Albireo's face split in a hyena-like grin and his paws carried him forward a few thoughtless steps as he saw how easily he had defeated his brother with such a simple trick. Albireo should have known it wouldn't be so easy, but was still surprised when Deneb fired back with his own threats. Al's vicious grin slowly fell, morphed first to a sullen scowl of disappointment, then to a dark glower. And whether or not Deneb knew it, his threats had some weight behind them already. Al knew that Phineas didn't quite trust him, and was unlikely to take well to any sort of mysterious deaths, with his own brood mysteriously dying already. All it would take was a few well placed words by his silver tongued brother to convince them that he was some sort of serial pup murderer. He would have to start running all over again, this time with winter in full swing.


Quickly spiraling down a vortex of horrible possibilities, Albireo's head began to shake side to side, "No, no no no," He murmered. Deneb only wanted the truth, and his words were so sweet, so tempting. If Albireo could just spill it all, they could be a team again. Start over, just like old times, brother and brother. But the truth was a nasty, rancid thing who's words could not be uttered, and especially not infront of Deneb. Unable to look Deneb in the eye now, he kept his head low and canted, glanced off to the side.


"Forgive me...? You could, forgive me? If I tell you. If I tell you what happened, then will it be alright?" Albireo spoke haltingly, cautious. "Okay, uhm..." Albireo thought back, harsh summer sunlight streaming in from above, illuminating the grisly scene of two small bodies lying crumpled at the bottom of the gulch. Castor's neck turned the wrong way, Pollux's leg bent beneath him in a direction it shouldn't. It was the subtle, cloying scent of death that had snapped Albireo out of if that time. The memory so strong he could almost smell it, his heart racing now as it had then. Currently, he trembled, panting as he tried to think. How could he explain that? "They fell," Albireo managed to blurt out, as if Deneb was too stupid to have come to that conclusion himself once seeing the scene with his own eyes.

Albireo peeked up, listened as the fire seemed to fade from Deneb's voice. Albireo felt something approaching regret stir in his his heart. Behind the vengeance and hatred in Deneb's eyes was something vulnerable. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Albireo apologized, a bandaid for a broken bone. Like a child apologizing for breaking something which he could not even begin to fathom the significance of, Al was only sorry that he had been caught.

"It was... It was my fault." Albireo started, trying out the admission. "I hadn't been paying attention," he admitted, he took a deep breath, knowing even these weasely words were likely to infuriate. If anything, it portrayed him as incompetent and oblivious, which was an unfortunate conclusion and one he didn't particularly agree with, yet it was the most diplomatic lie he could manage to eject from his slimy mouth.

It was finally dawning upon Albireo that Deneb was also carefully waltzing Al towards a particularly dangerous place. He was sure if he kept talking he would manage to spill everything, piece by piece. And no matter what Deneb said about forgiveness, he knew it could only stretch so far. He had never intended to share words with his brother, only to sate his curiosity to see if it was really him. Unfortunately, Deneb now knew where he lived.

Albireo grew visibly uncomfortable, fidgeting and occasionally licking his nose. He needed to get out of here. "I need to go, the pack needs me right now." Albireo said suddenly. He turned quickly and walked as fast as his legs could carry him without breaking into a run. He couldn't imagine Deneb following him in, and unless his brother planned on laying a one man siege to the pack when winter would probably finish him off, Al would probably be safe staying within the territory for a while.