Stone Circle it means family

Times have been tough seemed like the novelisation of Laurel's life and she wished that she had the eloquence Valette possessed to say such things without sounding like a wreck. She wanted to be strong. She'd always been strong. But who are you even strong for these days, dearest? When she was little, Laurel was strong because she didn't want to adults to discredit her just because of her age. When she grew up, she was strong because Indra was not and she needed to keep a brave face to show her sister that everything would be alright. When she had children, she needed to be strong for her children and for them to see that all was well.

And now..?

Who do you have left to be strong for?

To say that it was the pack was a lie; no matter how much Laurel wished that she could say otherwise, for she owed the lives of her children, of my children, to this pack. She distrusted most if not all of the pack and she worried every day that Greyback would throw her out of the pack or worse.

At Valette's realisation they both lost a sister, Laurel nodded. Her face was enveloped in a frown as she thought of this, and mostly, of how very different she and Valette were. So we have, she said as she realised it too. And yet, even though they had now both lost a sister, there seemed to be nothing to tie them together except that very fact, and though it seemed like a lot, it also seemed not enough at the same time.

Valette said she had her sister's children to raise, to which Laurel nodded. She thought of the joy to mother children, but at the same time the means to get there brought a dark frown to her face; how such a beautiful thing had been so ruined. She thought of Charles, and suddenly realised -- you wish he was dead! Our son! -- that she wished he was gone, like Riley and Louie, that she had no more reminder of the dark ghost that took the last shreds of her sanity. Even though the boy isn't truly what is keeping me here. But she had a spark of hope, and then she realised it.

She wasn't being strong for anyone else anymore, because she had no one she cared enough for to do so...

But she had to be strong for herself, because otherwise she would lose her mind.

To be neglected was all Laurel wanted, because interaction brought fear; though not as much from Valette as it would have been if it were Greyback. Valette was smaller and less threatening and she wasn't the one who had kicked out Vespera. To hear her apologise for neglecting Laurel felt awkward. Laurel wasn't sure what to say to it, whether to say 'oh, it's alright' or 'oh, no, I'm fine on my own' or even 'oh, no, I'm sorry myself for not pulling my weight as much'. But instead, lost in the middle of all the possibilities, Laurel glossed over it and just latched onto what Valette had said before that: It must be a comfort in some way, to have some part of her here in the form of her children. Oh, what Laurel would have given to have babies of Indra a year past, and not just her own horrible children that Indra had never wanted birthed. Even if it's tough.