Heron Lake Plateau Everything means something and something has occurred

Colt had interfered with her attack? Towhee didn't remember that at all. But her lip curled. Quixote insisted it was an accident and the Beta blinked, taken aback. She'd initially pictured Colt simply jumping in her way, not actually attacking her. Was that a possibility? She would have to ask Niamh for the details.

On that note, Towhee blinked even harder when Quixote described her Person's reaction to Colt's behavior. Niamh had exiled Colt? Towhee was dumbfounded by this. There could only be one explanation, couldn't there? Colt had attacked Towhee. Niamh surely wouldn't have exiled her own mate for anything less than something so outrageous. A growl bubbled in the mercenary's throat.

But now Quixote was saying it was an overreaction, quoth Niamh. It had something to do with Screech. Towhee squinted in confusion. She said nothing, letting Quixote finish. Niamh hadn't called for Raven but she had called for help, which was the same difference to Towhee. It sounded like she'd waited for someone—Quixote himself—to arrive before chasing after Colt. Maybe because Niamh was her Person, Towhee gave her the benefit of the doubt without even thinking about it.

"Why—" she began to ask when the Alpha opened the floor for questions, though she bit her tongue and shook her head. She really needed to talk to the person who'd actually been there: Niamh. What had Colt really done? And why had she chased him after all? And what did any of this have to do with her demotion? Towhee liked to think she knew Niamh better than anyone, save maybe Colt, and there was no way her Person was mentally unsound, whatever Quixote thought.

"I have to talk to her," Towhee said instead. But she didn't make a move yet, looking at him in a way that made it clear she would wait for his rundown of today's events. The entirely involuntary twitch in her right eye telegraphed her thinning patience.