Swiftcurrent Creek I Tear My Heart Open II

An ear flicked in recognition to Arric’s words—all meant from a good place, but given he had no idea what was going through Eshe’s mind right now and he had his own irritation to slog through, he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about any of it.

“She mentioned she had been selfish,” he noted, recalling that moment—but it wasn’t just Moss’s death that had made that memory core to him—it had been the shatter of Mae, and from what he had concluded over and over in his mind… the loss of Wren. “But she hadn’t given me those details.”

He would have agreed with Arric—but he didn’t have the energy. His assumption was that his mate was curled up in a den, hiding away and crying her heart out. It seemed out of character for her to be flouncing around with another suitor.

Famous last words and all that jazz.

Instead, he snorted in amusement to the Beta, eager to redirect the subject. “A couple of guys stopped at our borders to let us know they have a bounty out on some man that hurt one of their wives. Didn’t say how—but I think we can both imagine. They’re offering six deer for the killing of this man… I told them it wasn’t necessary—we at the creek like to eliminate any potential threats as it was.” He paused, feeling a thrum of adrenaline at the thought. He could use a good fight.

“Despite having severed our ties from Kvarsheim and Riverclan, it’s probably best we let them know about the potential threat, though… In case the two wolves hadn’t made their way there.”