Arrow Lake setting fire to our insides for fun

Her nose wrinkled in a silent snarl as Hela described what the woods had come to. Despite relinquishing her claim, Blackfeather would always be her home. To think that others now trod those hallowed grounds—! It was unthinkable, and would only bring anger; Maegi pushed it aside in favor of the here and now.

For now.

Like your mother, she murmured, smiling, though the ever-familiar bolt of pain seared through her at thought of Cassiopeia. And your father, too, but Hela had barely known Vaati. Hell, she had barely known her brother. She would be proud, and Maegi said this with confidence, in remembrance of her first and forever friend.

She paused to contemplate the question, thinking briefly before responding. It's a home, she responded simply, shrugging. I needed to give the wolves of Blackfeather a better home than what I could give them, and Diaspora was an ally. I'm still getting used to living beneath the mountains, and hunting on unfamiliar ground, but. . . A small sigh escaped her, barely audible over the wind.

Her niece should be with them. Instead, she was a warrior, serving—

Hela, I need to tell you something—something I didn't have the chance to, before, she insisted, straightening as urgency entered her voice. She gave the young woman a gimlet stare, turning the ruined side of her face just barely toward the other wolf. Serem. . .the warrior woman in your pack. She is the one who kidnapped me as a child, who took me to Skullchaser, the man that attacked me and gave me these scars.

She is not to be trusted. Believe me when I say that. Be careful—you have honor, and she has none. Even if Maegi's idea of Hela's honor had all but dissipated when she had chosen to leave. She was of Cass's blood; she must still carry some shred of decency within her!