Lost Creek Hollow i'm floating down a river / oars freed from their holes long ago

She didn't run - but she didn't fight him, either. The girl just sort of crouched into herself, and  honestly, he felt a sting of guilt - but not so much to overpower him into a soft and apologetic mess. He held his ground until she answered him, and allowed himself to feel the satisfaction of finally being the upper man, that at least someone in his family respected him enough to take his threats seriously.

Her words, however, felt like they poked a hole in his side and sizzled him out, and he felt a hot rush along the base of his ears. Not a Blackthorn. "Oh." He wasn't so naive to believe every wolf - but he could tell from everything written through her face and her words that she wasn't lying. "Well... uh..." he stammered, ears splayed and voice edged with hesitation, before he hardened and stabbed forward again, "you still shouldn't creep up on people like that." But he held little punch. She'd turned his anger dull, and now he mostly felt a rush of irritation he'd managed to make a fool of himself again. "You could, uh, get yourself into trouble."