Redhawk Caldera For the excitement to arrive

Alyx had to strain to hear Fennec, clamping her jaws over the impulse to ask her sister to speak up. Even without knowing much about what was going on with Fennec, she knew that would be insensitive. No doubt struggling to breathe was kind of painful. The answers she got were short and a smidge winded, but enough to convey that while Fennec maybe hadn't gone unnoticed by her parents, she had gone unnoticed by someone once when they left the pack without her. Maybe even multiple someones.

It was just as bad. Alyx felt like she was some sort of disappointment to her family in spite of working hard to become useful, but she bet it would feel worse if she was left behind by her friends. Not that she really had any, but Fennec did. At least, she knew Bronco was her friend—and Bronco had left her behind when he went with Meerkat, so it wasn't a stretch to wonder if her brother had left Fennec once, too.

Her eyes widened when Fennec suggested that she didn't need to ask her parents for permission to pursue her own wants. The part of her that was still an obedient little girl rebelled immediately against the idea. She couldn't bear to hurt her parents like that. On the other hand, the part of Alyx that was coming into her own as a young adult and felt undervalued in her community yearned to take her sister's advice right that minute. Towma and Phox might understand, but when she thought of her mother, she pinched her lips together. What if they hate me more for it? she wondered, but really, she was only worried about Niamh, already convinced that her mother didn't like her much as it was.