Aleksei’s face hurt. The cuts—well, they were more like minor lacerations—had scabbed over well enough, but he still had to squint through his left eye. He’d tried hunting, but with his depth perception thrown off, he was more successful in face planting and dragging his face across the floor than trotting home with plump prey in his mouth. He counted his lucky stars, though; at least it wasn’t permanent blindness. The cougar’s claws hadn’t caught his eye (a damn miracle), but he’d be left with some rather prominent scars to remind him to not be such an idiot in the future.

Really, what had he been thinking, throwing himself head first at the beast?

He didn’t feel too sorry for himself, because they’d dealt with the bloody thing. Besides, he could still patrol and he could still eat. Maybe wolves would think twice before starting something with him if he had battle wounds like this. When that train of thought had initially crossed his mind, deliriously tired and unable to sleep thanks to the shooting pains causing his nerves to burn, he’d had a good chuckle over it. Things could definitely be worse.

Aleksei wouldn’t mope over it. He’d made himself useful, spent most of his time tending to the borders, but currently there were other things on his mind. Like food! Half way through his patrol, his stomach had audibly protested to a lack of food, causing him to abandon his route and search for the nearest cache. With his nose to the ground, he snuffled along, pinpointing the smell of meat beneath the ground. After kicking up dirt and guzzling down the rather unimpressive hare tucked away inside, he’d flopped to his backside with a grunt.

Of course, the large male was still hungry. Unsatisfied with his measly meal, he’d begun the walk further into Wild Rye Fields—he knew there were caches with great big hunks of flesh buried within. The thought made his mouth water and his feet move a little quicker.

Having caught Reyes’ scent on the wind, it came as no surprise when the older male drew up alongside Aleksei. Shooting him a crooked grin at the lovely nickname, the agouti male huffed a deep sigh. “Lamenting my newly ruined features,” he pouted, “how will I ever adjust to looking like a monster?! How did you do it?” He couldn’t help but chuckle. It was all said in good humour.

“Really though, I’m looking for a cache with something bigger in it.” He shrugged as he walked, a tight frown pulling at his lips. “I’ve tried hunting for myself but, uh. All I’ve been eating is dirt.” Was it embarrassing to admit? Yes, but why should it be a problem? The pack had plenty of capable hunters, and once, given the all clear with his eye, Aleksei would absolutely make up for the meals he had scoffed. “I never realised how much I took being able to see clearly with two eyes for granted.”

Momentarily, he thought of Kjors, the one eyed dragon. The first time they had spoken, they had taken down prey with ease. Aleksei supposed that you simply learned how to deal with your disabilities over time, and Kjors had done so. He knew his weakness. Knew how to protect himself despite them. Now that his anger over losing Karina had dulled with time, Aleksei couldn’t help but admit that he still held respect towards the fallen wolf. He was just doing what he had to in order to survive. He wasn’t a villain, wasn’t scheming some grand dismantling of the Baranski family (they’d managed to do that perfectly fine on their own). Alek had just been too stupid at the time to realise it.

The Baranski raised a brow, but he grinned nonetheless. Lady slayer, huh? Well, that was the closest thing he was going to get to a compliment from Reyes, even if Aleksei thought it far from true. In fact, he thought himself incredibly awkward with women. Too rambly, easily stunned by a pretty face. He could be a little absent-minded with his words, too. Not exactly ‘lady slayer’ material.

“Oh, Reyes,” Aleksei swooned, faux-staggering into the darker male’s side. “Whatever would I do without you?” Starve, surely. He laughed, toothy grin and all. It felt good to joke around, to let his guard down. Get the stick out of his arse, so to speak. It was a long time coming. Aleksei was tired of being miserable, of feeling guilty. He was tired of feeling as though everything was his fault.

And then, the subject changed.

Aleksei’s curiosity was immediately piqued. His head tilted and he hummed thoughtfully. Did it matter? No, not really. But did he want to know? Yes. Absolutely. “I’d like to know. Just so I can know whether or not I was right.” So his frustration felt justified. After all, if it was he he thought it was … well, then that just proved Inna was a liar through and through.