Fairspell Meadow Showered by the empty hopes

Her ears flew back when Burke snapped at the younger wolf and she decided that she wanted nothing to do with such a man, but she remained in case a fight broke out. She moved a few paces away, sidelong, with a watchful eye on the younger of the pair, lest he be taken unaware by the more hostile male. Burke followed her, earning a warning growl and grumble from the alpha female. The second he drew near, he received a hackle response and her lips pursed into a classic ambivalence display. If it wasn't clear by now that she didn't want anything to do with him, he'd get the message quite quickly.

The younger dog disobeyed the older's harsh words, then addressed her. She turned one ear forward, the other remaining on Burke, and blinked. "I'm fine," she told him smoothly, lashing her tail against the ground and pinning her eyes on Burke. "I would leave if I were you, kid. This guy ain't grown up enough to not pick on someone younger than him and I wouldn't want to see you get hurt."

Hell, she'd probably provoked the Blackfeather Woods male now, but she was a gamekeeper and a former outrider. She was smaller than him and built more evenly. If she was a betting woman, she would bet on herself to win a race, and she was far enough from him to stand and run if he tried anything. Besides, the name of the game was taking his attention off the youth, and that was precisely what she aimed to do. Following his outburst, she was unlikely to give him any of the information he evidently sought, but she would oblige him until Casmir was out of sight.