Arrow Lake when all the things under the sky go free of time

given their history and the things that he thought indra was at fault for, it was incredibly hard for him not to look annoyed when she asked after another wolf - a male. "she was alone," he replied glumly. it almost didn't matter that he was merrick's father, and therefore an indelible part of her life, but he had to focus on this fact in order to keep his expression from crinkling unjustly. he was aware then of a pressure that seemed to fill the space around him and the strained, tattered redleaf. they were both holding onto something tightly - this semblance of normalcy - and the strength it required to seize control of it all had them both rooted and inwardly quivering.

"indra," he started cautiously, repeating her name because it had been so long since he'd even let himself think it, let alone say it out loud. "you do not belong out here." she did not smell of merrick, nor nunataq, or anything of the hollow really. he could only smell laurel on her, and he could infer from this that the succubus - he thought responsible for the loss of her children - had dragged her sister out here on some haphazard search for grown pups that didn't want to be near her. no one wanted to be near her, except indra, and he imagined this was why bearclaw had been felled under her tutelage.

"why are you doing this when you know better?" he coldly asked and accused, unwilling to think that this was indra's way.