Bearclaw Valley Now you know, all you need is me

A reply wasn’t expected, at least not a verbal one, but that was exactly what he received—and it took him by total surprise.

A word escaped her mouth and, in an instant, he was on his feet and backing away from her with wide eyes. Caught up by her sudden ability to speak, Alexander wasn’t able to perceive her flattened ears or furrowed brow as anything other than disappointment—which he knew was directed at him, his vocal pondering of whether he’d made a mistake or not coming back to bite him in the ass. His own ears fell flat against his crown and he lowered his head, regretting what he’d said and wanting to take it back immediately—it wasn’t a mistake, he didn’t want to change what had happened. “So… you do understand?” he asked tentatively, averting his gaze in the process. If she could understand what he’d said, then what did that mean for him? Was she going to leave, stop being his friend—his partner in battle?

Shaking his head, Alexander disregarded the thought entirely; it wouldn’t come true, he would remedy the situation before it could escalate any further. Looking back towards her, he began to close the distance between them again with slow steps. And just as he reached her he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that—I like what happened.” He didn’t wait to try and read her expression again, he just proceeded to shove his muzzle towards her neck, hoping that he hadn’t done too much damage.

He could recall his parents’ separation so clearly that it might as well have happened just yesterday. He remembered the pain, the heartache, everything—he didn’t want to go through that again, especially not with the knowledge that, this time, he would be in the place of his father, not a child. He didn’t think himself capable of handling that, not after everything else.