Noctisardor Bypass bedauert

mahler panicked; gaze fell open to dismay, a sensation he quickly reined. "never again," the man said fervently, though there was a long weariness that had not been there before. "it is not a vay for anyvone to live." not a woman, not himself, and certainly not the children that came from such a pairing.
he thought of what laurel had begged; he thought of how he had lost elke and ciri after letting them depart nova, even taking them as far as moonspear. what had nyx thought of him? whatever it had been, she had taken her pain and her love to an unknown grave.
mahler's gaze, shorn with guilt.
"i told you."
he had not deviated from the statements made before; there was no one else whom he wanted, and leadership had paled to nothing in his very eyes.
"duskfire glacier is our closest ally, led by vintersbane. it has occurred to me that vith pups in both our packs, ve might share hunters between us, rather than struggle alone. i may be gone for some of this time," he told her softly; nothing so dire as a contract, but nothing innocuous as a lovestruck boy.
he was silent, watchful.