Cricket Creek Bog i.xi : who was ground down in the end

She asked why she should trust him, and for a minute, he didn't really have an answer.  She didn't know him, he didn't know her, why should either of them trust the other?

Following the vein of his earlier thoughts, he looked at her.  "I met one of you, before.  She had a face like yours.  She was nice to me, and not everyone thinks of a pack as a single mind."  That's a Redhawk thing, he thought scathingly, then regretted it as he remembered everything he was leaving behind.

"If she wasn't my sister, I wouldn't be here.  I wouldn't leave for anything short of family."  If she chose not to accept this, then he'd have to try to work it out himself.  But he really hoped she would.  What was the harm in showing him a forest?

At that moment, a soft call rang out, and Colt's ears twisted back.  Niamh.  For a second, his heart warmed; it was too accustomed to finding happiness in that sound.  But then he remembered, and his ears flicked forward, once more looking at Maegi.  He needed to do this, something that Niamh obviously didn't understand, and now her following risked losing this lead he'd found.  He wanted to believe she regretted what she said, but her words had cut too deep for that, and Colt knew better.

"You don't want her catching up."