Geneva had never been one to give in to gut feelings before. She preferred logic, and left to her own devices she could sit for days just pondering one topic or event, looking at it from several different angles. She found comfort in logic and reason, defenses against confusion and mistakes. But at the moment, there wasn't a single logical reason she could find to go out to the borders. It was snowing, and she was tired. But still, in lupus form, the grayscale lady put one foot in front of the other, and could not possibly understand the raw feelings churning in her gut.

She searched her thoughts for the events from weeks before that might have led to this feeling. She hadn't felt such intensely negative feelings since leaving Anu's side, or climbing out on to that precarious ledge with Addison. The feeling in the pit of her stomach was impossible to ignore, impossible to dismiss. It made her edgy, it made her second guess herself. She hated to be unsure.

Her feet carried her to the borders and lime green eyes flashed with each new step. Eventually her eyes came to rest on a male pacing restlessly on the divide line. Her stomach churned as her eyes searched his face. For all she knew, this was just a harmless passerby, someone who had gotten lost or perhaps sought refuge in Phoenix Valley. But instinct told her differently, that there was something very off about him. Uneasiness hit her like a punch in the stomach. "Hey," she said, trying to catch his attention. She came forward with dread curling in her. "Hey," she said more loudly. "What are you doing here?" Get away. Get the hell away.

The wolfess frowned at the wolf's obviously dismissive tone. He didn't offer her anything by way of information, other than the fact that he did not want her here and that he was possibly harboring secrets. What business did he having doing that at a pack's borders? She felt the fur bristling on the back of her neck, except this time it wasn't in fear. She felt the beginnings of a red wash of anger, which both startled her and agitated her further. She tried to swallow it down. She was of such a temperament that she had barely ever expressed anger outwardly before, instead transmuting it into creative energy or motivation for working in quiet diligence. But there didn't seem to be any way to express it differently this time, and truthfully, she did not know if she wanted to.

Lime green eyes narrowed, and feeling (stupidly) bold, the small-boned wolfess continued forward. The wolf before her was obviously dramatically larger, both in height and weight. But Geneva couldn't ignore an instinct that told her that this wolf was a threat, no matter what he had said before. Her mind flashed to Addison, and how easily she had stumbled into trouble. No doubt this male was trouble of some sort.

She didn't know if her fears were well founded, but she found that she didn't care. "If you aren't doing anything, you can easily go somewhere else," she said with an edge in her voice. Pairing her actions with her tone of voice, she persisted stubbornly forward, dangerously close to invading his space.

I have no problem with some PP at all. Feel free to have Brennt take his pound of flesh. I don't mind if one of Geneva's legs is broken, or a few ribs. Flesh wounds are cool too. I'd rather not have her face or eyes scarred though.

The hostility came in a rush, an explosion of heat as Geneva felt the heat of his breath on her face as he screamed two words that seemed to cut the chords of her patience. She was done waiting for him to back away and get the hint. Geneva bared her teeth, a low growl issuing from her mouth as her lips twisted into a snarl. She was baiting a tiger, and she knew it. But the small boned wolfess couldn't find it in her to care in the slightest.

The look in the stranger's yellow eyes was blank, dead and hollow. That brought her up short for a space between breaths as she contemplated it. What did that mean about this stranger? But she snapped back to reality, realizing that it was no longer her advancing toward him. Now this stranger was launching himself at her, and Geneva had no way to hold her ground against his superior size.

She should have known better than to antagonize a larger male, but she had gone with her gut. And there was no way out of this now. She certainly would not run. Geneva realized that she had never been in a fight before in a flash before they collided. She felt her ribs creak as she did her best to stand against him, staggering back a few steps. With anger blazing in her, she shook it off and launched herself at the male, not going for the bulk of his body, instead targeting his face. Geneva knew that she was far too small to take him physically, but perhaps if she could get a good swipe in at his eyes, she'd have some time to think of something else. She bared her teeth, intent on biting and clawing at anything she could.

Geneva barely had the time to register the surprise of the coppery taste of blood in her mouth as Brennt's teeth clamped into her shoulder. She yelped and grunted as she flew backward, her teeth snapping ineffectively at nothing. She was still slightly dazed at the thought that she had scored the large male's flesh at all - albeit superficially - before she hit the ground. She felt her bones rattle as she made impact, hissing and snarling as she felt the wolf clench his powerful jaws, tearing through flesh as his muzzle came away red.

Geneva tried to push herself to her feet when he lunged suddenly, burying those wicked teeth within her side. This time the pain elicited a howl from her, a high piercing sound in her trembling soprano voice. She lashed about violently like a fish, side to side as she tried to thrash him away from her side.

She managed to struggle to her feet, fury burning in her blood as her shoulder and side throbbed dully. His teeth still had her pinned, but she thrashed again, her flesh tearing as she did. "No, you get out!" she shrieked. "Get out, get out! GET OUT!" she shrieked, almost sounding hysterical as her voice ripped through octaves in her anger. She trashed again, this time her snapping jaws gaining purchase in the thin flesh right under his chin. She couldn't close her jaws around it, but she scraped her teeth violently against that skin until she felt lines of blood, finally tearing herself away from his teeth, feeling her skin part and fur fly in the process. She stumbled away from him a few steps, lime green eyes narrowed as she glared into his face, tensing for whatever would come next.

