Starscream, Cortinarri, In'Alak, & Keap

Starscream had waited 'patiently' at first, giving his mate and the unknown caller several long minutes before he howled back. Then he howled again. When his third cry failed to get any response, Starscream shrugged of his mother's insistence to give Nachi more time, and had stalked determined off in the direction he'd first heard Delom. Hiding her sudden anxiety with years worth of practice, Cortinarri limped after her son... and ordered In'Alak and Keap to travel wit them.

It didn't take long to run across Nachi's scent, and from there find where it had crossed paths with the stranger at the border. Who the hell is this brute? He's not from the Shadow Lurkers, that's for sure. Star's hackles went up and his tail flagged rigidly above him. Sure, Delom hadn't crossed into his territory, but he didn't like that a strange male had come so close, and was now refusing to answer his demanding howls. Starscream picked up his pace, his fury increasing with each step he made through the tangled, drought parched underbrush. They walked together quite a ways. Damn fool, I'll give him a piece of my mind...! That brazen bastard! His eyes were narrowed now as he wondered just why Delom had paid them a visit, and why he had walked off with Nachi. Perhaps it was a bit of deep seeded guilt at play for all the times he'd been less than faithful to his mate, but Star didn't acknowledge that. The brute continued to storm along until he came upon a sight that stopped him dead in his tracks...

Pushing his muzzle through the withering branches of hawthorn bush, Starscream stepped into the semi-clearing in front of the den, where Rikka was laying next to the body of his mate. He stopped so suddenly, in fact, that In'Alak almost tripped over his paws in an effort to keep from running into Starscream's backside. As the older male came up beside his stunned alpha, his eyes widened in shock. A beat or two later, Starscream's fangs were bared and he was charging forward at the unfortunate fae whose fur was stained with Nachi's blood, "What have you done?!" For an alpha, Star's voice was sharp and shrill rather than deep, but it was just as blood curdling and perhaps even more terrifying when coupled with the murderous look that twisted his expression.

"Mom..!" Keap ran forward once his startled brain had worked out what he was seeing. He bypassed his father in order to nudge Nachi's head with his muzzle, not quite able to believe that she was dead, despite how much blood there was, and how gruesome the gaping wounds were to her throat and belly.

Cortinarri hung back by the hawthorne bush, silent and watchful.