Lily lurked behind a particularly jagged boulder, watching intently. None of the males she was observing knew of her presence, which was exactly how she wanted it; Claw would not take kindly to her spying.

Of course, she wasn't the only one watching. She didn't know why he had decided to call the three males to the plateau instead of meeting them in the cavern as he had those of the previous season-cycle. This was public, and what he was undoubtedly about to do would need to be in private. Provoking the males into challenging him in a few moon-cycles was not something he would do in front of anyone who happened to be around, was it?

Surely not. She already had a plan ready for when he inevitably took the first of them aside. If they left on paw she would follow, and if they flew she would flame herself and glide above them.

"You asked for us, alpha?" Cedar said respectfully, bowing his head. Lily ignored the similarity to how Gold had acted around Claw; Cedar wasn't quite so bad, and was by all appearances simply choosing to have his chosen female rather than try for glory.

Ash, on the other paw, glared, only barely bending his neck when Claw eyed him. He seemed surprised his defiance didn't get any sort of reaction, but to Lily that was just further proof. Right now, defiance was what Claw wanted, and he would not be mad if Ash was already one step ahead.

Even if it was suspicious to anyone who knew him and was watching closely enough. Lily couldn't help but think someone as smart as her or Pyre would be able to figure out what Claw meant to do based off of the clues Claw was voluntarily giving away, no insider knowledge necessary. It only made sense, once one thought about it…

But she couldn't be too disappointed in her unobservant fledglings. She had been just as blindly ignorant, and with far more hints than what Claw was doing now.

"Root first," Claw announced, flicking his tail dismissively at the other two males. "You both wait until I return." He spread his wings and took off perilously close to the three fledglings, his strong downward thrust catching their partially spread wings. Root managed to turn the unexpected gust into just another little push to help himself take off in kind, but Ash and Cedar stumbled backward, Ash almost falling off the plateau.

Lily grimaced, ducking further back and looking around furtively to be sure none were watching her. She had a pretty solid alibi if anyone did notice her camouflaging herself and then presumably following them, that of trying to help Mist out of the goodness of her heart or just curiosity as to what was wrong with Root. That didn't mean she was going to just do it openly, nobody could question an excuse she never needed to give.

The few light wings she could see were all watching Ash and Cedar, who were now arguing about something. Most were not watching openly, but to Lily, the subtle glances were more than enough to know where their attention really was.

She flamed herself quickly and took to the sky, trailing the two males flying out over the mountains. Claw was taking his talk with Root out of sight of the valley.

Flying close enough to the two males to hear their conversation wasn't hard; neither was in a habit of looking up, and neither noticed her camouflaged form following along above. They both spoke loudly, too, which made eavesdropping almost too easy.

"I hear you have been stirring up trouble lately," Claw began, his voice casual.

"This is the first I am hearing of that, alpha," Root replied just as casually. The sudden stiffness in his shoulders and back betrayed his unease, but only Lily could see that, so Claw would not notice anything amiss. "What trouble have I caused?"

"Disobeying your Dam, and having such a reputation for spinelessness that people are talking," Claw rumbled. "You are faking it, of course."

"Faking thinking for myself?" Root asked, raising his voice. "How could that possibly be faked?"

"To impress a female," was the confident reply, though it wasn't actually an answer to the question that had been asked. Lily noticed that Claw was ignoring Root's disrespectful tone; she supposed that made sense, given the whole point was to subtly egg him on, not actually correct him.

"If you have heard of my recent actions, you will know that I-"

"No," Claw interrupted smugly, his voice practically dripping with condescension, "I know what you are really doing. Saying you will challenge, rejecting your female of choice, and planning to give in at the last moment. I have seen it before. I approve." He looked over at Root, allowing some smug triumph through his ever-present facade. "You could not possibly hope to defeat me, so what else could it be?"

Root was silent for a while. His pupils gradually narrowed, so slowly Lily wasn't sure she was seeing it.

"Well?" Claw prompted with a warning growl. "I expect an answer."

"Does this often work?" Root asked flatly, looking over at Claw. "Is this why so many challenge you when they had said they would not?"

"So many challenge me because they are stupid," Claw retorted casually.

"And their stupidity does not let them see that you are not aiming where they assume," Root said quietly. "I will take that as an answer. I intend to challenge anyway."

"You will die," Claw threatened, turning and forcing Root to turn with him, angling back toward the valley.

"I choose to believe otherwise," Root replied coldly. "More important is that you try and trick males into-"

"Do not finish that accusation if you want your death at the ceremony instead of sooner," Claw snarled, leaning to the side and knocking into Root with his bulk, shoving him down at an angle and almost fouling his wings. He continued to snarl and threaten even as he did it. "If you want your parents to outlive you. Not a word of what you think I do."

