314 words.
She seemed wary of him, and Vigilante did not blame her in the least for it. Before, everyone had been wary of the hard-eyed man he had been, but now, when they were only wary of the stranger approaching them, he was still used to the reaction. When she took his hand, he tightened his grip firmly, but keeping his touch gentle and friendly. The way she held his hand did not make it easy for him to touch his lips to her hand, so instead, he just let the awkward shake fall gently between them, his hand lingering just a bit too long on her delicate one. His admiration of the water was momentarily forgotten as he studied her - such a lovely specimen of the luperci creature she was! - while she studied him, but the question she asked took him by surprise.
This woman was very perceptive, he could tell. Thus far, no one had questioned his heritage, although most that he met were wolves while he was very obviously not. Perhaps everyone was just used to seeing dog mixes like himself, but it was still curious that no one had even mentioned it. Perhaps they were all just polite. "You're very correct, Miss. My mother is a breed of dog called an Alaskan Malamute, and my father a breed called a German Shepherd, so I suppose I'm just a mutt of a dog," he joked, his tone light. He didn't mind his origins much, although he knew there were those who felt that wolves were superior. Hopefully, she was not one of those. "And am I to assume you're purely wolf, Miss. . .?" He left it open-ended for her to, hopefully, give him her name. "Your lovely fur tells me so," he added. Flattery usually worked in situations like this, where the other was possibly nervous, he had come to learn.