Bramblepoint Let me make you an offer

The subtle shift in Shrike's countenance didn't go unnoticed by Floki. There was a look in the other wolf's eye that he couldn't quite discern, so he proceeded with caution. "Oh, just an old friend of mine," he answered casually. It was truthful, if not vague -- and this was not the time nor place to start unpacking the baggage of his relationship with Wildfire.

He did his best to smooth over his own appearance; it was apparent that Shrike found something about his response threatening, and that certainly hadn't been his intention. He swallowed his own worry, reminding himself that the Great Bear Wilderness was not as large as it seemed and that he was bound to run into someone from Redhawk Caldera sooner or later. And the fact that Shrike hadn't attacked him the minute he mentioned his name meant that, at the very least, Wildfire hadn't been talking shit about him to her family.