Stone Circle Now I am as devoted to you as I can be without crossing the line

Laurel had steered clear of Xan; she didn't necessarily want to see him, and she had stuck to herself mostly, which meant she also didn't really have to see Greyback. She was a little worried that the Patriarch (former, she supposed, but titles had never deterred anyone from lashing out in the past) might notice her avoiding him, completely unaware that it was unlikely anyone noticed the deviations that took place in her mind: After all, up until now she had been avoiding most of the pack for a long time, especially since Indra had passed away.

But in Laurel's reality he knew every little inch of her mind. He knew that she was terrified of him ever since he had thrown her saviour out of Easthollow, he knew that she wanted to leave because of that and worst of all: He was going to stop her from leaving. He was going to stop her from leaving, and pin her to the ground --

-- More often than not Iliksis in Laurel's nightmares turned to Greyback and back again. Her children she had abandoned already, for their faces reminded her of him and even though he was dead, he would not leave her alone even in death. She saw him everywhere and he hid in every touch, big and small, that anyone gave her. And so she accepted none of them, trying so hard to banish him from her life, but it proved impossible even though the taste of his very blood was still on the tip of her tongue.

Yet, she was still his prisoner.

And she was Greyback's prisoner, too.

Laurel was lazing by a rock, but not truly lazing; always alert, every littlest sound rousing her from her daydreams, eyes shot wide open to find there was nothing time and time again.

This time as her eyes shot open and she gasped there was the thin form of Xan. He was walking again, then. Laurel hadn't forgotten what she had asked him, and a part of her still believed that he could make good on that promise. But what if he could not protect her? And what if he...

The memories she had with Xan were soiled by the filter of blood and pain that Iliksis had layered over every aspect of her life. She was afraid as she saw him, but she was even more afraid of Greyback. Gathering all of the courage she could muster Laurel chuffed towards him. She got to her feet then, not wanting to be caught on the ground where she was an easy target, and waited with tense muscles for him to come.