Heron Lake Plateau Sometimes we're only flying for a while

Finley's thoughts began to wade into dangerous waters when she turned her mind to considering Colt once again. Much as they bickered and threatened and insulted each other, she loved her brother immensely. He was a part of her in a big way - a way she had let go of for much of her life. But when he'd returned, it was like a piece of her had shifted back into place. And now that he was gone, she felt broken once again. The war, the loss of Sebastian and Andalusia, everything.. It paled in comparison to losing Colt, even though it had been the far less dramatic and devastating of the events to come from Finley's master plan to build Towhee into the future leader of the Redhawks. Sebastian and Andalusia had been unfortunate. Colt had been unbearable, in spite of her efforts to bear it.

Elwood's offer drew her gaze back to him. In spite of everything, she felt a smile flicker reluctantly across her lips. She was distracted promptly by Tywyll though, who squirmed closer and placed a series of affection kisses upon her foreleg. Her smile broadened as she tucked him in closer to her. He was a living, breathing, and now sleeping, reminder of what really mattered in her world now that she had abandoned her leadership post. But even that thought posed a problem, as Towhee and even Raven were just as much her children now as the dark pup snuggled in her arms.

"Probably," she admitted with a light shrug and a shake of her head, "But I'm just tired now." She looked up again then, searching for her mate's face as she continued. "I don't like being so angry at her," Fin said softly. She assumed that he would know that she meant Towhee. Rude as she'd been to Raven, her eldest adopted daughter didn't even register on her radar. She didn't have much faith in the reserved medic's ability to be an alpha, but she didn't fault her for that at all. She faulted Towhee for putting her in that position by quitting all that Fin and Elwood had attempted to build for her. And that was all on Towhee.