[html] http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j40/k ... ump/12.png); background-position: top center; background-repeat: no-repeat;"> The gray wolfess cringed as the commotion continued. DaVinci's howl rang, stern and clear through the air, and it cut through her. Frustrated, she struggled to prop herself up, at the very least. God knew if that insane yellow-eyed creature would come back. The least she could do was make herself less of a target. Her breath hissed out through her clenched teeth as she braced her sore legs and try to raise her neck. She hated to be so prone, so helpless. So useless.
She felt relief when DaVinci, bedraggled, but whole, came back into her sight. She flinched as he came toward her, a sort of unsure expression on his face. Geneva had no idea how she must look, but she knew how she felt. Geneva had never been in this much pain or shock before, and she tried desperately to have a handle on it. Her eyes traced DaVinci's form even as he investigated her body for damage. She let her eyes linger on every hair out of place. This was her fault, all her fault. She had brought this down upon him.
Geneva closed her lime green eyes when DaVinci tried to comfort her. That was the last thing her all-consuming sense of guilt needed. His concern was almost heart-shattering to her. "I'm not sure," she said, hating the shocky edge of her voice. "This was first time I've ever..." Fought? Brennt had wiped the floor with her. "I've never been hurt like this before," she finished. She stretched her body, wincing as she was finally able to pull herself up from the ground. It was a struggle to rise even the smallest distance, but she was able to drag her chest from the ground, her legs positioned at an awkward angle to keep her from the ground. "I don't think anything is broken. I think everything is mostly...ripped, or something. I don't know." She swallowed. "Are you okay?"
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He stood over the woman as she seemed to be getting her feet under her. She seemed to be getting over the worst of the shock of the whole situation but he didn't doubt that it would be a while before she trusted any strangers at their borders. He shook his head as she spoke of her lack of fighting skills. He doubted that she'd ever had to use them before and he wished that she hadn't have had to use them today either. His stormy eyes glanced towards her lime orbs as he stated plainly. "I don't think he'll show up along our borders again anytime soon.." he shook his head and watched closely as she began to stand up and try to keep her balance.
"What happened?" he asked as she tried to assure him that everything was ok. He doubted that she would be up to doing much of anything anytime soon but he didn't mind that, she'd fought bravely and he was lucky that he hadn't lost her as a packmate this day. When she tried to turn the conversation onto him he just shook his head, blowing off the question for the main part. "I'll be fine.. my mouth tends to get me in enough scraps as it is.." He grinned and assured her, "I've learned to keep my fur intact for the most part." She probably wondered how he'd even managed to keep a position in a pack much less rise up to one of the leadership ranks. He wasn't even for certain how that had happened.
He sighed and glanced towards the packlands as he changed the conversation back over to her. "Come on, lets get you back to the farm.." Jefferson would need to be informed of what had happened along the border and DaVinci figured that the two of them together could tend to Geneva's wounds. If Jefferson wasn't about then he could deal with it all by himself.
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Geneva gritted her teeth as she pulled herself completely upright. She could barely stand DaVinci's concern, but she swallowed it down. He seemed fine, completely unaffected while she seemed to be falling to pieces that scattered into too many different directions. She closed her eyes, listened to her breath rattling in her throat, and pulled herself forward an inch. Her body strained in protest, sharp and dull pains shooting through her. She suspected that these pangs would be her companions for a while, and that she had to get used to them one way or another. Anything was better than staying here, lying around like a piece of filthy meat.
"The...," What would she call him? She clamped her mouth shut around the word 'monster,' keeping it from escaping her lips. How much of a fool was she anyway? "He lingered around the borders...and I had a horrible feeling. I told him to get lost...almost baited him. This was my fault," she said, shuddering. She kept lime green eyes on the ground as she moved, cursing how slowly her body required her to travel.
She felt panic shoot through her at the thought of returning to the farm. It was a safe place, her home now...but she didn't want to come across Jefferson, not like this. And she didn't know why. Still, that fear seemed tantamount to any other. She jerked suddenly, eyes wide with pain and worry at the movement. "I think...I think I can get there on my own," she said lamely.
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He watched as the woman tried to piece herself together. He knew that she must be a mix of emotions right now and he stayed quiet, knowing he wouldn't want someone chattering a mile a minute when he was trying to pick himself off the floor after a beating. He looked the other way as he saw the pain she was in, yet she was too stubborn to admit it even. She sure reminded him of someone he knew too damn well. A slight grin tried to creep upon his lips as he shook his head.
When Geneva spoke he glanced back to her, a more leaderly look upon his face as she explained just what had happened. He shook his head at the words, not liking the whole situation one bit. "We'll have to keep a closer watch on the borders.. and on Addison." He didn't want to think what would happen if the little girl strayed past the edge of the packlands and the heathen found her out there. He shuddered at the thought and lifting his frame off the ground as the woman made to move.
Almost as soon as he'd started to move along the way he stopped when he noticed the sudden change in the woman when he spoke of walking her back to the cottage. He eyed her for a moment quietly as she tried to talk her way of out getting escorted. He shook his head once more and spoke, trying to strike up a deal with the woman, and atleast know that she was smart enough to get herself tended to. "How about you head along the way and I'll catch up with you there then.." he tried to make it look like he had other things to do as he went on. "Besides, I want to make sure that beast is really gone." He wondered if she'd see through his coverup or if she would just let it be and go on alone. He knew he'd keep his promise and check in on her, she couldn't hide in these lands from him.
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Geneva hung her head for a moment, smiling thinly, with some bit of self deprecating humor when she realized that DaVinci could see right through her. Still, the silvery gray male seemed to be trying to spare her dignity. He went along with the charade, when they both knew that the great yellow-eyed brute was probably miles away at the speed he had been running. Still, she appreciated the lengths that DaVinci seemed to be willing to go to give her the slightest bit of comfort. She didn't deserve it at all, after the rash and foolish way she had acted. She swallowed hard, her throat dry as she continued forward, cursing her snail pace.
The gray wolfess didn't want to dwell on what would have happened if Addison had been at the borders. She inhaled noisily, moodily, hating the fact that she was so useless. Her sense of smell was nonexistent, and she had no way to tell where Addison could be. The least she could do was warn Jefferson, but she found herself coming up short at the thought of facing the one-eyed Patriarch. Her movements stilled as she mulled over those thoughts. Why didn't she want to face him? She didn't want to see whatever might show in that electric green eyes - consternation, worry, pity, anger? She felt her stomach catapult to the floor.
She didn't heed much of anything or anyone, not feeling up to being alert as she dragged herself slowly toward the ranch. She leaned against the front door miserably, closing her eyes as she felt the rough wood grain against her shoulder. Her breath hitched and hissed out of her clenched teeth as she pushed her way inside, her body protesting each and every movement. She should clean herself off, she thought tiredly. She walked forward a bit, her eyes stopping to rest on Jefferson's chair in front of the fireplace.
She had taken lately to lounging around that area when Jefferson wasn't around. Although the Patriarch was half blind, she knew that his sense of smell was just fine. She had taken to reading in his chair, exaggeratedly rubbing her coat against it when she walked by so that the Patriarch knew that she had invaded his space. At time she imagined the way his face might look - perhaps quietly outraged, and she'd laugh. Now she just stared, realizing she probably reeked of her own gore and dust, and turned around wordlessly, headed down the hall.
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