To his astonishment, she actually answered. Vasco glanced back up, brows lifting in surprise, though his expression remained measured, still determined not to escalate the situation. And indeed, though the woman gestured faintly to show the direction she’d come from, her posture remained rigid, continuing to slowly back away.

The pale man smiled weakly, giving a small nod of acknowledgment. “Thank you,” he offered, but didn’t expect any answer, resigned to the fact that he’d thoroughly bungled this encounter. It didn’t matter though, he didn’t have the energy to care about this prickly stranger anyway, all his focus needed to be on his family.

So when the bloody shewolf made her finale salute, Vasco only grunted, his focus already turning to planning his next step. As she turned around, he did the same, setting off in the opposite direction, as instructed. He’d use what little information he’d managed to get though, heading east to continue his search.

.

Thoughts ”Speech”