"Not a word," Root agreed, dropping and trying to flee Claw's repeated strikes, flapping awkwardly to the side and descending rapidly. They were reaching the point where their path was almost a dive, and Lily found herself unable to keep close, incapable of matching their odd halfway speed and unwilling to overshoot them instead.

By the time she had caught up again, it was over. They were both acting as if nothing had happened, and Root even followed Claw back to the plateau and down onto it.

Lily, remaining in the air a way above them, let out a loud sigh of relief as Root finally left Claw's presence. She was glad he hadn't done anything stupid, like so many of the people she knew would have at that sort of threat. It seemed Root was smart enough to bow his head and plot defiance later, if not quite smart enough to hide the intended defiance outright. He was lucky Claw wanted him to fight, and it was a measure of how twisted this all was that she almost wished Claw wanted just another weak subordinate.

No, she thought to herself, dismissing that idea out of paw. She didn't want Claw's unwitting aid in saving Root's life, not like that. If she could somehow get it, though…

There was an idea. Not much of one, but she would grasp at anything useful when it came to Root's predicament.

Claw and Cedar rose into the air, following the same general course as before, and Lily tagged along, watching closely. Root's encounter with Claw had been the least important; he was already set on the course Claw sought to encourage. Cedar was not, and should not be.

"I hear you have made your intentions clear," Claw began, starting out much the same as he had with Root, which made Lily snort. "Which female was it, again?"

"Liona," Cedar offered diffidently, bowing his head as he flew. "Alpha, I am loyal, I have no desire to challenge you."

"Surely you have some desire," Claw rumbled. "Or are you truly that spineless?"

"Possibly I am," Cedar replied neutrally. He didn't even seem bothered by the accusation, which impressed Lily. She would have predicted him bristling and protesting.

"Possibly," Claw agreed, glaring over at the fledgling he was failing to provoke. "And your female must be too, to want one like you. If she does at all."

"Maybe," was Cedar's only reply. "Alpha, do you need something from me?"

"No, I think I have heard enough," Claw growled. He turned in the air, though they hadn't even made it out over the mountains yet, and Cedar followed.

Lily stared after Claw as he descended, distinctly unimpressed. Was that the best he could do? Really? It didn't even feel like he had been trying. She certainly would not have stopped after two weak insults got no reaction. He either didn't care that much, which was certainly a possibility, or wasn't at the top of his game when it came to provoking younger males.

Either way, she was glad Cedar knew when to give in. Later she would need to uncover his will to fight and defy, but only after he was safely mated and no longer under threat of imminent death. Right now, keeping both him and Liona safe from Claw in the short term took precedence.

Claw and Ash came up, and Lily followed once more, glad this was the last talk Claw planned on having. She was actually growing bored of the repetition despite the stakes involved.

"I want to know what you plan on doing at the ceremony," Claw began, looking over at Ash with an expression of obvious disdain. "If you have even thought about it yet."

"Bowing to you, alpha," Ash said loudly, acting as if he hadn't even needed to consider the question. He was not a good actor; Lily could easily see the lie in the way he flew, focusing on each wingbeat as if unconcerned. He wasn't good enough at deception to hide how he really felt, not from her.

Claw, however, didn't seem to notice any of that. "That is not your only option," he suggested casually.

"Danda says it is, and Mist agrees," Ash objected.

"But I am alpha, and I say you may choose to fight me instead," Claw offered. "Do you think you could do it?"

"Probably," Ash said confidently. "Maybe I will."

"All I ask is that you consider your choices carefully," Claw rumbled.

Lily stared down at Ash, trying to read him. He still seemed uneasy, but she couldn't tell what he meant to do. She could not remember Root or Mist or anyone else saying what Ash had originally intended, before Danda spoke to him.

But she did know what Danda was like, and something of what Ash was like. Danda would make sure he didn't challenge, and had all the reason in the world to try her hardest. So long as she kept a wary eye on them, maybe getting Mist to check in on that, she could leave it be.

Lily fell back and then powered upward, abandoning Ash and Claw to their short flight, and tried to sort through what she had heard and seen. What had she learned, aside from what Ash, Root, and Cedar did in reaction to Claw's intended trickery?

The first thing that came to mind was just how badly done said trickery had been. She could scarcely believe Claw would give up so easily with Ash and Cedar. Root made sense, as he meant to challenge and thus give Claw what he wanted, but why the other two?

Maybe, she reasoned, he really didn't care all that much. He thought he was getting at least one new female no matter what, as Root meant to challenge.

She discarded that theory almost immediately, growling in disgust. No, Claw would never be satisfied with fewer mates than he could have had.

