The trek home had proved to be very painful and a slow process that involved multiple stops to catch her breath, cover her tracks as best as possible, not wanting to lead some predator back to her home due to her trail, and then begin the slow limp to their den, but once she made it through the Mires thorny barricades she stopped to rest, panting hard, blood still dripping from her wound. Her eyes scanned the area around her, before she limped deeper into the swamp, dripping blood and not caring about her droplets of blood now.

She entered the den and gave a soft groan, collapsing in a heap of blood coated fur, and aching muscles, her eyes closed as she welcomed the scent of her family, the children were probably out playing which gave her a moment to recover.

The smell of blood drew him in, like a moth to a flame, following the trail of familiar scent laced with the coppery tones of fresh blood. His eyes were narrowed, glaring at the drops that he could see on the ground as if that would solve whatever new problem this was.

It did not take him long to follow the trail to the den. The cubs were out, old enough to play unsupervised now, but when he pushed his way through the entrance their mother was home, laying on the floor bleeding. A growl rumbled through his chest. He held no true love for the woman he called his wife, but he would be damned if he would let someone else damage that which was his.

"Who?" he demanded sharply, looking her over, looking at the wounds that still bled freely, if slower now that she was resting. "Why?" The second most important question. He needed to know what the purpose of this was; why she was injured so. He would kill if need be, to teach others to stay away from the lions that belonged to him.

@Astarte

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His footsteps gave him away before his face appeared in the opening of their den, she heard his growl echo of the walls, her ears pinned back and she lifted her head to look at him, eyes softening as he spoke, since their last fight, she had been humbled for the time being. She would have moved to greet him, but a hiss of pain escaped her and she settled back down, the wound went from chest to pelvic area, it wasn't too deep, but deep enough to scar and bleed freely. His demand of who and why caused her ears to pin back and she answered calmly, if not a little forced as she spoke through pain, "Just a dominance match gone wrong."

She gave a shrug like it was no big deal, wincing as skin stretched around the wound, though she didn't give the name of the male, in truth she didn't know his name, just that he was Slaine's ex now.

If she wasn't already badly damaged he might have smacked her for her insolence in avoiding the first question and being vague in response to the second. Instead his response was an angry growl that reverberated through his chest, out of his throat, and into the enclosed space of the den. Loud and threatening, it made things clear that he wanted the answers he demanded.

He would not sit idly by while others damaged his property.

"Who?" he demanded a second time, his voice a strained growl as he resisted the urge to hurt her to force her to answer him. He would teach the culprit a lesson as soon as he had a name or an appearance to go on. His claws shifted from their sheaths, flexing into the earthen floor of the den as the tension rippled through his body. He was ready to kill.

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Astarte flinched away from Adalwolf, the lioness couldn't do much in terms of defending herself, not with her wound still bleeding, she lowered her head to the ground and took a submissive posture in hopes to appease him this way, but he demanded with all his Domi and anger, and she knew full well she was at his mercy now.


"Slaines ex husband..." She answered briefly, she lowered her ears, eyes soft and pleading with him, his claws flexed, causing her muscles to tense, last trauma aiding. Into her physical motions. "Adalwolf... What are you going to go?" She asked softly, worry filling her expression.

There were many things that could be said of Adalwolf. He was abusive, controlling, and more than a little cruel. But he would not add to the damage that had already been done to her by someone else. He was angry with her - for not answering his question right away - but he would not beat a woman that belonged to him when she was already down. He'd only lose in one way or another.

"Describe him," he snapped with a snarl, his eyes narrowing in on her. Dominance matches did not end in this, so either she was lying or the man had pushed farther than he needed to. Even the fights between himself and @Astarte had never ended this badly. He intended to teach the man a lesson.

"I am going to teach zis man a lesson for damaging what belongs to me." His voice was cold and commanding, leaving no room for argument. Though knowing her she would argue anyways.

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Did she find it romantic in some messed up way that Adalwolf wanted to find Ronin and hurt him? Yes. Did she know it was not because of love but because she was his possession, broken by someone else? Also yes. Did that for some fucked up reason make her want the Rike even more? Of course it did, she pinned her ears back as he snarled and snapped, Astarte thought back to the fight, it had started as what she thought was a dominance match, remembering how right before he wounded her, it had almost been comical with their fight.

She inhaled softly, letting out a small whimper before answering him, "A large male with a dark brown coat, his mane matches except for the bottom where it's lighter, his face has a wide streak that goes from one side of his face and stretches over his nose and becomes thinner up past his eye. He has one reddish orange eye, and the other is blue." She stops, wincing as she moved a little, she tried her best to think about the Male And describe him for Adalwolf, surprisingly she did not argue with him. Finally she added some more information, "His fangs and claws are longer. Longer than normal." She adds, not knowing exactly why, maybe a warning, maybe just more description, her eyes meet Adalwolfs, and for a moment she feels something akin to fear grip the organ, what if something happened to him?

The description was surprisingly detailed. Adalwolf had never met the man in question, even if he really was Slaine's ex-husband or whatever @Astarte had called him. He must have been gone by the time Adalalwolf had come here. It was too bad the man wasn't still living here or he would have simply found him within the Mire and taught him a lesson right then and there.

"Go see a medic," he ordered Astarte, his voice barely coming through the growl that rumbled through his throat. He was not equipped to handle her wounds. He only knew how to hurt, not how to heal. Surely there was a medic here in the Mire that could see to her. He turned to go, ready to summon one himself, half considering storming off right now to find the man who had done this to her.

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The Rike Jarl was out for blood and Astarte pinned her ears back, "You don't have to do this. I lost..." She spoke after him, she'd been honest when she spoke of the match, she hasn't known she would be wounded to this point, especially when the fight had taken an almost jesting manner. She hissed as she remembered laying underneath him, pinned to the ground, his smirk, then the cold state of his eyes, and then the cold, seeing feeling of skin and muscle tissue being opened, the cool air on wounds, mixing with the warm blood that bubbled over split end posted back skin. She then when she did but submit at first as she fought against the pain, he commanded her and once again, raised his extra Long Claws deep into the already turn gouges.

Her eyes swam a bit, feeling faint, she heard his command for her too see a medic and she nodded softly, "Please be careful @Adalwolf." She struggled to stand and limp to him, touching her nose to his shoulder since they were in a more private area.

Her words fell on deaf ears. He did not care if she had fought and lost. He only cared that she had been damaged by someone that wasn't him. She belonged to him. If any such wounds were to occur they should have been by his claws and his alone. He would not be seen as weak because he could not keep safe the things that belonged to him.

Her touch, too, was ignored. He was of a single determined goal now, not to be dissuaded or distracted. He looked one more time to @Astarte and commanded her again. "Go," he growled, and then he let out a chuff to let the healers know someone needed healing. Then he turned away from his wife and left, ready to seek out the blood of a new enemy.

/Exit Adalwolf

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