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Just as the sun began to set, its vibrant orange light flooding the evening sky, a pair of wolves made their way back towards the Glen pack's den, one dark and one fair. The dark wolf's movements were tense, his whole body language radiating an air of unease. Leaves clung to his charcoal fur, and his legs were caked in mud. For all their searching, Zagreus and Ouranos had found no sign of Aoede.

The alpha male padded wearily into the mouth of the cave and sat down. As he did so, he turned to his mate, shaking his head.
"I couldn't find her.. I looked everywhere I could think of. The recent rain has washed away all the scents. I just hope some of the others had some luck."

Luck. That was something that seemed in short supply lately. Aoede was not the first member of the pack to have disappeared. Although.. at least Persephone had returned to them safely. The small albino had been even more withdrawn than normal since her return. Persephone's experience at Helios' paws alone was enough for Zagreus. He had not only been searching for Aoede. Once he found the golden male, he planned on making sure that the manipulative b*****d was removed from his pack's territory. Forceably, if need be (and Zagreus suspected it was needed). He was not the most violent of wolves. But Helios was now endangering his pack members, and that was intolerable.

Shambala and Bakari had led the dappled female for quite some distance when they came upon the main den. Or at least, it seemed that way to Bakari, who was just eager to get the formalities over and done with.

Shambala, however, was having mild misgivings over the whole thing. It wasn't that she wasn't confident, she was that and perhaps more. She just wondered quietly how much of what Erin had told them was true. It certainly looked like she had been saved from Helios. But what if it was a well-constructed plan, designed to get a trusted spy within their ranks. Not, she realised after a moment's contemplation, that it was her decision to make. Just as chasing Helios away had not been their decision either.

She sighed as she meandered behind the others, making the last small hike to the den. She supposed that, sometimes, you just had to trust you could make the right desicion on your own.

Finally at their destination, Bakari took the lead. Stepping into the cave with a cautious expression - seemingly oblivious to the idea he could possibly be interrupting anything. "Hi, we've, uhh, got someone you guys might wanna meet."

A small, dappled brown form emerged from behind the large white male and slightly smaller, black female. She knew Shambala, at least, might have slight misgivings about bringing her back here but was cheered by Bakari's enthusiastic trust. Her violet eyes left the ground to meet those of the three wolves who were, it seemed, already here.

Zagreus, Ouranos and a brownish female she had not met before. Unsure for a moment she hung her head again. It had taken her so long to break away from Helios but now... now she had to deal with facing those he had plotted against and explaining it all.

Last time she had seen Oura she had been so delighted to know he was here, had a mate, was alive! She had missed him since he had left their original pack. It was sad she had to meet him again under such strained circumstances. Zageus she had not seen in even longer - he looked well if a little riled. By how close he was standing to the female, the feeling of a bond between them, Erin imagined they must be mates. The alpha pair of this small pack whom Helios wished to destroy. They were family, all of them! Ouranos was her cousin, Zagreus a little more distantly related but still... family. Her tail was tucked between her legs, her ears flattened and her voice a quiet squeak as she began to speak. "Ouranos, Zagreus I'm so happy to see you... I.. I.. Helios is planning something terrible. I couldn't let him, I wanted to tell you, let you know." It all came out in a rush.

Calliope leant gently against her mate before the trio wandered into the cave. Any news could be good or bad so she wasn't sure if she was keen to hear what they had to say. That it wasn't her daughter saddened her, and Erin's foreboding pronouncement didn't do anything to calm her already frayed nerves.

"My daughter.. do you know if she's allright?" echoing her mate's thoughts the caramel female blurted out. She was anxious, as all mothers were, about her offpsring. First she wanted to know if Aoede had run afoul of Helios and then they could hear whatever plots and plans this wolf she had never seen had had made against them. She swore she was ready to rip his throat out by herself.

Ouranos' head came up and his maw stretched into a wan smile as the small female stepped out from behind the young wolves. He had not been sure he was ever going to see her again in good circumstances and was quietly happy that she seemed to have come to them instead of staying with that waste-of-space Helios. With a pang of hurt he remembered encountering the male with Anya such a long while ago. He hadn't changed since their youth and was still the bullying womaniser he had always been.

He, of all of them perhaps, understood how the blonde male had dominated Erin and how much it would have taken her to leave his side. He padded over to the small female and gave her a close, friendly nuzzle. "You'll be safe here, Erin" he said, quietly.

Zagreus remained quiet as Calliope spoke, allowing his mate to speak first as he weighed up the situation. There was the possibility that this was a trap laid by Helios, but something about Erin's demeanour and tone made him think that she was telling the truth. Erin had always followed in Helios' wake, cleaning up after the arrogant male. The fact that she had left him was both a good and a bad sign. Good, in that Erin had finally found her courage, bad in that it would have taken a lot to make the small female give up on her cousin.