Another, far more worrying idea then came to her, just as she passed through a thin, watery cloud on her way up into the cold winds, now far out over the ocean. Maybe he had not bothered trying because he had suspected he was being watched. She thought she had gone unnoticed, but it was something she would do in his place. Something she did do all too often. If she thought she was being watched, she refrained from doing anything suspicious.

That, however, assumed he would care if someone was listening in. She had everything to lose and could be destroyed on a whim. He was not in such a precarious position; the whole reason he still ruled was that he couldn't be toppled easily. If she went down into the valley and claimed Claw was trying to manipulate the males into challenging, absolutely nothing would happen. Maybe, if she was lucky, a few people might become uneasy or even angered, in the cases of those personally affected.

There was an idea. She purred to herself, gladly noticing the small tactic she could use later. Whirl and Flare were already on the short list of light wings she wanted to turn against Claw, and knowing that he had tried to trick Root into challenging, however ineffectively, would be one more little push in that direction.

That didn't help her figure out what she had seen, so she put it aside. Her scales were cooling down, and she could feel her camouflage dissipating, but everything else was secondary.

Why was he so ineffective? Logically, there were two possible sets of reasons. Either he was not motivated, or he was. If he was not, then that was in itself the answer, and the question became why.

If he was motivated, if what she had just witnessed was him trying… Maybe that was just the best he could do. He had used similar lines to start with on two of the three males, and his manipulations did all seem pointed at the same, generic target. She could envision those same spurs working on Bone, but not Granite or Gold, so that would be consistent.

Somehow, she had assumed he would be better at manipulation. He had shown more skill in other situations, hadn't he?

She recalled thinking that he wasn't very good at his duties as alpha, back when spying for Pyre. Then she thought of him pinning her and Crystal in verbally, disarming both of them with similar threats, forcing them into a corner.

He wasn't incompetent, but she could not honestly say he was gifted, either. He didn't have to be when the entire world seemed set up to support him and give him all the advantages. He was just good enough to use those advantages well and not easily squander them.

She growled to herself, flicking her wings out and dropping down through another cloud. It was good to have a reminder that she was not working against someone like herself or Pyre; Claw was dangerous and powerful, but not as much as she would be in the same position. She would never be so passive in his place. There would be checks of loyalty, positive rewards for those under her, and…

Well, there would also be fair rules and no taking multiple mates and no killing fledglings or anyone on a whim, so she wouldn't have to deal with something like her own subtle undermining. It wasn't a useful comparison to make. All she could take from this was that things could have been worse. An intelligent, scheming alpha with all the power he held and bad intentions was her definition of worse.

O-O-O-O-O

A pained moan worked its way up through Crystal's clenched teeth, and she squirmed miserably. Lily huddled over Crystal's son, trying to distract him, and by extension herself, from the noises. He looked up at Lily with big, worried eyes, his tiny ears and frills flat to his neck, then went back to peering through her paws and trying to escape.

"No, don't worry," Lily cooed, pawing at the little hatchling's back and holding him beneath her. "Dam is fine. Right?" She looked over at Dew, who was crouching by Crystal's side.

"Right," Dew said confidently, watching Crystal's heaving stomach. "This will pass. Keep him away."

"I am not… Going to kick him…" Crystal panted angrily, her paws twitching with every breath. "This is stupid."

"You are not going to worry about it, so stop arguing," Dew replied briskly. "You can comfort him the moment this egg has passed. Focus on that."

"I should have gotten her some pain dulling plants," Lily murmured to the hatchling. "Right, Burble?"

Apparently she hadn't been quiet enough, because Crystal groaned again. "Lily, please, that is not his name..."

Lily shrugged her wings. As far as she was concerned, until Crystal came up with a proper name for her son, that was what she was going to call him. It was a sound he often made, and a cute name to fit a cute little hatchling. There were worse things to be called.

Burble, as she insisted on calling him, whined and tried to crawl over her restraining paws, not liking the sounds his Dam was making. She simply raised her paws higher, holding him to her chest and trapping him further.

"There it is," Dew called out, looking further down. "One more push-"

"Finally!" Crystal barked, heaving and then collapsing, all the tension fading from her body. She slowly curled to the side and wrapped herself around her egg, panting all the while.

"See," Dew murmured, "it was fine. A healthy, normal egg just like the last one."

"It did not feel healthy," Crystal said wearily. "Lily, my son?"

"Already on his way," Lily replied, shifting her paws and opening a path. Burble looked up at her suspiciously, then crawled as fast as he could over to his Dam, who welcomed him into her embrace and nuzzled him with a weary purr, much to his delight.

"Lily," Dew called out, heading to the exit.

