Redtail Rise wildcard

While he held his tongue, Riley could not hold peace. The Wealda’s question was devoid of all pleasantry, absent of any empathy for the wayward sister who by any other account could be dead. Riley thumbed through the mental Rolodex of reasons they could be so coldly received; both had been good members, Masque standing by her own merit — but Riley had called this place home for months, too. It struck him strange that those long, impossibly cold months hunting side by side as killbrothers could all mean nothing.

Perhaps Redd had learned they’d left freely versus immediately assuming tragedy had befallen the young couple. Up until that moment they had been steadfast pillars of their community; there was little explanation for their departure. Perhaps seeing the two of them alive reinforced that betrayal, and left Redd unreceptive to their visit. Riley couldn’t surmise to know. He didn’t think he cared to know Redd’s side of events, even if she was deserving of the same empathy they were.

His heart burned for his mate, who he knew once again was being slapped in the face with the cold reality that her family never saw the best of her. He wanted to shoulder her gently and tell her it wasn’t worth it — but he recognized that she would make peace with this bitter truth her own way.

When Masque shared a glance his way Riley held her marigold gaze a moment, his own simmering with unpleasantries he dared not utter.  He looked to the Peak, and then back to Redd. It irritated him that Masque had to apologize twice when her assets had never truly been appreciated here. What would they think of Masque’s news? What would they think of traitors setting up shop in their backyard? What if Redd refused, or drove them off? It was not as if they stood on a bounty of goodwill.

He sighed, licked his lips in a gesture of apprehension, but said nothing. There was nothing he could say to patch the broken love between them.