Redtail Rise Needlework the way, never you betray

Ancelin quickly and emphatically denied any interest in ensanguination. He clarified what he’d meant and Atreus arched a brow. It began as a skeptical expression, though it quickly grew to one of intrigue. Maybe his brother didn’t want to literally drink someone’s blood but he certainly sounded bloodthirsty all the same.

Atreus flexed his toes in the dirt, moistened a little by the mouse’s ichor. Ancelin’s suggestion evoked an aggression inside him, though he found the idea of pursuing anyone but Masquerade sort of unsatisfying. He didn’t like many other members of the pack, yet brutalizing one of them wouldn’t quench his own appetite for revenge.

Maybe, he said noncommittally, voice lowering to a mutter as he added, Definitely don’t wanna piss off dad.

It seemed an especially bad idea now that Arielle was gone. That thought made Atreus frown as he was reminded of their mother’s absence and its effects on their family, winnowed down to the three of them. They both really ought to stay on Aventus’s good side.

But one day in the future, when he was grown and could throw his weight around a bit more relistically, he fully intended to bring Masquerade to justice for what she’d try to do to him. He’d do it with or without Ancelin’s help—quite likely without, going by today’s conversation.