chances to remedy that, instead of waiting to complain to their mother." Potema, might have listened to Raziel's lessons on humility. Damien was another matter; even she could not fix his pompous nature, and she was his mother.

While Raziel and Scarlett fought, the priestess' eyes slid to the other wolf, the snake-like one, feeling his eyes burning into her. His presence was familiar to the priestess, to what extent, she could not tell, until she saw the wolf draw an s, then the mark for safety around it. Could it be that he was related to Slade? Or at least knew him? To her knowledge, only his pack and hers made use of the signs. The message was erased when Raziel's gaze returned to her, burning ice. He questioned her, the reason for her attack. To what benefit would that be? Was he simply reveling in the notion that a rival was beaten low and brought to his doorstep? The Dark Queen thought for a moment, wondering if he wished to know who else shared his hatred for the Blackfeather Woods pack.

"I left my pack for religious reasons. I had not intended on being gone for more than a week." She began, voice still retaining its hoarse quality. "However, when I made my way back home, I met with someone holding a grudge on my pack who decided to take his revenge on me, to which I do not blame him." Her subordinates were very harsh with the young girl, warping her with poisons, psychological and physical torture. The wolf also mentioned that one of her own tried to rape his mate, an event she had no part in whatsoever, but she took the blame for. Better her than her whole pack being destroyed. "Had I fought back, there was a chance I would not be with so many scars, but I was surrounded by his peers and had no chance of making it out alive, so I let him attack me." She was lucky to have made off with only a few scars, but fate had a way of twisting events.

This wolf was cunning, she saw. It was a shame she left Bearclaw Valley to their own devices for so long; she could have made use of the silver wolf and his silent companion. "I intend on repaying you in full...for Scarlett's sake." Had Raziel offered hospitality to her, she would have extended the debt to the whole pack, rather than the albino Beta. But it was she who brought her here, not the alpha. "I had no intention on draining your pack of resources for weeks, Raziel. I wanted to leave in two days' time; my wounds were festering, I simply needed to clean and heal them."