Ravensblood Forest Happy up here

Pied felt a little appalled when she was received with wary indignation. Her lip curled slightly even as Jinx bristled, though she otherwise did not make her feelings known. Her face fell into a stony mask as she read the former Alpha's body language—all of it defensive, none of it apologetic—and listened to her words. Her explanation came up incredibly short and Pied stared now as if to say, That's it? Now her eyes looked as disappointed as they did vexed.

"Why didn't you say something before you just—vanished?" Pied asked. It took effort to keep her tone neutral but she succeeded, for the most part. "We waited weeks for you to show up," she added, the words grating out between teeth that had begun to clench despite herself. "And what of Kerberos and Lecter? All of you just disappeared without a word or trace."

Everything about Jinx's demeanor seemed to fault Pied and likely everyone else Jinx had left behind, rather than take any blame herself. If this was true, it was infuriatingly unfair, yet still Pied held back the accusations. Maybe Jinx was just behaving this way because she was paranoid and, once she realized Pied wasn't going to try to rip out her throat, she'd relent. At least, Pied decided to give her the benefit of the doubt as she continued to stand there, awaiting an explanation.