Ankyra Sound the thistle and the burr

no! he felt the shoulder-bruising recoil of Ingram's refusal rebuff him like it was loaded with buckshot. Lycaon looked somewhat wounded, then battened down the hatches of brotherly intregrity with a huff and scrunched eyes, again prying at the sable paws that curtained Ingram's sniffly face. "no secrets!" no capes!

at last he unfolded like a sadly creased origami swan and the beta scooted back a tad, ears standing to attention on his head with anticipation, receptive to the candor of Ingram's sorrows. Lycaon listened with polite and well-hidden glee as his brother recapped what had transpired between Chusi and himself, but drawn in his mind was only a feeble echo of the circumstances--detail was held back with the river. feeling deprived, the palefurred wolf made frustrated slaps at the rewind button. "back up, back... who yelled at you? girlfriend? then she helped you chase them off? heh?" confusion swam across his features in balletic butterfly strokes. "why did Wylla throw her out, or did she leave? why'd she break up with you? what?"