Zylo had again, voted this notion down, but the Tri were three for a reason; there would never be a tie, and Amarok enthusiastically sided with Sable that they should interrogate the doe for truth.
Hera hurriedly swept by her son and Asta, giving them both an apologetic glance as she left the building, Molaki kneeling next to Asta with his hand on her back, trying to calm her.
"How long will this take?" he spat, glaring at the three Alpha's, who had sat back down with their hands clasped on the table.
".... A while," Sable concluded. "We have to find an elder with the recipe, we don't know if the ingredients will be readily here or if they will need to be foraged, and then it needs to be brewed."
Molaki flared his nostrils, shaking his head. "She traveled hours before we," the words choked in his throat for a split second, "-we hunted her down and made her run. She's exhausted, she needs to eat. She's been thrown into shock at least once. Can't we do this tomorrow?"
The request sent Zylo into hysterics again, but after much protest, it was concluded that they would allow the doe to eat and rest, under lock and key, though she would be interrogated as soon as everything was ready. If that was tonight, so be it, if not, she would be brought back to chambers tomorrow.
The wolves rarely had to imprison anyone, their quarrels and discretions dealt with swiftly either by the Tri Alphas, a larger council, or as a community. There was one room within the Gathering House, the massive center building they were in, that was leftover from waring years past, that still had a heavy iron door. It had no windows, a large empty candleholder in the corner proving that once that was the only light source. A low wooden table was once a makeshift bed, though it was only now covered in dust, no furs or blankets to be found.
Molaki feverishly protested, begging the Tri to allow for some creature comforts for Asta, who had been unceremoniously marched down to the prison. It was again, Sable, to gave in, bringing him a few blankets from the infirmary that had very few patients and an excess of bed things. When he started snarling for candles, Asta quietly stopped him.
She was a creature of the dusk and dawn. The darkness was calming her down. The next struggle was Molaki not wanting to leave her on her own. The wolves were wary, especially Zylo and Amarok, that Asta would be able to cast 'more' spells on their brother, getting him to set her free, or perhaps even kill him. The two males didn't want to leave them alone in the cell, but when Molaki became so aggravated that he nearly shifted into his wolf to fight, they compromised, letting him stay with her, only if the door was locked and guarded from the outside.
Another Gathering assistant came with a shaking hand to pass off a canister of water and a plate of fresh autumn fruit: apples, figs, and grapes. They didn't know what else to feed a plant eater.
Finally alone and in silence, Asta exhaled, sighing in relief as she started to drink the water, not realizing how dehydrated she was. She offered it over to Molaki, who was sitting on the cotton blankets next to her, but not touching her. He shook his head, waving the offer off.
"No, you need to drink," he insisted.
Sure enough, after eating her fruit, the doe did finish all of the water, sighing again as she felt her whole body loosen up considerably. Molaki gave a soft chuckle in the dark, and she raised an eyebrow at him, finally speaking.
"What's so funny?"
"The fact that being in a pitch black prison is comforting to you," he was still laughing. Not just at this moment, but the absurdity of the day had just now had enough time wash over him. He may not have noticed it, but he too was running off of pure adrenaline, his natural leadership instincts guiding him through each catastrophe. For an hour now, they had time to decompress, even if it was just in jail.
Asta snorted, flicking an ear, but he wasn't telling any lies. She knew where all the walls were. She knew where the threat would come from, and she could keep an eye directly on the door.
"You need to sleep," Molaki reassured her, moving over so Asta could lay down if she wanted to. He wasn't sure if she would be comfortable enough, though all he wanted to do was hold her, wrap her up away from the wolves outside the door that wanted to harm her.
There was a newly planted seed in the back of his mind that wondered if Zylo's fear had any truth to them - what if what he had sensed was a lie? What if Asta had been sent here just to tangle up one of the higher ranking Alphas? They had been taught all their lives to not trust the plant eaters, but the deer especially. They had been told that the men were cunning and irrational, willing to run headlong into danger if aggravated. The women were apparently equally cunning, but used their doe eyed beauty to suck you in and spit you out. All of this? This tracked.
But he had met - and killed - does before. None of them made him feel the way she did. None of them moved him. No female wolf had moved him either, though he had relationships, of course. The Shifters were not precious about intercourse, and they didn't necessarily mate for life either. But they all knew what a True Bond was... the rare, and celebrated occasion, when two souls the Idols had made for each other managed to be in the same place and time.
Miles away he had sensed her; the scents of all the comforts of home wafting over him. It was different for each pair, everyone reporting a different mingling of what they brought them joy, radiating off of their partner. From what he could gather, Asta had felt the same way, and was just as confused.
He would be devastated if somehow, this doe had tricked him into protecting her by faking the mate bond. He didn't know how, but he didn't know anything about the Okolts farther than they were evil incarnated as far as the wolves and aligned predator clans were concerned.
The Okoltants, Okolt for short, were the only faction of beings that couldn't shapeshift, something that was heavily disputed in lore. Some say they never could, others say they used to be shifters like everyone else, but bargained the ability with the Idols in turn for more magic powers. However it happened, what was known for sure, written down in literature and word of mouth from the Predator elders, is that the Okolts and the Deer had made a pact long ago to wipe the predators out of Talia, and almost succeeded.