Redhawk Caldera I thought I'd have it worked out and I'd be making plenty

He didn't respond except to growl, and there was absolutely nothing friendly about the sound. She was trying so fucking hard here. So despite her knee-jerk reaction to go on the defensive, Fennec froze and forced herself to just stop. She needed to take a breath.

Clearly, anything she did right now was going to make things worse. It didn't matter that she was trying because she had no fucking clue what his problem was, how to deal with it, or how to navigate around him. He needed something, but clearly that something... it couldn't be her. She'd kind of known that, hadn't she? But it still fuckin hurt. She'd done nothing but upset him from the moment he came home.

If he was going to do something stupid, her forcing him to stay here wasn't going to stop him. And if he couldn't even communicate with her, there was no chance for her to ever be in a good place with this... or with him. She couldn't read his mind. She couldn't guess what he was feeling, or how he was going to react, when something she thought was giving in would set him into a complete episode like this.

Okay. When you want to talk, I'll be at mom's. Until then, I think I need to let you deal with this. I want to help you, Bronco, but I can't. I'm sorry. Fuck, she was going to cry. When she opened her mouth, she'd meant to just say they both needed space. But that wasn't true. She'd felt like a failure of a mate for months... unable to understand why he was afraid, why he was so broken up, why he was so fucking different.

Forcing him to stay here had been a mistake. Without another word, Fennec ducked out of the den and began to walk towards where @Towhee stayed without looking back. By the time she got to her mom she'd no doubt be a sobbing mess. He'd never made a sound remotely like that at her before. And she wouldn't go back to that den until he asked her to.