Overture Downs And someone called me by my name

Saena's ears and brows both pulled higher when Desna claimed she was happy to see her, at least in some respect. Saena wasn't happy to see the smoky yearling, but thought better of stating it aloud. It surely showed in her aloof stance and the bite behind her greeting. She only knew Desna as an unfaithful wolf who had disappeared like Luke, and she no longer had any time for that sort. Unfaithful wolves had made her life a living hell since months ago. It was an unfaithful wolf who had stolen her daughters.

She'd once considered it unfair to lump wolves under the same category for mere similarities in their traits, but now she did exactly that with Desna. "I don't want to hear your excuses," she said tiredly. "You could have found us if you cared to. You have a nose. You have a voice. It's not like we got up and flew away." In conclusion, Saena had every reason to believe Desna simply hadn't wanted to find the slow-moving Phoenix pack, or maybe hadn't even tried. There'd been no howls. Desna had been an aspiring hunter, like Saena, but last Saena checked, she could track a wolf for miles if she wanted to. There was no compelling reason for her to believe Desna had been unable to find them.

Still, as chilly as she was toward the now grown wolf for what had happened, she could understand that when the famine hit, her options were to starve or find another pack. For that reason the ex-Alpha wasn't as acidic toward Desna as she would be to any other wolf who had left the Phoenix pack at another time. "I've been better," she grunted in response to Desna's well meaning question, with eyes that grew hard at the thought, but she was polite enough to at least ask, "you?" in return.