Dragoncrest Cliffs Romance never goes unpunished

There wasn't a single part of Lava that encouraged him to stand through this shame. His mother only repeated facts, and the sudden, severely unexpected arrival of Eastwood threw the kindling wolf for a loop. He was ecstatic at first to see his big brother again, but the feeling wilted as his brother shackled him with a disapproving reception. He thought suddenly that maybe he would have been better off staying away. Maybe them thinking he was dead felt better than this.

Blixen arrived then, and the grey agouti snapped up like a soldier to attention. She was small, but carried the weight of her responsibility as well as one was expected to at her age. She had a stern kindness to a presence— a willingness to listen, but not one to be terribly swayed. He didn't think he'd find the sympathy he needed from her. "Yes, Commander. You have it right," he told her, his tone falling somberly. And then to her added question: "I.. I'm sorry to report that I abandoned my post for a girl. I thought- well, she- I mean, I had never met anyone like her before. She promised me things, and I really lo-! Liked her. Then she told me I wasn't enough and she  left."

His story was punctuated by the hurt he was trying with varying degrees of success to hide. His ears had gone splayed, but they righted themselves again as he dared to implore the leading wolf of Drageda directly. "I came to apologize.. and ask for another chance, Commander."