let me see through your eyes, where there's so much life

Their final words were spoken sharply, leaving Saena to glare between the trio as tension washed over her. Had her skin not felt like it was burning under the burden of thousands of insect feet and her wounds not been so fresh, the alpha would've immediately taken her husband's side and snapped the tension with a snarl and a demand that Caiaphas slink back to whatever hellhole she'd crawled out of. She was too compromised to pick such a fight now, so the coywolf had her rapt attention instead. Besides, she knew this was Reek's battle and a more selfish part of her wished to not be involved beyond observing. She said nothing still, but once more entertained the thought of inviting Reek's failed leader into their fold.

She nearly parted her jaws to speak it, but her mate's turning stayed her tongue. Her teeth clicked together as she pinned Caiaphas with one last lingering, curious look before she allowed the alpha male to lead her back into the forest. She hobbled along in his wake, playing over the encounter in her head. The acidity in her mate's tone was more than enough to confirm that Caiaphas had done wrong in her past, but Saena couldn't help wondering which had come first—Caiaphas' failure as a leader or Reek's attitude toward her—and privately she wondered if perhaps Caiaphas hadn't been fleeing some kind of judgment when she left her pack behind. The coywolf certainly seemed devoted enough to her former followers to inform Reek of the bounty on the coast. Not at all the sort of wolf who would leave without some reason.

But then, Caiaphas was slipperier than an oil slick in all regards, and Saena had yet to learn it.