Lily followed her, curious as to what she might have to say that Crystal could not hear. "What is it?"

Dew stopped just outside the side-cavern. "She is right," she admitted with a sympathetic glance at the entrance. "Having eggs so close together is not good for her, and I suspect that was why this one was harder on her body."

"And she could not hear you say this because?" Lily prompted seriously.

"Because I know that Claw is hard to keep away, and I do not want to worry her," Dew huffed. "She needs time to heal, and I do not see Claw giving that to her. I worry we will see a third soon, if she has eggs this easily. He will wear her down and not care."

Lily nodded, not all that surprised by the blunt assessment. She worried along the same lines, though not when it came to eggs, thanks to the plant that had just become an option once more as the hot season slowly approached.

"I do not know how to stop him," Dew admitted. "Pina does not either. What she did last time did not work for nearly long enough. It will have to be something else, but I do not see what."

"I can come up with something," Lily decided. "Can she sleep here with you tonight?" All it would take to justify that was saying Crystal had collapsed into slumber after laying her egg; it was almost nightfall already. That was believable, and would give Lily time to organise a plan.

"Yes, but it would be suspicious after tonight," Dew said. "It is good she has your help. She is going to need it, now more than ever."

"I know." She resented Claw more than ever for forcing this, and for not even being decent enough to afford Crystal the same benefits his other mates took for granted when they had eggs. He was going to come into their side-cavern tonight, or maybe tomorrow night, and expect Crystal to endure his vile attention regardless of what she had gone through. He would enjoy it; her pain wouldn't bother him.

But maybe, just maybe, something else would. Lily purred, connecting something she had learned a while back with something she had said to Burble moments ago, a solution and a method coming together out of nowhere. "I think I already have one way to keep him off of her."

O-O-O-O-O

By pure luck, Claw did not come to their side-cavern the first night, when Lily lay alone, devoid of the warmth Crystal and Burble provided. She was glad to avoid that argument. But she knew he would come the next night, once word of Crystal's new egg reached him, that was just the sort of twisted thing he loved to do to them both.

"You are sure?" Crystal asked nervously, tapping a paw on the brown fragments Lily had brought her, a large, wet mouthful of bark.

"Definitely," Lily grunted, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Just carrying it all back in her mouth made her stomach turn, and she felt nauseous. That was what it was meant to do, after all.

"No, son," Crystal hummed, placing her paw on the pile and shooing Burble back to her side. "You really do not want to try this. I will not unless he shows up."

Lily glanced over at Honey, who was paying them absolutely no attention, busy trying to wear Wax out. It was her own fault he still had so much energy, given she had kept him inside most of the day, and Lily had no sympathy for the other female, who had ignored Crystal's new egg with the intensity of someone who felt they had been one-upped.

"He does not need it, anyway," Lily quipped, recalling the times Burble decided he wasn't happy with his fish and spat it back up.

"True. Do you think I-" Crystal stiffened at the sound of claws on the stone outside, and then scraping, scales against stone. She ducked down, her muzzle hovering over the chipped wood.

"Not yet," Lily hissed, rising to stand between Crystal and the entrance. If this was some random light wing, not Claw, she didn't want Crystal suffering for nothing.

But they were not lucky enough for it to be someone else. As soon as she saw Claw's face, she tapped the pile with her tail, stalking forward to intercept him and keep his attention long enough for her friend to choke down the bark she had painstakingly stripped from a tree earlier that day.

"You are eager," Claw purred, seeing that she was walking to meet him. He tilted his head and eyed her. "Finally coming around?"

"I feel nothing," Lily said neutrally, risking a more provocatively defiant statement than she might have had she not needed to buy time. It was nowhere near the limit of how defiant and insulting she could be, but she knew she would regret even this much.

"I will make you feel something," Claw hissed at her, getting so close that he stepped on one of her paws, glaring down at her. "Pain or pleasure, your choice."

"Pain."

His claws shot out, and she gasped as they dug between her scales, piercing her paw.

He stepped away after a long moment, his eyes bright with anger and satisfaction. "I am happy either way."

Lily nodded stiffly, stepping away from him and ignoring the pain in her paw. She knew she had stalled long enough; she could hear Crystal murmuring something soothing to Burble, which meant she had already swallowed the bark.

"Be rid of the hatchling and egg," Claw commanded, flicking his tail dismissively. "I am here to congratulate you." He left no doubt as to what that meant.

"She had a hard time with her egg," Lily interjected, knowing that the plan was already in motion. She moved over to collect Burble and the egg, hoping that they would offer her some protection from Claw's attention once Crystal was no longer an option.

"I do not care," Claw replied.

Crystal chose that moment to groan and hunch down. "I feel sick."

