The mood was already a somber one, but seemed to depress further once the topic of family surfaced. X'yrin fell into silence, quietly finishing her meal as she listened to the dulled tones of her companion. The loss of a family was something she could not relate to, and thus could not empathize with the Shishen. She simply looked to him, not with cold, lifeless eyes, but with a perplexed gaze. No family to return to... but what of the rest of the pack?
This attachment to blood relations was not something the female was conditioned to understand. Bonds were all she knew. That was what dictated family. She may not have known the conditions Jaden lived in while in his pack, but were there not bonds that would have kept him? Yet had they... she wouldn't have been having this conversation. The remaining sliver of muscle slid across her tongue cuing the end to her meal. Despite the noises of her stomach, she hadn't been that hungry. They were just the boisterous whines of a belly that had no attention paid to it though it clearly still stored nourishment. Now that it had been tended to, it was quiet at last.
When asked of her family, the woman looked up to her companion without having realized she was starting intently at the ground moments before. "I cannot speak about what I do not have," she replied softly, the corners of her lips raising comfortably in a gentle smile. "Rather... I do not see parents as others do. We are born to a male and female but are cared for my the members of our selective families. They all become our mothers and fathers, and sister and brothers. There is no pair of designated caregivers." She rounded her shoulders indifferently. "Most often, our sires and dames are part of other families and we rarely interact with them, unless it is for pack business." Carefully, the woman brought a paw to her chest. "I consider myself fortunate that my sire is also our family lead... the Exultare Shepard and is this season's High Shepard. It is an honor to be a part of his greatness, to be guided by his teachings."
She held great admiration for the man even when his presence was gone from her sight. There was still a blazing image of him in her mind, a mirror image of her own form but draped in the garb of power and respect. Since her eyes laid upon him and she knew him to be her Shepard, she aspired to be like him. Not because he was her sire... her father, but because he shown as a beacon for the warrior family. A compendium of knowledge and wisdom, of experience... or caring. She wanted to be to others as he was to her. A quality no mere father could instill. He had transgressed beyond that. "I wish I could describe what he means to me. It is something I believe no parent could compare to."