He looked so weary it touched the girl's heart. She could see herself reflected in him, in the weariness that crept all over his body. Still he feared her. Or was it disdain she could read on his face? For once, she was left speechless. Marika could not imagine why anyone would be afraid of her. She was, after all, someone who opposed violence and all it stood for. She could defend herself well enough indeed, as the knife in her house stood testament to, but she preferred not to. It was the disdain which hit her harder, for she could not see anything wrong in her behaviour. Had she offended him by asking why he was by the court's borders?
Marika was not one to judge just how worthy of a pack someone was. She had never really been in a position to have to. The wolves of Romanian mountains allowed travellers to come and go as they pleased, never really setting down rules for behaviour, except to prevent violence against others in the pack. Her recent return also made it somewhat strange for her to be talking, as she still was an outsider herself. Still, she could not afford to let the wolf remain confused, so she smiled at him warmly. “Vell, a pack could alvays use a hunter or two. Ve do not like violence and you vill find a good home here, yes? You seem to be very hard vorking and vhat do you say, determined?” Her tongue felt strange around the English words, but she went on, “I love a good story, yes? It vould be vandervul for the puppies to hear such stories. ”
It was then that she finally understood what was bothering her about him. He wasn't shifted. He couldn't shift. A regular wolf. To Marika, it suddenly shed light on things. It explained why he would be so afraid of her, if he had grown up alone or without werewolf company. Still, she could not go on assuming such things. Trying to ask as nicely as possible, she said, “Vhat do you think of verewolves? Zhis pack, it has quite a few.” Her size now seemed cumbersome and she felt herself towering over the male. Awkwardly, she sat down and invited him to do the same. “If you vould like, I could ask for someone to come and ask you about the pack and zhen zhey could decide if you can stay. Vigilante is a very good King to us. I could show you vhere I live and you could rest there, yes? all,” she added with a smile. “I am Marika Russo. Vho is zhis man you are trying to find?”
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