"Faking will not-"

Lily watched with a mixture of satisfaction and worry as Crystal leaned over and vomited all over the stone between her and Claw, tossing up what looked like a few days' worth of meals. Burble warbled curiously at the sight, probably thinking that his Dam was bringing up food for Claw like she sometimes did for him when it was more convenient than having someone go fishing.

"Control yourself," Claw snarled, hopping backward, barely avoiding the rapidly spreading pool of vile liquid and chunky fish parts. Lily snarled softly at that; did he seriously think it was a matter of willpower? She had hoped for a more visceral reaction, ideally Claw running out of the chamber and staying away for a long while, but maybe that had been unwarranted optimism.

"Cannot," Crystal moaned, lurching forward and adding to the puddle.

A small groan of disgust reminded Lily that Honey and Wax were present too. They had both been silent throughout this entire encounter, which now that she thought about it was not normal. Honey should have been leaping at the chance to get Claw's attention and affection, or loudly protesting Crystal soiling their shared chamber.

Instead, she was looking down at the ground, her eyes averted from the scene, grimacing at nothing in particular. She looked to be trying to stay out of it all, as strange as that was for her.

Claw growled at Crystal and turned away from her, looking over at Lily. His eyes narrowed as she ignored him in favor of licking Burble's head and shifting him over to her side, where he usually slept.

"I want all of that cleaned up by tomorrow night," Claw snarled, stalking out of the chamber.

Lily barked a sarcastic laugh, sharing a look of triumph with Crystal. "But what if you throw up tomorrow night, too?" she asked seriously, mindful of the other person who could hear them. "Sickness does not just go away."

"I think I will," Crystal replied, even now shaking off the effects. The bark hadn't been in her long enough to do anything besides make her throw up once. Lily could see it floating in the large puddle. "I still feel tired and sick, and doing what Claw wants would not help."

"You need to recover from having a difficult egg, of course," Lily agreed. "Do you want me to-"

"No, I can clean it up. He is already drowsing." Crystal lowered her head and began flaming the pile. "I hope the smell does not wake him."

Lily rumbled in agreement, her mind on something else. Claw really should have sent some of his males to come help fix this, or to tend Crystal. It wasn't fair that she had to do everything with a hatchling and an egg.

And after how easily he had been turned away, she was feeling up for another round of manipulating him. Crystal provided both motivation and a relatively easy, safe goal to work toward.

O-O-O-O-O

"Congratulations!" the female crowed, fawning over the egg and sleepy hatchling on display between Crystal's front paws. "Two in so little time. You are a great mate. Claw must be so proud."

Crystal shrugged her wings and scowled. "He does not care," she said truthfully.

"Oh, but surely he does," the female countered blithely.

Lily took that opportunity to slip her own contribution into the conversation. "He seems to care less of late. He has not even offered to have the males help her."

"Really?" the female looked disgruntled now. "You are sure?"

"He might have said something about not wanting to do that anymore," Crystal lied with a bitter edge to her voice. "I do not know, I was busy puking my guts out. It was not an easy laying."

"Well, I never," the female grumbled. "He was helpful when it was me laying the egg. I was wanting another soon, but if he is not going to put in the effort, it would be too much trouble."

There was more small talk after that, but Lily didn't care. She was busy adding to a collection of lines scratched into the cavern floor. Once the female had left, she purred loudly.

"What is that now?" Crystal asked, sounding amused.

"Six good reactions and two bad," Lily recounted. "And it is not even noon yet. By nightfall, half of Claw's mates will have heard the rumor first-paw, and the other half through gossip." It helped that so many were coming to congratulate Crystal as news of her latest egg spread; having two so close together was unheard of, and seemed to attract those who were thinking of having eggs themselves, which was perfect for their purposes.

"And they will all be unhappy about it?" Crystal asked.

"Ideally, some of them will be mad at him," Lily agreed. "Even if none of them do anything, he will surely notice, and some of them will change their minds about having eggs. When he asks why they don't want to mate with him, they'll explain, and he'll have all of two choices. Annoy all of his mates, or give in and treat you like the rest of them."

"He might just say I am acting out and not worthy of being treated well," Crystal objected.

Lily laughed at that, feeling proud of her surprisingly simple plan. "No way. Did you hear the last one? According to everyone, you must be one of his best mates." She let the sarcasm show in her voice, knowing that Crystal would take it in the cynical way it was intended.

"He might just ignore it."

"Then we have gotten a large portion of the pack annoyed with him, and he will be seen as petty or worse." She was proud of that part, too; there was no way for this to end without their cause gaining. Either Crystal benefitted, or Claw's reputation took a hit. A small hit, but a hit all the same.

