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Hybrid did not like this guesswork. He did not know if Ezekiel was trying to assist him or if he had some other thought entirely. There were too many possibilities for Hybrid and he didn’t like it. His life was certain and just and that was how it had been for a long time. He had grown habitual, believing these things, and now this child had disrupted it. It did not sit well with him.
Hybrid narrowed his eyes as the boy spoke, wondering what the other coyote could be thinking. Hybrid did not know if he was one to say one thing and then think another. He just didn’t know him at all. He didn’t like this, either: the boy had come and gone so many times and now he was here disrupting things. It set Hybrid on edge.
But in the end, Ezekiel was right in some way: Hybrid had indeed been uncertain whether he wanted to kill the boy. He had hesitated, wondering why a coyote had attacked him on Inferni land. His natural biases prevented him from truly fighting. He fought to kill. He occasionally fought to improve. But he had to make a very conscious distinction between the two lest he bring death to a clanmate.
He recognized what Ezekiel was saying, but didn’t know how to reply. Sure, he fought for the sake of fighting, but he suspected they had different meanings of the word – or they just understood things differently.
This boy was not his father.
Hybrid was silent. He regarded the boy with a calculating eye, but said nothing. He knew he never had to say anything to Gabriel, but this boy was different. But he still did not know what to say.
In this loss of words, he chose to remain silent. He supposed Ezekiel could choose his own course. Hybrid just didn’t know what the child expected of him.