Bearclaw Valley interim

tattered ears flicked. he had not expected that from evien. merrick drew a breath, blinked. unsure somehow in this moment, he did not know how to respond. it was not unsurety that plagued him, but a deep flare of hope that he had always been correct. the abandoment of indra had been rectified; her original sin in his body eradicated.
was he now to be whole?
the thought gripped his throat; the coywolf brought an indecipherable gaze toward evien and scrambled within his head for some smooth snakelike word that might compel them both. but there was nothing, only the hesitant reach of his scarred muzzle to the doctor, wavering somewhat as merrick carried always the seed of rejection within himself.