Barrow Fields wayward

The woman's denial and its accompanying distress did not seem to affect Aureli, and he offered no follow-up answer when she clarified the intent behind her previous words. In truth, the answer was the same: his vows precluded him from adequately contributing to a pack — that, at least, was how several leaders had felt in the past. It remained to be seen if other packs would feel the same in these (possibly blighted) lands, but he did not feel that the stranger would find much use in the knowledge.

He'd finished with his visual assessment. What he could finish, at least, without beginning to circle her like a buzzard. His gilded gaze returned to her face, and then sharpened while the rest of his features seemed to soften — just a fraction.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, and he meant it, despite his professorial tone of voice. Obviously, this was a wolf to whom community was synonymous with purpose and survival. This was the way of many wolves, and a way that Aureli had had to painfully exorcise from himself in his first several months on his own.

"May I ask why?" he probed, searching her face. And then, seeming to sense a misstep, he corrected himself: "Were you in danger?"

If it was petty squabbles, he was far less interested in hearing about her woes.