Spotted Eagle Mountain The weak breeze whispers nothing

The normally easy-going Killdeer was finding, recently, his patience reaching a limit. Tierra's bragging and gossip, Fennec's admission to her dalliances, and now Bronco talking about his new love. . .

It was bound to boil over sometime, even with the most chill of wolves.

And so it did.

Cool, great! Killdeer snapped, immediately regretting it. He pulled back, but only slightly. I mean, I'm sorry, Dad, but you've got somebody and Ma's got somebody and I just—fuck! I don't care! I'm glad you're happy, but I wish you were together! And if you're not, I wish you'd stop fucking telling me about it!

His chest heaved slightly as he struggled to catch a breath, and he was vibrating a bit. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. I'm sorry. It's just— too much. Like, it was too much to ask for a happy family together. Now I have to deal with all this shit.

And deep down, he understood that his parents were dealing with very much more shit. But here he was, in the middle, between this shit-slinging fest.

Sorry, Dad, Killdeer murmured, looking at his forepaws.