" No its ok Clay.. I'll be fine." Em said before she left the den and back outside, back to the tree she was ordered to sleep by, instead of one of the dens. she was tired from her trek that she didnt eat a thing. She just rested all day. She didnt care who bossed her around. She would just ignore them entirely. Except for Mikael of course.

As Makayla watched Othello play fight with Eric, she looked over at Em as she lied down next to the tree to rest, and she slightly felt sad for Em, remembering her reaction from earlier and how being separated from her pups bothered her so badly. She misses her pups dearly. There has to be a way to reunite them to Em... Makayla knew that she would move the mountains just so she could be with her pups, she knew that Em would do the exact same. After breaking up a play fight that was getting a bit intense, Makayla saw Hunter and Daria return from their trip, each one with a leg of a deer firmly in their mouths. Perfect timing. Makayla got up and walked over to them and waited for the Alphas to finish burying the meat. "Hunter? Do you and Daria have a moment to talk?" Hunter nodded. Makayla took a deep breath and what was on her mind. "What will it take for Em to reunite with her pups? She's miserable without them and she would be so much happier and content if she had her pups with her. I would do whatever it took to reunite with my pups, and I know she would do the same." Hunter looked at Makayla for the longest time, with part of him knowing that it would be a fruitless venture considering how Lilac was acting, but the other part of him knew that Makayla was probably right. "Daria, what do you think?" Hunter asked. "I think Makayla is right. And besides, if we bring her pups here, then she may be less incentivized to go off on her own or make a risky attempt to get them back herself. I know you may not like it, but if we do this, I'm sure Em will be thankful." With a sigh, Hunter nodded at the statement from Daria, knowing that he would have to barter with Lilac to do so. "Don't tell Em just yet. Nothing's guaranteed and I don't want to be raising her hopes up for nothing." They nodded and Makayla left the den. Meanwhile Mikael was still on patrol, nearing the end of his route when he spotted a loner, a young male, slightly younger than Mikael was, and proceeded to chase him off. It took awhile, but eventually the loner ran away from the territory of the Hearts and Mikael wrapped up his route and began walking back home.

Even if someone talked to her about her pups... it wouldnt matter. Lilack was the father of her daughters. He had the right to keep them if he wished. And Em wouldnt be able to argue. But she had to try. She opened her eyes before getting up, stretched and shook out her thick fur. Now eyeing the group Hunter is finalyl back.. she thought.

Instead of walking towards the group, Em walked away from them, letting them know she didnt want to talk.

Meanwhile, in the other territory, Lilac, Dove and Star were on a a long walk together, headed towards Hunters territory " Now I made up my mind, girls. I know I dont want to do this... but I am keeping you. But Em has to know.

" But father.. she will be devistated. She has been wanting us since the moment you left her. She loves us still."

" Of course she does, but after this, she wont. She will have to find another pup and have her own. Now come"

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The trek to the other territory was long. But they eventually reached it and Lilac stopped. He howled letting the others know he was here with Dove and Star.

When Em heared the howl, she perked her ears " He's here, Alpha... May I? Please?" She looked at Hunter, Now with bravery in her eyes " I can do this, Alpha. Give me a chance to handle this. But being Mikael."

Hunter stared at her, before looking at Makayla and Daria, before turning back and giving her the go-ahead. "Just don't do anything brash, okay?" Hunter asked her. Em smiled and she turned to Lilac, who had Dove and Star by his side. Some distance away Mikael was returning home, confused by hearing a howl so close to home. Did Hunter invite someone to their den? Perhaps a loner wanted to join up with us and he was howling in excitement. The reason he cooked up in his head didn't make much sense, as the howl didn't sound that enthusiastic. Eventually he got within eyesight of home and he stopped dead in his tracks. There was Lilac, with Em's daughters right beside him. Why is he here? And why are Em's daughters with Lilac and not her? Mikael closed the distance and walked around to Hunter and the rest, wanting to not interrupt what was going on between the two ex-mates. "What is happening? Why is Lilac here?" Hunter quickly gave a run down of the events and Mikael quickly understood. "I hope she doesn't do anything foolish." He hoped as Em and Lilac talked.

Em stepped forward and glares at Lilac " Lilac. Im suprised to see you of all members here. What in heaven do you want from me this time?" She never left her eyes off him.

" Im just here to let you know that I'm taking the girls. They wont be seeing you ever again. You can fight me all you want, but you can have them back. I have every right to keep them. More than you of course. Have your own, I dont care. But you cant see Dive or Stardust again."

