Blacktail Deer Plateau strike three

he was about to respond in turn, blood in his eye as he realized grayday blamed him for some of this, for some reason, when something he said brought aditya up short. "sorrel?" he asked, incredulous. "he went after sorrel?"

sweet, meek sorrel. defenseless, save for her brother's constant presence. shattered from some event in her past. his stomach turned to think of engel acting on his rash words, and turned further to think he had acted upon one of the weakest members of their pack. their family.

"i didn't know," he said, eyes hollow as they returned to grayday's face. "i. . .i didn't. . ." a torrent of emotions swirled through him as he contemplated what this meant. anger, shame, disgust. a man he had considered his friend. . . how could he have done such a thing?

"i was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt," aditya murmured, feeling low as dirt--lower, perhaps. he looked toward where engel had disappeared, his breath leaving him in a sudden, ragged exhale. "words. that's all i thought they were. but sorrel. . ."

he went to say more, to apologize, to plead, but his throat closed suddenly, blocking all speech. his gaze fell to the ground beneath his paws.