Geneva had perhaps ten seconds to ponder the expression on the beast's face and the way it changed. She stood helplessly, locked in the sound of her rapid heartbeat and the growls that they both emitted. And the way his face changed brought her up short. Chills erupted, racing down her back as she saw the way Brennt's eyes seemed to shift, change. It seemed as though an identity had shifted, disappeared to reveal something far more primal. She opened her mouth to speak - although she hadn't quite worked out what she'd say - when he suddenly launched himself at her with brutal force.

The wolfess struggled beneath his superior weight, wiggling and her eyes rolling in both panic and anger as she tried to regain her footing. A full throated yelp pierced the sounds of heavy breathing and growling as she felt Brennt's teeth close over her flank viciously. She struggled then, in pain to try to lessen his grip and break free. And suddenly they were airborne and crashing through the underbrush. Her chest heaving for air, now Geneva struck out blindly. She wiggled, kicked, snapped and scrabbled to find any purchase on the brute's body. She used her legs to kick at him, to find any way to make contact.

She could read the brutal intent in the beast's body, and knew with certainty that she would not would away from this encounter. But she would not go quiet into the night. She straightened herself, putting a cap on her desperation as her mind raced to find some logical way to wound him so that she might get away. Still trapped beneath his bulk, she began to focus her fading energy on snapping at his face and throat, black spots dancing in her vision.

Not a problem! Family and fun first.

Geneva struggled on the ground, her chest heaving with her efforts. Spots of color and darkness thrashed around her field of vision, fighting to eat up the image of the beast boring down on her. She snapped her jaws weakly, wiggling her body much more slowly as exhaustion ate away at her energy. She swallowed, coughing hard as she realized this would very likely be the end.

And suddenly the beast was torn from her as a male in secui form bowled them apart. Geneva whined as his teeth were torn from her wounded body. She managed to roll to her stomach and lift her eyes just enough to see her would-be savior, her heart half sinking as she wondered if it was yet another assailant, a stranger in Phoenix Valley whom she had also failed to stop.

She struggled to her feet, her legs trembling and the world swimming in her vision as she tried to regain her balance. She stumbled a bit to the left, but braced herself, gritting her teeth as she watched those malevolent eyes first consider her, then the male. She huffed frustratedly, her lime green eyes searching this new male as well. Geneva had practically no sense of smell to begin with, and now the only scent she could catch was the smell of her own blood. She recognized him with a jolt as a subleader of the pack. She had kept her distance from him - he had seemed busy every time she had seen him.

Her eyes shifted back to the brute. A low, broken growl rumbled in her chest despite her weariness and how the world swam in her vision. It seemed as though they were all tensed, waiting for the first strike. She shook her head once in silent denial. She didn't want to drag DaVinci into this, although she was grateful for his arrival. He had saved her from uncertain death. But she wasn't certain what this brute could do, and didn't want him to get hurt. She didn't know what either male was capable of, and she was focused on one sole thing at the moment.

"Get out," she rasped, stumbling toward the brute once more.

Sorry guys. My life has kind of become a black hole.

Geneva was a fool, nothing but a fool. She could taste blood in her mouth, but knew that it was her own. She should know better than to continue this struggle when she could barely stand on her shaking legs, but she couldn't find it in her to back down. Not until her ridiculous, stubborn legs folded from under her. She looked into the stranger's dead yellow eyes, and realized that he would probably be more than happy to incapacitate her to the fullest extent. His face spelled out certain death for anyone stupid enough to put themselves in his path. But still, looking that death in the face, she couldn't find fear enough to stop her trembling steps.

And above all else, she couldn't turn tail and run, even with her entire body screaming for her to stop. The brave stranger had come to her rescue, and she could do no less than continue as far as she was able. She felt an onslaught of guilt that this pack mate was now in danger, though he looked capable of handling himself. She wished that she wasn't the cause for such trouble, but would deal with that later.

The gray scale wolfess stumbled toward the huge, shifting stranger, baring her teeth. He seemed consumed, distracted as the bones shifted beneath his skin. She launched herself at him weakly, nipping at his hind leg. As his body moved with the shift, she was caught by his limbs and flung backward. And she landed with a thud to the ground, rolling slightly, trying to regain her feet. But her legs were no longer trembling. Now they would not obey her at all. With hopeless green eyes, she watched the battle mumbling prayer under her breath.

Geneva's breath rattled in her chest, her mind screaming for her to move. Her legs twitched and trembled, but she could do little more than belly crawl toward the fight, a maddening centimeter at a time. Her body wouldn't obey her mental commands, even her throat closing up as her wide eyes gleamed with desperate light as DaVinci and Brennt had it out.

The grayscale wolfess yelped as the great beast's form loomed over her. She cringed, expecting bone-crushing contact as his body came down on hers. But he stepped over her instead, only putting some pressure on her creaking ribs. A pathetic growl vibrated weakly against the sand-paper walls of her throat, her mouth dry.

She exhaled noisily, trying to drag herself from the ground in order to catch sight of the great brute. Panicked lime green eyes touched DaVinci's face. She saw all the fury there, and felt guilt flood her. Brennt had seemed unstable, but her provocation had pushed him over the edge. This was all her fault, and if a lesser wolf, like Addison, had come along....she didn't want to think about it. "I'm s-orry," she croaked.