j- bees?

Aesop seemed surprised to see him, which made no sense to Charon (who, having been there himself all the while, didn't realise how different he would seem to someone who'd been gone for a while). Charon had been here when Aesop had left, and he'd always be here. Aesop had to know that. He almost seemed unbelieving that it was really Charon standing before him. "Yeah, I'm the Bay's Beta now," he replied coolly, clearly keeping his distance, his body still exuding the dominance that matched his current status. Better start grovelling if you want me to take you back in, he thought arrogantly to himself, feeling snippy because of Aesop leaving them.

Atreyu drew up beside him then; he seemed less annoyed with Aesop's departure. Charon snorted out a derisive laugh when Aesop said that leaving was a mistake. "Atreyu left for a little while recently," Charon said. "He only left because he sacrificed his own leg for a Bay pup's safety." Charon's narrowed eyes sought out Aesop's, not-so-subtly telling him that he was nothing in the Beta's eyes right now. "What was your reason to leave?" It was unfair, perhaps, to ask a reason as good as Atreyu's for Aesop to have been gone. Then again, Charon was not a very fair wolf: life had shown him that the world was an unfair place, so why would he grow up to be any different from the rest of it?