Qeya River under the dome

vuk did not expect the ire with which her words were received, and her hackles were set to bristling again. she did not know this woman, nor the reek of which she spoke — had vuk more clarity and ability, she might have set the fierce wolfess straight with an explanation of what the cardinal had been toward her and her son, but as it was, the anxieties that lurked just beneath the surface of the scarred wolfess surged to the fore, and she leveled hard eyes at the strange pair.

"seff," she urged with a growl of caution, encouraging her son to heed her and turn away, but vuk would not yet turn her back upon the dark heda and her pale charge. she watched them for a long moment, brimming with words but unable to speak them.