Stone Circle Wisdom comes with age,

lengthyyyy omg

Moss was distant—within, he rumbled in amusement, only because he expected as much from the Gamma. She remained a stoical and distant comrade, though he liked to believe that if the roles were reversed, she would be just as worried of him as he was of her.

Others began to file in—an impressive swiftness and organization to the gathering, given the travel that had been given on many ends. His gaze roved over Silvertongue—speaking nothing, and offering the woman a silent greeting with the tip of his muzzle—ignoring his curiosity of her closeness to Gunnar—the presence she demanded from the men gathered. Ash Paw remained a silent presence—of that, he wondered as well. The woman next to Gunnar was an unknown face to him--pretty. Silent.

Germanicus was rooted in place for now—dutiful, it seemed. The Mayfair could not place the timeline—the dark man had sought him to update the status of the escaped witch—Moss had found the witch in a holding of sorts—with Germanicus’s scent dominant about it.

Perhaps the man had not known the damage the witch had caused to Moss and had returned to simply nothing when he had checked his ward.

Taktuq’s presence was noted after her greeting when his eyes lingered upon the swell of her belly—perhaps better news for another day, at a less formal gathering.

Gunnar spoke then—demanding attention, and relaying his expectations with the sternness a man of his age and confidence could pull off.

And thus, the discussion would begin. And he was to speak first.

“About a moon’s time ago, one of our pack members, Reverie became panicked. There was a howl at our borders from an unknown wolf—taunting her. Reverie claimed it was a woman she had met, and that she wanted her new baby. Obviously she was…” How was the best to describe Reverie… “Distraught. She was terrified. I met with Arric, my Beta, and Moss,” he indicated to the she-wolf at his side, “to discuss the situation. Moss informed us Reverie had met this woman once before—she had seemed interested in Reverie who was close to birthing at the time and wanted to assist… Moss sent her away. Said there was something off about her.”

“At the time, Reverie’s… paramour… was gone. So she was hard to console. She did suggest we seek assistance in the search from other packs—primarily Germanicus, and thus, our scout, Jasmine was sent out, as you know . I went out to look for the woman in question—I found her at the swamp. She asked me if I wanted answers or blood. I could only have one.” He paused, eyes sweeping to Gunnar, and regarding him. “I chose blood. I intended to chase her from the valley, but in the swamp, she slipped past and escaped into the grove.”

“When I returned home, Lestan had returned with the help of a Riverclan wolf, Kelsier. Lestan and Reverie weren’t…” He paused, casting a sideways glance to Moss. How best to discuss the complete breakdown of two of their own? “They weren’t okay. Kelsier offered to remain and talk to them… to see if he could assist. I agreed. Afterward, the woman came to our borders again, this time, leaving a coyote child. She had slit it’s throat and left it to scream, until it died.” The more he considered—the more he conversed of the events—the more his paws itched to bring justice.

“Quickly after, I had to depart to Riverclan and stay for a few weeks. The mother of my cubs disappeared—we’ve yet to know where or how—and they were still nursing. While at Riverclan, Germanicus sought me out and told me the woman had escaped—that she was pregnant and injured. The thought at the time had been to hunt her down once more. It’s believed she was heading to the coast.”

“And then… when I was able to take my children home to the creek, I found Moss had been injured by the witch.” He frowned, his eyes sweeping over her. “Internally. Moss had found the woman in a cave and was cursed by her. Germanicus’s scent was everywhere in the cavern.”

There, he released a sigh. “One of the underlying problems, also, is that Reverie and Lestan have taken their child and departed the valley… They don’t even realize the witch has escaped the custody she had been in.”