The pup seemed to lose interest in Neelafor a moment, falling off into her own thoughts before she suddenly turned attention back to her, raising her hackles and barking. The collie flinched backwards at the noise, rising into a low crouch with one hand resting on her knife in a long practised motion, body sliding into a defensive fighting stance.
There was no malice in the movement though; not only did the child carry Casa's scent strongly but there was the ever present though that a pup so big would likely have a parent of similar scale backing them up. After a moment Neela's muscles relaxed and she dropped her hand away from the knife, straightening up into a neutral stance. "No, I'm not an intruder. I'm Neela, I joined the pack recently."
While Neela wasn't being aggressive she was being wary; Pups weren't always the most stable of luperci and this one looked large enough to hurt somebody her size in play fighting, never mind if she saw Neela as a threat. Neela wasn't palming her knife anymore but her hand was resting on her waist, a casual looking placement that could result in Neela being armed in less than a second.
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