"That is why you are having us do this?"

"No, I'm having us do this so that we're not overwhelmed trying to take care of two hatchlings and an egg," Lily corrected, tapping her tail on Wax's small body. He was laying quietly next to her, sleeping late like his Dam sometimes did. "And as practice." She had neglected to work on manipulating Claw directly up until now. This was a good, safe way to test the waters and learn what worked. Even if he realized she was responsible, this was a small, almost petty rebellion that he could easily put down. It might hurt a little, but afterward he would consider her suitably cowed and not suspect a thing.

O-O-O-O-O

Lily had wondered how long it would take the rumors to become unignorable, and what Claw would do in response. The optimal move on his part was to quietly reassure each female who brought it up that he had never said anything of the sort, and in the meantime to treat Crystal fairly, sacrificing nothing but a petty taunt at her in exchange for keeping his reputation up, and maybe even making himself look better than before by reminding everyone all he did for his mates.

Claw, it seemed, had a different idea of what was best. His idea involved confusion and roaring. Lots of roaring.

"What do you mean?" he roared, directing his frustration at a pouting female, turned away from him with a look of disappointment.

"I mean that I do not want an egg," she replied clearly, not worried about provoking him. Lily wished she had the security to defy Claw like that. This female was not afraid he would hurt her. It might be a confidence born of ignorance, but it was a confidence all the same. "Since you have decided not to help your own mates with them anymore."

"I never did that," Claw growled, batting her hindquarters with his paw. "Why does everyone keep saying I did?"

Lily snorted quietly, holding in her amusement as best she could. He sounded so confused and frustrated. She had it on good authority that this was at least the fifth time one of his mates had turned down his advances over the rumor she and Crystal had started. All older females, ones who had been his mate for a long while and felt they could turn him down. Ones who actually liked him, as far as she could tell, and thus ones he had indulged.

"Clearly you did. I hear the new female who has given you two eggs in less than a season-cycle does not even get help, and she should have it if anyone does, so obviously it is not being given to any of us now." The female huffed in annoyance, looking back at him.

"Did she tell you this?" Claw asked dangerously.

"Nobody told me," his mate stressed. "Everyone knows. It is obvious if one just looks."

Another withheld snort of amusement made Lily feel like her head was going to pop from the pressure, so she faked a sneeze and let her amusement out in the time it took a tiny blast of fire to hit the ground. It had worked so well neither she nor Crystal would even be implicated, even though she knew this female had heard it from Crystal herself.

"What I do with one of my other mates does not affect how I treat you," Claw retorted, walking up alongside her and purring seductively, ignoring the large audience their public argument had garnered in the main cavern. Most of those watching were his mates anyway.

"Until you decide to treat me like dirt too," was the acerbic reply. "Go find someone with less self-esteem to tend to your needs today."

Lily distinctly heard a few gasps at such flagrant defiance, though she knew the entire situation was shrouded in the familiarity of mates, and thus not as serious as it would have been if someone outside Claw's circle had done it.

Claw snarled at her and slapped his tail against her side. "Too far," he warned. "You do not speak to your mate and alpha like that."

"My apologies," she simpered, not sounding all that sincere. "But I still do not feel like it today, or any day soon while you are not willing to care for what comes of it." With that, she flounced off, obviously aware of their large audience.

Lily ducked her head again as Claw looked around, not wanting to catch his attention. She heard him growl loudly and leave without offering so much as a word of explanation. She could not consider the argument anything but proof that he was going to be forced into doing something soon. Now she just wondered how he was going to handle his inevitable capitulation.

O-O-O-O-O

"That is just not fair..."

Lily woke to the smell of fresh fish and the sound of bitter complaints from Honey, both familiar to her, and neither ignorable. Burble was already kicking against her side and Crystal in an attempt to squirm out and get at the tantalizing scent.

"You can have a few," Crystal offered, sounding far more awake than Lily felt. "They brought a lot. More than I need, for sure." She sounded pleasantly surprised, and just a little smug. Lily understood the latter feeling; she was guilty of the same reaction now that her mind was catching up to the situation.

"Enough for you, me, Honey, and both hatchlings, I'm guessing," Lily offered, savoring the moment but not quite ready to open her eyes and confirm it yet. Claw was trying to make himself look extra generous, as futile as that would be now that so many of his mates had gotten it into their heads that he was nothing of the sort. He hadn't even come around to try and blame Crystal, or somehow work the situation around to benefit himself, as Lily had anticipated.

"And a few on top of all that just in case one of us is feeling greedy," Crystal agreed. "Really, Honey, you and Wax can have as much as you like." She shifted, and Lily felt Burble being lifted out from between them and presumably set free on the pile. He had learned to go for the smaller fish, so it was safe to let him try and manage his own feeding so long as someone was watching to catch him when he inevitably choked on something.

