Neverwinter Forest on a black throne reigns upright

The disappearance of Rannoch, coupled with the death of his parents, and the disappearance of Allure all had an effect on the pack, but no one more than Cypress. Rian had spent many hours ruminating on his hurts, and stacking them against the raven wildling's own, finding that he should, by rights, lack any sort of sympathy for himself. The O'Malley boy, the once reverent hunter of many rabbits to his younger cousin, could acknowledge that he was in a great deal of pain but his was trickling down into a black hole that was slowly consuming him. It didn't inflame old wounds, or inflict fresh hurts upon him. 

In an instant, the unbridled hope that burst to life in the depths of Cypress' lantern yellow eyes as he whirled to face him snuffed out, withered into ash, and faded into obscurity. A whine was strangled out from his throat as a cruel fist gripped it tight. Rian desired to be that important to someone—anyone. At least he was able to remember his name, though the stammering boy ecked out a short explaination for his confusion, and his heart lurched to dodge the blow. Rannoch. 

Rian's mouth twisted into a bitter grimace as he flattened his ears against the unruly winter mane he'd sprouted as his body approached maturity. Cypress seemed to struggle with himself for a moment before lobbing an apology over the distance. It echoed in his mind, hammering in his skull, and served only to remind him how much he loathed himself. The lean, raven-cloaked boy had sense enough, even through his crushing grief, to apologize for his actions. Rian was supposed to be older—wiser. An example to his younger cousin. But instead he was a broken, ugly thing that would do Cypress no good. A needy, selfish fool.

"It's fine, Cy." He ecked out through clenched teeth. "It's not your fault. It never has been." Rian intoned, fighting the urge to turn his teeth on his own foul skin. "Everyone always just leaves, right, because we're not good enough." He warbled brokenly to the only one who could understand the depth of his hurts.