Wapun Meadow I won't turn back anymore

He'd noticed her hackles rise and wondered, briefly, if she'd already forgotten him. If the life she'd chosen with their mother was so wonderful that she was able to forget the brother she'd left behind. The thought had his lips twitching, but he didn't dare bare his teeth at her. He couldn't bring himself to, even though a part of him wanted so desperately to punish her for leaving in the first place. Everything was pushed to the recesses of his mind once her fur had flattened back out, and she'd said something. That one word—that one name—had him at a loss when trying to figure out how he should act around her. The whisper of his name made it feel as if the wind had just been knocked out of him, for it showed she hadn't forgotten. She still remembered him just as he did her, something he had unknowingly feared would not be the case.

She took a step towards him, and it took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep himself from closing the distance. He forced himself to remain glued to his place, not wanting to get any closer to the sister who'd left him behind. The one sister he'd expected to always be there, to always be competing with him for their father's attention, but the fates had decided a different tune was meant to be played. She'd chosen that woman over their father. Their father... the only one who truly cared for them, as far as Xan was concerned. She had his eyes, the boy noted, unlike himself who'd been cursed to carry around the image of their mother. He was not identical to her, something he was grateful for, but the appearances were close enough to have him feeling disgusted. Nanook didn't deserve to share any similarities with Kove, her choice to leave them had taken that right away long ago.

There came the answer, but it was not what he'd been mentally preparing himself for. His own eyes grew wide as he stared at her, trying ever so desperately to figure out if she was lying or not. She had to be, though, he knew she couldn't have possibly been looking for him. When she attempted to get closer, he took an equal amount of steps back to match her own, gaze never leaving hers. "No." It was all he could say, the only word he could manage to form. "You... you're lying, I know you are." For her words to be honest was impossible, he was certain of it. "You left us. You chose that woman over us—over me! You weren't looking for me..." The hurt he was feeling was unable to be hidden from his voice. He had tried to keep everything bottled up nice and tight, but seeing Nanook again made things difficult. Alexander couldn't keep himself in check, he couldn't put on the mask of anger he'd always worn. Everything had been stripped from him, leaving nothing more than the hurt little boy in the place of what once was the big bad wolf.