Neverwinter Forest The Scars on My Mind Are on Replay, R-Replay; continued.

He kept his gaze level, staring at the girl as she shot back her own glare, a demand plainly spelled out behind her heterochromatic eyes. Then came her comment. But he is rude. Haruki's fur immediately stood on end, his face flushing in anger. Perhaps they had made a mistake, maybe all the wolves of this forest were not as pleasant as Miriam seemed to be. "YOU DON'T EVEN—" know me, was what he was meant to say, but his outburst was quickly cut short as he heard Hotaru speak out in his defence. His ears fell back, and he met his sister's glance back with a barely stifled snort.

It was true; he only wanted what was best for Hotaru and for her to be safe, which meant them gaining acceptance into a pack, even if the children here were self-righteous mother-haters. He bit his lip, realising that also meant that yelling at Miriam's daughter was probably not a good way to impress their Alpha. His gaze fell sheepishly to the earth, missing Mal's appraising look.

The conversation then focused onto what had happened, how they had lost their home and found themselves here on his pack's borders. Haruki almost answered before Hotaru spoke up again, clearly struggling with the memory. The boy moved closer to her side before stepping forward as if to shield her from the strangers' gaze. He let her finish, hoping to offer a reassuring look before turning to Mal. "Who did you know who lived there?" he asked, curious. Not that he could provide much information as to where they had ended up.