Stone Circle All we are is an isle of flightless birds

His saddened, worn out gaze met that of Valette's and he tried to send her a smile of greeting but the expression he showed seemed to be more like a grimace. The thought of explaining his situation made his heart lurch, as it beat painfully against his chest - it felt as though it might simply pop out and lay pitifully on the ground. He could not say that he would have cared too much if that had happened, though he cursed himself silently for thinking this way. Yet even so, he could not help how his mind worked.

"Valette.... I don't know what to do..." He choked out, squinting his amber eyes as he fought the dispair. "They're gone.... all of them. I don't know where.... I don't even know where Cebra is, or Rowana, or any of them...." The tears were the next battle he fought off, not wishing his usually strong and calm demeanor to be broken, yet it seemed though he was too late in preventing it. There was a flicker of hope when the alphess mentioned Burr, but it was dampened out when he remembered attempting but failing to track his scent. "Even Burr.... I don't know where they are. Did I..." He met her gaze for a moment, pain flashing in his eyes. "Did I fail?"

"...As a father? As a... as a mate? Did I.... fail....?" He felt those forbidden tears roll down his cheeks and he looked away, head turning as he faced the ground. It was, perhaps unusually, his biggest fear. He could not bare the thought of himself failing - not even because it hurt his pride or anything of the such... he simply did not want to disappoint his family, nor lose them. He was heartbroken.