By the time Lily had blinked herself awake and stretched her legs, everyone had already gathered around the pile. It was a rare occasion, all five of them eating together. Six if she counted the egg Crystal had pulled along to rest next to her. It was almost nice, though she would have preferred to share a meal with Pina, Dew, and Crystal's parents if they could be brought around to the right way of thinking. Honey was tolerable, no more.

"My turn to watch them all," Crystal remarked between fish. "Right?"

"Definitely," Honey haughtily agreed, then delicately picked out another fish for Wax. "Tomorrow, too. You traded a turn with me, remember?"

"I do." Crystal nodded in acceptance.

"Not alone," Lily interjected, raising an issue that was quickly making itself apparent. "We can't keep going like this. One person is not enough to keep two hatchlings occupied and an egg warm and safe."

"I do not want to lose any more of my free time just because Crystal had another egg so soon," Honey complained.

"Then find someone to watch with you, while Crystal and I take the other days," Lily offered. "We need two people on it at all times now. There's no getting around that." Hopefully, Honey wouldn't notice-

"I would still be stuck watching them one day out of every two," Honey objected, noticing the very thing Lily had hoped would not occur to her. "Why not get Claw to have some of the males take over?"

Crystal huffed in disgust. "No, not that. I do not trust them." She left it sounding like she just didn't trust males in general, but Lily heard a condemnation of the ones who served Claw, though here and now those two groups were identical.

"Some of his other mates, then," Honey insisted stubbornly.

"Maybe I can help," came a cold, insincere offer.

Lily couldn't help but flinch, turning her head just far enough to confirm that Cressa had slipped into their chamber while they were distracted.

"Would you?" Honey asked hopefully, clearly not caring who Cressa was outside of being one of Claw's mates.

"Maybe, maybe not," Cressa simpered, stalking around behind Lily. "I hear things have gotten better for those living here."

"At no one's request," Lily said carefully, seeing the ploy even as Cressa growled behind her. On the one paw, Claw would be seen correcting a wrong, and on the other, Cressa would come to ensure there were consequences. He might not know they had deliberately spread the word, but he wouldn't care.

"Oh, but we both know that is just how you would do it, is it not, Lily?" Cressa continued in a casual, drawn-out tone. "You were taught cowardice and rebellion, after all."

Lily pulled her tail in under her body as the voice neared, all too aware of what her own Dam had done last time Claw had sent her. She was not going to be grounded again. She also wasn't going to say anything in defense of Pyre, no matter how much she wanted to, as that was Cressa's goal in mentioning him at all.

"Lily is not a coward," Crystal objected, crouching low and glaring at Cressa. "Why are you here? I certainly do not want you near my children."

"I am just here to say hello," Cressa rumbled. "And to deliver a message."

Mindful of the low ceiling, Lily leaped out of the way, correctly anticipating the swipe of sharp claws Cressa would have run down her back and tail had she not moved. She landed surely near the wall of the small cavern, then turned to glare at her Dam.

Honey and Crystal looked on, the latter not moving out of shock and fear, and the former busy shielding her vulnerable young from the dangerous female in the chamber. Lily didn't begrudge either of them their inaction.

"Is the message that you still despise me?" LIly growled, hoping she would take the way out of the task Claw had given her. "Consider it heard and understood. I hate you too."

"No, that is not it," Cressa hissed, walking toward her, claws at the ready. "This needs a more personal touch."

"One I will return in kind," Lily threatened obliquely. "Don't think I won't." She didn't know anything about fighting, but neither did Cressa, and she had the advantage of remembering how she and Crystal had been so easily defeated by Claw in this very chamber. A similar trick would stop Cressa if necessary.

"That will be hard," Cressa purred, slowly sheathing her claws and turning away, apparently giving up, though she didn't sound like that was her intention. "Very hard."

"I'll manage." Lily glared at her Dam's back until she was gone, and then at the exit for a while for good measure.

"And that is why I am not more bothered by my own Dam not understanding my feelings," Crystal announced, breaking the tense silence. "It could be far worse. You are okay?"

"I'm fine. She didn't do anything except threaten." If that was the end of it, she would consider this a victory. Claw's retaliation hadn't amounted to anything at all, and she had gotten Crystal some of the help she needed.

And, Lily noted, looking over at Honey, it didn't hurt for there to be at least one more witness to Cressa's violent actions. Honey's word could be invaluable later on, if this wasn't really the end.

"I do not want her watching Wax," Honey admitted quietly, her ears drooping a little. "But I still want someone less dangerous to help."