As Erin spoke, the alpha male gave a slight nod. "Anything you could tell us would be a huge help." He didn't want to push the female just now, but hopefully she would tell them everything that she knew.

"There's a couple of rabbit kills just outside the cave if you would like to eat first, though," he offered, wondering if she was hungry. Unless Helios had changed (which he sincerely doubted), Erin would probably have done most of the work while they had been here. As Shambala asked about Aoede, Zagreus turned to her with a grim shake of his head.

"She's still missing.. Myself and Ouranos have searched all over, but the rain has washed away any signs there might have been.."

Jagger had only been in his new home for a few days and already things seemed to be complicating themselves. Had he jumped in the middle of some greater battle he didn't even know about? So far he had yet to go into the den, not wanting to infringe on the trust they so willingly let him have. Already the old male was looking a little more healthy, a little more happy, but now... he wasn't sure what to think.

As the pack gathered at the den, Jagger slowly approached and peeked inside, watching and listening to what was going on. The daughter they mentioned that was missing he knew nothing about, and this other wolf who seemed to be the cause of all their troubles was unknown to him. Slowly he sat his old haunches down and watched in silence, having nothing to add to something he knew so little of.

But the more he listened and the more he found out, the more it sounded like a war. His black ears pulled back on his head and he wondered if this pack would last against the attack of another, or what this other pack consisted of. Strong, young wolves? He was no match for a head-on fight.

Calliope looked up as Aisha joined them. The female had only recently joined and could be a little peevish but she was a confidant enough hunter and tracker and Calliope had come to trust her at least somewhat. Perhaps more than Bakari even who seemed to have brought a little more trouble. She took a deep breath, trying to figure out what was going on, to word it in such a way... But first, she'd better tell the newest pack member to come in. "Jagger, come inside!" she called "You need to know all of this too." she said with a gritty determination in her voice. She knew her daughter was safe now - in the paws of one she'd rather Aoede was not but still - alive! Now her eyes mirrored inside - grey steel, rocky and ready to protect her home, her pack. They needed to know more, to find out where Helios was and might be likely to come from - to get her Aoede back...

With a glance up at her mate the caramel female looked around. Who did she trust beyond a doubt? Zagreus, of course, but she needed him here with her. Ouranos! He was a large and solid wolf, a little dreamy but she had come to have a great deal affection for the big tawny male in the time they had all lived side by side. He was big enough, too, to protect himself and he seemed to know Erin well enough. Yes. "Ouranos. I need you to go with Erin if she will and find his den and... and see if you can find my daughter and bring her back too.." She was being selfish, she knew, but they did need to know where Helios was hiding out and where he might be coming from.

Erin did not at all like the idea of heading back towards Helios - she had just gotten away from him afterall but this female in front of her had lost a daughter to that git and, well, she had asked. Not really ordered. Erin was sure if she insisted she couldn't find her way there or said she couldn't she would be allowed not to but...

No. She owed them all this much. She didn't know where Helios' den was from here but if Ouranos could show her the way to somewhere she did know then she should be able to navigate from there. The small, dull borwn female nodded, her violet eyes flickering up briefly to meet those steel grey ones for a moment. She nodded to Ouyranos too, and began to move towards the entrance.

Jagger jumped as the female sneaked up behind him and whispered in his ear. Damn, he should have heard her coming... maybe his ears were starting to give out like the rest of him. As orange eyes watched her walk towards the others inside and announce his presence, his ears drew back and he stood up into view.

Eventually he made his way inside, passing the others as they left. He looked back up at Calliope, his head low. "Sorry, I just wasn't sure what was going on... still not really." He gave her the same nervous, toothy smile. "I do believe I chose to join a war when I wandered into this place." He looked around, a little on edge.

Calli looked sharply up at Melete. "No" she almost shouted, but there was fear, not anger, in her voice. "Mel.. I can't if you were to.." she shook her head. She didn't want to lose another daughter. "Stay here." she commanded, eventually, a stern look coming over her anguished features.

Calliope nodded to Zagreus as he explained to Jagger. "I'm just sorry you got caught up in all of this mess." she sighed, looking at the new pack member. "I just hope that things can be sorted out so that we can live without that blonde b*****d over our heads all the time. As time wore on she was getting more irate about the intrusion of the golden wolf into her new life. It had all gone so easily until now and here he was ruining it with his petty games. She gave a great sigh as she looked around the room of wolves in front of her - her mate, her family, her friends. That son-of-a-b***h would not harm a hair on their coats. Not one or she would rip his throat out for him.

She was a mess of emotions: Fear, anger, rage and now a slow burning desire to protect her own. Helios would be unlucky if he was to come face to face with this particular she-wolf.