Otatso Wetlands When I had laid it on the floor

Saena sniffed as Stark revealed what he knew. It wasn't much, and it wasn't what she expected to hear. For some reason she always expected to hear the worst things about herself, even though she'd never done anything truly horrible save exiling her former mate and his mistress from her woods. She reasoned that any Alpha worth their skin would do the same if they were slighted in such a way. She was all about justifying her own actions even when they were unreasonable.

"You'd be right," she bitingly confirmed. "He was my mate, before he turned into a snake. You've met the rat bastard, then, I assume." She thought of Reek as less than dirt now and it was painfully obvious in the way she ground her teeth together, if not in her insults. For a beat, she didn't notice her hackles prickling as well, but she remembered herself before she became agitated enough to give Stark offense, or so she hoped, and took a shaky breath in an effort to calm down. Stark had said he wasn't a fan of Larksong Grotto. Saena reckoned she had an idea why, but she was nowhere near the real truth.

It was Saena's way to spill her guts to anyone and everyone, to drag Reek's name through the dirt—and she would certainly do it again for Stark's unfortunate benefit—but first, she had to be sure. "What'd they do to you to lose a fan? I'd think packs in close proximity would be chummy." Worst case scenario, Reek was uninvolved in Stark's distaste. Best case scenario, Reek had dug himself a hole too big for him to climb out of with his neighbours, much as he nearly did with Phoenix Maplewood if only she'd been brave enough to snuff them out when she had the chance... but a bigger hole would only mean her girls were in even more trouble, and would give Saena cause to hustle.