306
The warble from the coywolf caught Vesper off guard, causing her eyes to widen and her ear to flicker forward with keen interest. She caught herself the next moment, but Stark had noticed and looked somewhat smug as he offered a very polite-sounding answer to the stranger. Feeling awkward, the scarred woman cleared her throat and looked at the other. “You know low speech?” she asked, somewhat reluctant about admitting she didn’t, but she knew her winged partner would want this.
Macbeth took over introductions on their end, naming himself and the horse, and Alyssum settled down on the earth. It was a casual beginning to the conversation, but once the war was mentioned, the coppery-colored stranger looked shaken; she immediately started spouting questions, causing Vesper to frown.
“Recent,” the coywolf said awkwardly, “during the first half of spring.” Her good ear fell back against her skull as she connected the names to the individuals, although she was only half successful. “Gabriel and Kesho weren’t around since I joined last fall. Gabriel’s son took over as Aquila, er, leader. I don’t know about Kesho, though; I haven’t heard of him.” Her brow furrowed, but at least the last name was one she was confident about. “Kaena is fine, though, completely unharmed.”
Silence brewed after she finished, and her blue eyes flickered not-so-subtly over the other’s face for some clue as to why she was asking this. She was unfamiliar with luperci changing packs, even if there had been examples in the past, and her mind wasn’t firing on all creative cylinders today. She almost itched to see Stark eyeing the woman, but after the magpie offered an explanation and Alyssum backed him up, the raven looked away.
“Maybe,” Stark croaked tersely, closing his eyes with a little nod, and was broodingly silent on that point afterward.
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