Who would have ever guessed that her life would come to this? More importantly, who would have ever guessed that the Beast himself would have actually made true of his words upon that sunless day? She remembered in vivid detail how his eyes had glistened when he spoke of such melancholy and downfall. He had been a fool, paralyzed by his dreams of success - but they were not dreams anymore. She would have sympathized with the females who had no say, who had been forced under the spell of his leadership with little to guide them free from beneath his horrific shadow, destined to serve a new tyranny in the place of one that had fallen. But a part of her was still intrigued by the tales that he had told, and the methods through which he planned to one day rule over his conjured and corrupted kingdom. The new King had always had a demon on his shoulder, and it had mingled all too pleasantly with Banshee’s own. She would have taken an interest in his plans of destruction, she would have willingly succumbed to the ways of a narcissistic Alpha, had he not been so crude. She was a female - she was worth little more than the production of offspring, as he had proclaimed. It was a false prediction, if ever there was one. She was worth more than that. Her eyes had never gleamed with the care of a den mother, and she had never allowed young pups to press themselves into the crook of her neck. Her teeth, however, had experienced the pleasure of tearing flesh off of bone, and her muscles had ached with the longing to battle. She was destruction, and she did not need plans to make that clear. She would have excelled as a prized Warrior in the army he undoubtedly sought to build, but as a result of his petty judgements and misperceptions, he had lost the only female that could have been more than a useless mother.

And now she stood at the border of Helidos - the scent of a long forgotten she-wolf was steady on the tip of her tongue. She recalled her friendly smile, and the dazzling personality that surely had her marked as one whose friendship was a blessing to hold dear. The white carnivore was baffled by the idea that, once again, she would be accepted by such an inviting face. It would be difficult to plaster on her facade of docility; she wasn’t entirely certain that she wished to serve this Alphess in particular. Perhaps it’d be better if she stayed hidden in the shadows. She could observe as she saw fit, and she would not be required to be of any allegiance. She could avoid selling herself to Teren (something that wouldn’t even occur over her dead body) and also avoid enslaving herself to the ways of the peacekeeper, Quinn, herself. The only fault in such a plan was that she could not take her revenge out on Teren as she wished. If she truly wanted to skin that malevolent elder alive, then she would need to be properly classified as his enemy.

Without allowing herself any more time to ponder whether or not this was as she desired, she threw her head back and summoned the tranquil Queen with her otherworldly melody. This would make for a most delightful re-encounter if Quinn, by chance, remembered the angelic face of a she-wolf that she had accepted so long ago. A lot had happened since that day; their paths had been without reason to cross until now. Although she was, admittedly, nothing like the female she would come to stand beneath, they shared a common goal. Quinn was hopefully gutsy enough to have evil thoughts of death cast in Teren’s direction, and Banshee was precisely the type she would require to turn those evil thoughts into a breath-taking reality.

No, she did not hate the Beast. She simply wanted to make sure that he ate his words and never questioned her power again.

As though reincarnated from the very reminiscence of such a tranquil and gentle sovereign, the former Alphess of Maple Woods, and even priorly Elite of Cedar Grove, stood before her with yet another brand new crown: the Alphess of Helidos. It seemed as though there would be no use behind her attempting to jog the she-wolf’s memory, for she recalled the face of Banshee with incredible ease. Her words of greeting, as welcoming and kind as expected, brought a false smile to the demon’s lips as she tucked her head just below that of the authoritative female’s, putting on a thorough and effective charade of respect to make it seem as though, upon this visit, she meant well. “I remember you very clearly, Quinn. This meeting upon the newest of your borders brings me back to the day that I had just decided to align myself with the ranks of Cedar Grove.” That much was the truth. This meeting did remind Banshee of the first time around that Quinn had accepted her into a pack, though whether or not she was brought back to that particular day with fondness was entirely questionable. Regardless, she spoke the words that she was certain Quinn would like to hear. As of now, it seemed completely plausible - gathered from her behavior, alone - that the Helidos Alphess didn’t remember Banshee as being anything more than a fine addition to Cedar Grove. She certainly hadn’t been a part of the pack long enough to begin formulating any suspicions as to whether or not Banshee was trustworthy. If anything, news of Banshee’s former promotion to Delta female underneath Alphess Dahlia’s reign only served to heighten Quinn’s expectations of the white carnivore after she had left to lead Maple Woods in their time of need.

Why was she here? It was the golden question. She had a fine life going for her in Cedar Grove: she had a ranking with the perfect amount of authority to appease her, and was viewed as nothing other than the respectable, and perhaps even a little scary Delta female. There had been no reason, no driving force, behind her need to move on to something anew. Perhaps, she had felt as though her ties to Cedar Grove were beginning to become too strong? Banshee had never belonged to the likes of a pack as long as she did Cedar Grove. Often, she moved on to new packs by choice, or because her tendency to partake in the morbid was discovered - by accident or intentionally, one other than herself would never know. She stayed with Cedar Grove, she would frequently muse, because there had always been something of interest going on; something to maintain her attention. But, with so many drastic changes as Quinn had so nicely put, her ties had loosened considerably. “I had suspicions for a long time that Cedar Grove wasn’t the right place for me any longer. The change in leadership from Dahlia to Azrael was a huge alteration for the pack to accept, and I suppose I could not bring myself to serve Azrael in a manner similar to as I did for Dahlia.” She needed a reason beyond that of simply growing tired of Cedar Grove. Such an answer would only push Quinn to wonder whether or not accepting Banshee into Helidos would be a mistake, for how long before she would tire of them as well? Therefore, she settled with telling Quinn a different version of the truth. It wasn’t entirely a lie - Banshee had never adapted to serving the lone wolf, Azrael, that had chosen to abandon Cedar Grove when Dahlia would not reciprocate a love to him that was stronger than that which she held dear for Obsidian - but it wasn’t the main force behind her deserting Cedar Grove, either. She probably would have left even if Dahlia was still in a position of authority. After all, it wasn’t like she actually enjoyed serving the tiny Alphess. She served whoever so happened to be in charge because it was a necessity, not because she truly wanted to. “I’ve been traveling on my own for a long time, since having left the Haven. It was sheer coincidence that I happened to stumble upon these borders - I recognized your scent almost instantaneously. I believe, or rather hope, what could no longer satisfy me in Cedar Grove, I will find here anew.”

[I apologize if this is terrible.]

[You do not need to reply, if you do not wish to. Please change your name to Warrior Banshee!]