This wasn’t his choice way of meeting anyone, especially not strange she-wolves in a land he wasn’t a part of when overprotective pack member were about. There were about a million different ways that would have been better for this to play out, if only he were a little more aware of his surroundings or naturally a touch more graceful this might have played out better. As it were things never went as he would have liked, a fact that was quite literally painfully clear as he tumbled over the young woman. They crashed through the underbrush, the too-late warning from a wolf he had yet to notice ringing around them. It all happened in a flash when finally gravity caused them to still, he sprawled mostly on top of her while her paws scrabbled against his slender belly and chest. Frantically he tried to disentangle himself from her small form, finally finding footing and raising himself so that he stood mostly over her. That is when his two-toned eyes locked on to her blue-gray ones and time screeched to a halt.

Suddenly there was a pull in his chest, as if she clicked something in to place deep inside that he hadn’t known was missing. He had only ever had his sister as family or friend, never thought that anything would compare to the connection they shared; yet in one singular moment he knew she would surpass all of it. Frantically his eyes scan her equally shocked face, looking for some recognition as to what the hell was going on. He had heard rumor of imprinting during their travels, knew that wolves claimed they found their soul mates among one another, but he had never dreamed of finding it for himself. True he had wanted to be a part of something more, a family, but he hadn’t even begun to fathom that something more might be waiting for him out there. He had the oddest urge to touch her, not in this awkward tangled up way, but to stretch out his black nose and run it over cheek and inhale her light perfume. Even then he found himself leaning forward, closer than strangers should be with propriety thrown to the wind; decidedly risking her teeth at what was possibly an unwanted advance but he couldn't image it any other way.

Only when the tan girl picks up her struggle once more does the hard scratch of her nails on his underside drag him back in to the moment and time continues once more. He scrabbles backwards, ungainly backing up a quickly as possible with ears back and, for once, a truly apologetic look on his face. The electricity of their collision still coursed through him, causing their hackles on his slender shoulders to stand up slightly even as his tail raised and gave a couple of easy wags. That is until her comment reaches him, it was much harsher than what he had expected, but then again he had just run her over followed by this something happening he couldn’t blame her too much. His mind raced as much as hers and as simple as her question is he can’t help but simply stare at her, for once in his life entirely at a loss.

“Hollowpoint,” he finally managed to get out, the words thick as his heart continued to race beneath his obsidian pelt. “I…I’m sorry for all...yaknow,” he stammered, entirely unlike himself. Typically small talk came easy to him, quick to make a joke or some quip to lighten the mood, but she had managed to strip everything from him. He tried to stand taller for once in his life, straighten his back and hold his slender head high instead of slouching, the need to impress her deeply engrained in to his being while he had never cared about what another thought before.