Em whined and stepped back. " What? But Lilac.. Im their mother! They can do as they please. And go where they want. " she had her tail up and her ears up. " All you would do to them is hurt them. I know about that scar my Stars neck, Lilac. Yo think I wouldnt see it? "

Star whined as she wanted to come over to her, but Lilac snarled to keeo her at bay " Well then. Come on girls.. get back home. " Dove was the first one to leave, then Lilac. But Star stayed behind, looking at her mother. " I'll really miss you, mother. Im sorry it had to be this way. Please dont forget us" she ran to her and nuzzled her. Em did the sam " Alright.. you best be gone. You behave now, ok? I wont ever forget you or Dove."

Lilac howled for Star to come and she obeyed. Walking beside him, All the way back to the territory.

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Em just stood there, brethless at what just happened. " I'll never forget you" she whispered before turning around and walked away, distressed. What am I to do now?

Seeing Lilac taking her daughters away and seeing Em despondent as she walked, Mikael's heart sank as he knew that unless something drastic happened, Em wasn't getting her daughters back. At first he wanted to walk over to her, but Makayla and Daria said it would probably be wiser just to give her some space and let her think it over, but after he thought it over for a moment, he decided that she may need him now more than ever, so he disregarded the girls' advice and went after her anyway. I hope this isn't the wrong move. Mikael hoped as he walked after her. Eventually he found her, lying down in a small clearing, with her back turned to him. He walked up beside her and lied down as well, seeing that she was weeping. "I won't say anything if you don't want me to. If you want me to leave and give you some alone time, just say the word and I'll be gone." Mikael said no more, resting his head on his paws, waiting for some kind of reaction from Em.

Em was quiet for a few moments hen she heared pawsteps behind her, then beside her. She looked up and was looking at Mikael " Oh Mikael. What am I to do, now I cant take care of my little girls? r see them?"

She whined, looking into his eyes " You have got to help me deal with this, Mikael. I dont trust anyone else other than you. You are all I have now. " she moved herself so she was facing him and rested her head on his back. " I dont know what to do any more. I feel like having more pups will just ruin my life. But.. is that what I even want? More work on my paws? More memories to push away?" then said " I need time to think about it though. Maybe wait a few years and then maybe I could talk to you or Hunter about it. But right now. I just cant think" she licked the back of his ear to try and loosen the tention she was feelin in her heart. But it would only go so far.

Mikael was silent after she spoke, not even laughing playfully at Em licking his ear. "Em... I... I'm sorry, but I don't have the answers to all the questions that is burdening your heart. I wish I could say something to console you. I wish I could say that there was a way I could make all your problems go away, but I can't. I would want nothing more than to see you happy, but at this moment, I don't know what to do other than being by your side so you are never alone." Mikael said, his voice wavering as he tried to hold his emotions back so he could be a rock for Em to lean on. "Em, I wanted nothing more than for you to be reunited with your daughters. I would do anything to help you get them back. When I saw that you were talking to Lilac, I stayed away because I knew that you knew what was best for your daughters. Now... I wish I was there with you, so I could stand by your side and maybe..." He didn't even finish the sentence as tears silently began to run down his face, finally breaking from the sadness and guilt that was building in his heart.

" I didnt want to leave them, Mikael. But I had to agree to Lilac, or he would have killed them. I know it because he did it to my last litter. " she had to get whatever she held againt Lilac, out. And when she did, she felt musch better " But you know what? Forget about Lilac. Forget everything he did to me and my children .. I am going to start fresh. A new pack, a new family." she was determined now to be slightly higher in rank. She would do whatever it took to be with Mikael. " Thanks for being there for me, Mikael. Everythime I see you, I smile."

She then got an idea to get her heart back to its usual pace. She smirked at Mikael before Pinning him to the fround, her eyes looking down at him " Beat me" she said her snout extra close to his, before licking his face and smirking. She didnt even see Hunter watching them. But she didnt care. She loved Mikael and Hunter wasnt going to stop her any time soon to have her little fun.

Mikael was quickly snapped out of his sad mood as he escaped Em's pin. "I guess you pick now to get that win back from me. Sorry Em, but you're not winning against me anytime soon." Mikael said, before launching at her and beginning the scrap. Even though he felt emotionally drained, Mikael was more than capable of wrestling with Em at this time, proving his training to be successful the longer it went on. The world seemingly faded away from Mikael as he focused on pinning down Em, while also making sure he wasn't giving her an opening for a takedown. Eventually he tried to take her down, preceding a series of reversals and further take down attempts. Eventually Mikael had Em pinned underneath his paws, a rather poetic way to win considering the result of their first time wrestling each other. However, just as he thought Em was going to yield, she wiggled free and escaped before delivering a takedown herself.