"Whose are they, anyway?" Diego whispered to Shetar. Melle had finally drifted into a restless sleep after alternating between glaring and growling for nearly an hour. "Your kittens I mean." They had walked far enough not to wake his mate, but still close enough for him to protect her. But after so long thinking his sister was dead, Diego knew that they needed to catch up.

"You may want to sit down. This will take awhile, and I don't want to ruin the ending." Shetar said cagily. Diego sat, but didn't drop his guard in the slightest.

"After I left Half Peak, I travelled west for awhile, but shortly turned north." Shetar said. "I wanted to go somewhere that Soto wouldn't look for me. I also didn't want to have a run in with Glacier Pass, I wasn't full grown, I wasn't a hunter." She paused. "After a few days I was desperate for company, sabers aren't meant to travel alone. You know that."

"I do now." Diego agreed.

"I was increasingly restless, my wanderings began to circle aimlessly. It was only when I saw the peaks on the horizon that I knew that I was returning home. The scents in the area were beginning to fade, but they were still discernable. I could tell that Oscar and Lenny had scattered quickly in opposite directions. I could smell the bloodshed. Zeke's body was shoved in a cave and decaying. Half mad and ravenous I feasted.

"There were odd tracks across the lake; I followed them back to our den site. The snow was stained red: it was horrible. You weren't there; you'll have to explain your absence later." She leveled her eyes at him. "But someone else was."

"Soto." Diego hissed. "He's dead. I killed him."

"He was half frozen, and had been bleeding heavily. But Soto lived."

"You had his kittens? After you ran away avoiding the prospect and tore apart our pack?" Diego felt a weight lifting off of him, the guilt evaporated. Blame shifted onto Shetar. "I can't believe it."

"Let me finish." Shetar silenced him. "I lay next to him, shared my warmth, and gave him life. But before we could make more life, my blood mingled with the rest of our packs' in the snow. My mind cleared, and I regained the ability to reason as the heat left me.

"No matter the danger that Glacier Pass presented, the only way to safety was south. The migration caused the smaller prey to leave the area, and I was unable to hunt the larger quarries on my own. We travelled slowly, and as we walked, Soto filled me in on what had happened."

"I'll bet it was biased." Diego muttered.

"You betrayed us." Shetar hissed loudly. "You nearly killed our leader, you split our pack, and you successfully killed one of us. All for a group of herbivores and a human baby? I will never understand this."

"I did what was right."

"Debatable." She flexed her claws and sharpened them on a rock menacingly. She had definitely hardened. "Soto and I made it safely south, and he healed among the hot springs. But sabers are not meant to grow fat and lazy in the forest. We are hunters, the elite. Bored of the easy life, we made tracks back home with an understanding that we would reestablish our pack. There was a snag.

"The big male of Glacier Pass caught us on the border of his territory. He would have killed us for trespass but he recognized my eyes. Tierin also saw potential inside of me. I wasn't showing yet, but while we were south I had taken heat again, this time I conceived. With the promise that my kittens would swear my allegiance to Glacier Pass, Tierin let us live, let us integrate. Soto and I were tested, and our prowess at hunting gave us rank. He's lieutenant.

"There were whispers at Glacier Pass. Stories of a runaway, Tierin's daughter, whose desertion depleted the breeding stock. That's the real reason why we could join, Tierin was looking to adopt a new heir, one who wouldn't fail him. Me." Shetar flashed her teeth smugly, and her eyes reflected green light at Diego. "I wasn't lying about your mate failing the solo hunt. Your woman is weak. She isn't worthy of pack status."

"She survived well enough before she found me." Diego replied. "Our kittens will be capable hunters."

"I birthed three survivors." Shetar said proudly. "Compared to that, what's one good hunter?"

If she hadn't been a relative, Diego thought that he would have sliced her throat.