Niernan was not surprised by Grace's frank words, even in the short time he had known the D'Angelo he had grown used to the way she spoke, with the threat of an insult, or blunt observation always looming over the conversation. He allowed a smirk to pull at his lips briefly before he turned his icy cerulean gaze back to the dog before him. The canine portrayed completely neutral body language, no emotion showing in his posturing or his face, but his eyes betrayed his fear. That caused the Stormbringer some confusion, what would the male have to fear from two Vinattans unless he had done something wrong? Niernans mind raced, surely this was not the male that had attacked Colibri the day previous.
He listened in silence as the dog spoke his name, revealing that he was Toby, no one that Niernan had heard of. He flicked his eyes to Grace to see if she showed any indications of recognition at the name. Toby answered Grace's query next, seeming to struggle to come up with a reason as to why he rested at the borders of a strange territory. When he did explain his reasoning it had a hint of sense to it, but Niernan figured that if one was scared of being alone in the wilderness why not join a pack? He said as much, his voice still low and rumbling If it's the big wide world you fear and all the dangers in it, why not settle down somewhere in a pack instead of living on the borders of them? He saw the awkwardness on the males face and thought that maybe the dog had thought about this before, or maybe he was more uncomfortable with the situation than Niernan had first thought.
Tobys voice came again and Niernans ears pricked up, if the black male was asking about the trouble maybe that meant he didn't know about it, or, the paranoid part of his brain reasoned, he wanted to know how much the pack knew about the situation. Nier felt a snarl escape him, he couldn't control it, when he thought about what had happened to Coli, the injuries she had suffered so close to home, it was almost like a personal insult. He loved the older wolf, she had come to be something like a big sister to Niernan, she may have been quiet and shy, but the plant loving wolf was family now and the idea that he wasn't there to protect her stung. When he got his snarling under control he told of the attack, his voice thick with anger; Some rogue luperci thought they could prey on a member of our pack while she was just outside of pack borders, they knocked her around and carved some sort of letter into her flesh. He paused, regarding Toby through narrowed eyes, From which direction have you travelled Toby? He asked, to most it would be an innocent question, but to those that knew of the attack, or had partaken in it, the answer could be damning.
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