"Bring in somebody to meet Crystal, and if she is okay with them, then sure," Lily suggested. She didn't really care how Honey solved her own need for free time so long as the solution was a good one. Surely Honey was capable of arranging that much.

O-O-O-O-O

Lily stalked through the valley warily, her paws taking every step firmly in case she had to push herself out of the way of a strike. She was angry, and for good reason. The stinging cuts on her back were aggravating, and the cause more so.

Two days, and five injuries, not even counting the regular addition of new bruises and cuts courtesy of Claw. Cressa had taken to shoving past her at random and stealthily inflicting stinging cuts in the process, jabbing sharp claws into vulnerable scales and skin as she passed.

This too would pass, though. She had already set the counter in motion, and the sideways glances her newest oozing wounds were proof that her approach was working; people tried not to look at her at all, usually. That they were noticing meant they were looking, and thus that they expected to see something.

She had Pina and Dew to thank for spreading the word, and for spinning it the right way. In a better world, Lily might have used this against Claw, but he was still far too secure in his position as alpha. This rumor was not directed at Claw himself, and would not hurt his reputation.

It would stop Cressa, though, which meant returning to the relative safety of not needing to be constantly alert to everything. Lily stalked into the small clearing around the base of the plateau, her body protesting every step of the way, and stood in front of it. This was one of the rare days Claw settled problems that his people brought to him, and she was going to use it.

"Alpha," she called out, seeing that he was unoccupied. "I have a question."

"You could have asked me tonight," Claw murmured, walking over to her. His eyes ran over her body, and she hated every moment of it, but by now she was numb to his attention. "What is it?"

"I recall you saying there would be no fighting among mates," Lily said loudly. This probably would have worked without word getting around about Cressa's persecution of her own daughter beforepaw, but she hadn't wanted to chance it. Now, people were watching and listening. A few were even nodding along, expecting what she was going to say.

"I did say that," Claw agreed slowly, looking around before continuing in a lower voice. "Perhaps she is unhappy with your attitude."

"I did nothing to anger her specifically," Lily replied. "I have not attacked her back. You know what is happening. You are alpha, so of course you know." She almost threw up in her mouth, saying something like that, but any who actually listened would hear the sarcasm, and any who listened with a cynical mind would hear the true implication, that this was done to her with his consent.

"Cressa, I take it?" He let out a low sigh and stared down at her impassively. "Do you really want me to step in between the two of you?"

"I want it to stop," Lily replied neutrally. "If that takes your intervention, so be it."

"Maybe," Claw murmured to her, eyes narrowing slightly, "if you were more cooperative, I would be less tolerant of her need to hurt you."

Lily acted as if she had not heard him; the whole point of spreading the word was to back him into a position where he could not use this as a bargaining tool. "Please," she requested loudly, "tell her to stop and obey your rules. You yourself said there would be no fighting between us." She intentionally refrained from calling herself his mate.

He stared at her for a long moment, then languidly lounged back with a flick of his tail. "Let it be done, then," he intoned self-importantly. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Lily rumbled, slipping away before he could say anything else. It was a small thing, and a seemingly easy way to end the persecution, but she didn't feel all that proud of it. All she had really achieved was ending the punishment Claw probably hadn't meant to happen anyway; she would understand and begrudge the implications if she'd witnessed such a scene, but the rest of the pack blatantly ignored far more obvious problems.

Really, this whole issue left a bitter taste in her mouth now. He might be surprisingly easy to manipulate, but only when he had left himself open to it. All of this was just calling him out on a few obvious, minor injustices. She could not do the same for bigger things, not with anything substantial. She didn't have enough support for that to work.

Claw was still far too secure in his position. She had yet to cut down more than a pawful of trees in the forest, and those ones that had not stood all that strong to begin with. He remained unassailable in the center, so safe that he didn't even care if she seemingly accidentally removed one or two on the outskirts.

It would be the work of long season-cycles to end all of this for good. There just wasn't any other way to do it, not safely and without risking throwing it all away for speed. None she could think of, anyway.

Author's Note: The end of this chapter marks an interesting point in the story. A long while back, I began needing to rewrite things for a variety of reasons, and in doing so this portion of the story, the months directly after Pearl and Gold's departure, got expanded massively. All the important threads you've seen in the last six or seven chapters were originally small and stuffed into two or three. This chapter is the end of that expansion, because we've more or less reached the point where I can return to the original draft… multiple chapters later than expected. The events of next chapter were originally in chapter 16 of the first draft. With my chapter length, that means this was a 50,000+ word expansion. Talk about lengthening an already immensely long story… if that sort of thing keeps happening (and I know it will have to for a few points in the future) I have no idea how long this will end up being. However long is long enough to tell the story properly.