Seregdra had been suppressing how he felt towards his beta, Arundhati, for years. It was hard having feelings for someone who struggled with who they were and wanting to leave. He'd been surprised that after all this time, Arundhati was still even here and still able to shift. She had talked about having her curse broken and returning home to her birth herd. But as years went by, Arundhati was still cursed, still here and still by his side despite all the dumb stuff he's done.
She'd helped him raise his children despite what they are and who their mother is. She'd been incredibly patient and kind with the youngest, Spes. Seregdra could see the amazing mare that she is, yet Arundhati had been rather standoffish in some aspects with him. Now he had Shappa by his side and she was going to have their foals. Arundhati continued to be here. Well damn her, if she wanted to stay she should have just said so and stopped talking about leaving all the time. Speaking of which...where did she even go? The twins were out on patrol, so Arundhati should have been nearby.
It took some searching but he found her laying on a small outcropping as a wolf, over looking their sparse homeland. She was watching Spes giving her older sister grief but her mind seemed to be elsewhere.
"Hey," he said quietly from behind her.
Arundhati received news early in the morning that morning that just didn't sit right with her. She'd slinked off before the sun rose and laid down upon the rock, watching the rays of the sun creep across their herd land. The message played over and over in her head as she watched the others rise and go about their day. She barely registered that Spes was up to her usual antics when a voice behind her snapped her out of her own thoughts. She raised her head and looked at Seregdra, her alpha.
She had feelings for him that she shoved down. He'd been born to what she was cursed with. Although she'd grown use to it over time and even though she said she would leave and return to her mother, Arundhati never did. When Shappa came into the picture and turned his head, she realized that it was a missed opportunity. However, she watched Shappa closely. The red mare seemed to always make a disgusted face around Nyavel and Spes. She also seemed to always be complaining about something or another and it got worse when she became pregnant with Seregdra's babies. She doesn't deserve him or a place in this herd, Arundhati thought.
"Hello," she finally replied to him. She had tried to hide the turbulent emotions that welled up within her but tears clouded her eyes suddenly.
"My mother is dying," she choked out.
