Bramblepoint I'll follow you way down to your deepest low.

Her face scrunched as Bronco explained. She was never much of one for tact, especially when rubbed raw like this, so she said baldly to him, "That's stupid. All of it. There is exactly one wolf responsible for Colt's death." That made Towhee think of the day when Niamh had gotten her revenge on Kiwi. How cold she had seemed, especially when Towhee hadn't initially remembered. How distant she'd become after losing Primrose.

Catching her thoughts drifting, she blinked and frowned at Bronco, not really sure what else to say about any of this. Her anger ran deep, though she would never consider hurting Niamh, nor did she think her son would truly wish her harm. Especially right now, while little lives were at stake. But it was strangely comforting, in a twisted way, to know others commiserated. Even Wraen hadn't batted an eyelash when Towhee had placed blame on Niamh.

"Sorry to be so blunt," she offered after a moment of reflection. "The whole thing is definitely complicated," Towhee agreed with his earlier conclusion. "And there's no easy answers. Before any of this happened, I never would've considered leaving the caldera. When we moved here, I intended to live here until the day I died. But the past few days, all I can think is..." But she trailed off there and shook her head, sighing heavily toward her feet.

She couldn't do that to her brother, or even Rue. Besides, it was fifty shades of irresponsible. Would Moonglow welcome a heavily pregnant bitch, just like that? Did she really want to go throw her lot in with Kukutux? Wraen would probably want to wring her neck and she was one of Towhee's most steadfast advocates. Of course, she could simply visit, but if she was being honest with herself, the Sovereign was planning on staying long enough that she might give birth there, preventing her from coming back.

Bitter tears sprang to her eyes but Towhee swiped almost angrily at them. In the same heartbeat, one of the pups kicked her so squarely that it knocked the wind out of her. She mouthed like a fish and slowly rolled off her feet to sink back against the tree roots.