Stone Circle push play, stop, rewind

Going to skip Merrit, feel free to post when you can, as I want this thread to be wrapped up.

While mourning, Valette didn't even acknowledge that Greyback had been attacking Vespera. She would not have approved of it had she been sound of mind but the mother wasn't. She cried for her baby, unaware of what was going on around her. Valette kept her muzzle close to her baby, and that was when she smelled a hint of puppy breath. The mother pushed herself to her feet and brought her ear closer. Leta was alive! Valette gasped while hope filled her with new energy.

The mother gently grabbed Leta by her scruff. She would need to take care of her baby. Her eyes briefly fell on Greyback standing over Vespera. Her first priority was Leta and since she was so used to taking care of her children on her own she didn't even phantom to let Greyback know about her discovery. She just rushed to her den with newfound energy. Valette was going to keep Leta warm and covered in the safety of the den. And no one was going to get close to her. No one.

just need to post this before we close it

Vespera was grieving alongside everyone, in her eyes, she tried her best, but it was too late, she should have been more vigilant, it was her fault. But what came next completely caught her off guard, her nerves went wild as she was thrown off of Valette and pinned to the ground, and before she could see who it was, there was a harsh punishing on her neck. She wanted to scream, but she restrained, she didn't want to show weakness in front of everyone, especially now. Her orbs flashed to see who was on top of her, it was Greyback. The Easthollow female couldn't comprehend why he was doing what he was doing, she couldn't escape, she felt trapped. Vespera let out a hiss, she wasn't going to be pinned by the likes of him, not now, not ever. But she was hoping, hoping in a time and place like this, someone would help her, tell Greyback to fuck off, but they all stood still and watched. Vespera was frantic as his fangs drew blood, her eyes swelled up, her chest heaving, she looked like a wild animal that was being killed by their hunter. She gave one last look at Valette, her mother figure who had been there for her when she needed her most, but something was different. The Matriarch took her whelp and didn't even bother to say anything, Vespera had the look of utter shock and betrayal, how could she? At this moment, something resonated in Vespera, the pain that Greyback seemed to deal her was becoming numb and faded, she even stopped resisting.

Memories of the past she tried to get rid of had come flooding in at this very moment, her PTSD was in full force. She began shaking, her breathing became heavier to the point where she sounded like she was dying, her orbs became lifeless as the memories became what she saw. She couldn't stand it, but they kept coming, what fueled this was the fact that she told Valette about all this, and she just left her there. She had to get out before this stress could do something far worse then what Greyback had intended. With what little strength she had, she planted her paws into the dirt, and reacting on instinct, she mustered the strength to turn right at him with muzzle curled and snapped her jaws right at his nose to throw him off. With him dazed and stunned she rocketed herself from under him and without looking back, she ran out from the clearing and into the forest.

tacking on a conclusion, thank you guys for the thread <3

she was gone -- gone, but not without a trace.

bloody tracks marked her departure, with ferns and springs bent here and there. one waxy leaf held a single crimson droplet, and in that droplet the world reflected: a darkening red where the sky turned and clouds mutely shepherded by.

no, the siren was not out of the woods yet. some hundreds of yards away, while valette disconsolately carried her child, caiaphas continued to run, run run run. her vision narrowing, blackening -- and one single purpose repeated over and over and over and over: revenge, revenge, revenge.

perhaps stronger than any cocktail or tonic, it was revenge that kept the old crone going, her joints lubricated, her mind wheeling..