Moonspear In all the good times, I find myself longing for change.

The year was proving to hold more surprises in store for their pack, though namely him. In fairness, Keres turning up was something he had not expected at any rate—hearing Nyx’s voice rise with the wind provoked a very similar response. He had thought his sister also long lost to whatever the wilderness had to offer her, presuming that either Mahler’s pack had held her heart’s desires or had released her back to whatever path she chose to follow.

Much in the same way the world had done to him, of course.

He had been lounging with @Hydra and their youngest children when the call arose and detached him from their conversation mid-sentence. There were but a handful of things that would jar him so, even less that would distract him from his wife, but the matters of family were often reason enough for him to rise and depart. Altair naturally protested something behind him but was cowed by her swiftly, and Dirge offered a parting glance back almost apologetically. Hydra would come if she saw fit, no doubt if she were to it would be after she had squared the children away.

Even now, neither of them trusted the borders entirely. There was the matter of the wolf who Osiris had fended off, and the wolves who they pieced information together about to hunt for another sport; even the nearby neighbors were reasons to be wary, though albeit in his eyes. So for Nyx to call, to be there now, he could only imagine why.

Laying eyes on her only told so much—Keres had beat him by a longshot. But past his sisters he saw the pale child and the stalwart form of Mahler. Discomfort pitted and made itself known in his stomach, but he swallowed whatever reservations he had to smoothly join the group and embody whatever unfettered expression he could pull. The surprise was still there, but interest rode close behind as he surveyed them all. While the excitement of Keres seemed to override everything, he did not mistake the tension that stirred in the air. Not hostile, but certainly not comfortable.

“You could let her breathe a little,” he remarked to Keres, only to add as he settled his gaze on Nyx with a snippet of a smile, “though after a famine and a flood both I suppose there’s naught that would keep you down. It’s been a while. You look well.” His attention drew past her to Mahler, then the child where it lingered briefly. Young, but perhaps no more younger or older than his own. Interesting. The pieces would come together later, he decided.

Business causal would have to do.

“If you’re here to see Hydra, she may be a minute,” he said to Mahler.