Larksong Grotto Send in the Clowns

"i mean if she wants it, she can come here and take it."
there it was. recklessly said, uttered like a man throwing a discus. he had stopped now, and stood seething not far from the damnable border of the pack he had always wanted to love and only been allowed to endure.
their cry of pain brought his ears up in concern, but masque was already pulling away, and he felt each second of the distance as if it were a piece of his skin being pried off —
regret. shame. determination.
his indigo eyes followed his cousin as his heart broke, and he turned sharply back for what he had to take now, if only to keep it from being taken from him again.