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Word Count » 811
Being tested by waters such as these was in a way asking for trouble. The waters around here were cold, having come down from the high water basins, and it was here on the slippery moss that the girl was trying to walk across. It was a foolish move in his book and with her being so far out of the way from the main walkway of the Salsola pack, if she fell in and got hypothermia there would be no one to save her, no one to come in and play the white knight rescuing the damsel in distress. No, it wasn’t like one of those love stories that mothers told to their children or women to one another when they were bored and wanted to have something to talk about or whenever women bartered such words amongst themselves. The whine didn’t escape sensitive ears and he kept a begrudging eye out on her even as he was working on his clothing as well. As he waited for her to come to her senses, he straightened up and hung his clothing over a branch to let them dry, his senses trained on the woman that had seemed to be frozen in time. Looking back at her, he saw that she was glaring at him and it sent his hackles rising. Very few people could glare at him like that and get away with it. It was one of the benefits of being so high ranked. He not only had greater privileges and greater leeway within the pack, it also meant that it gave him a bit of respect, something that he didn’t remember ever having before.
The sharp words hit his ears and he gave a low growl rising from his throat. He recognized her scent and by all intents and purposes, she shouldn’t be looking a pup in the eye much less speaking out to someone like him. Her looks would do nothing to help her if she wasn’t careful. The other sex didn’t arouse any sort of feeling in him whatsoever. She could be the most beautiful female or the ugliest and he would look at her the same way. It was mainly because he knew how people looked on the inside now and had done so many atrocities in his time as a captive that beauty, the delicate pleasure of looking on someone beautiful was wasted on him. Rather, his loyalties and his gaze was only for his love and master. Only Bastion could bring emotions out of him. The final question made him frown as he approached him, his hand itching to slap her, the greatest sign of displeasure from a higher-ranking wolf but he kept his hand at his side. But his ears were still back and he didn’t look pleased, those sharp eyes of his flashing, even the one eye that could barely see. ”Watch how you speak to me girl,” he said, warning her. This would be the only warning that she would get before the next time he would do something far more drastic. He was one of the enforcers after all. If he couldn’t take someone like her and make an example out of her then his duty as a boogeyman would be for naught.
The flirtatious smile met stony face and sharp, jagged features as he continued to look down at her, his features looking to be something out of the bowels of nightmares themselves from the many jagged scars to the partially missing ear that hung in tatters on top of his head with just enough cartilage in it to keep it upright and keep the same shape as the other. ”Before we go any farther with this conversation there are a few things I need to point out. One, why do you ask me if I am? Can you not smell the scent of the pack lands on me? Two, moderate your tone. I hold a much higher rank than you and yet you do not show me an ounce of proper respect. Three, what would you have done had you fallen in? You are out here without anyone out with you. If you had fallen in and hit your head on one of the submerged rocks, no one would have been around to save you. Finally, don’t be throwing around the Salsola pack name without cause and even then if you must be cautious with when and how you use our pack name. Show some respect before I will be forced to discipline you,” he warned the girl, figuring that this really was almost too fair of him. He didn’t want to be seen as going soft but by the same hand, she seemed honestly unsure as to his rank or his affiliation. But if she continued to be like this then he would have no choice.
