Broken Boulder half-dead

The male seemed confused and this immediately made Ioa feel she had something wrong. Why was he confused, why was he looking at her like that? Had she done something wrong? Her tail stopped wagging and her ears fell back along her head for a moment as she wondered how to fix whatever she’d done wrong. She opened her mouth to apologize, but then he stepped forward and spoke. She resisted the urge to back up. She assumed this was her alpha now. He had found her at the border and dragged her into the territory. Only alphas could do such things, right? So, if he wanted to approach her, then so be it.

“Ioa,” she said, when he asked for her name, and this time her voice came out as its usual whisper. “And no, I… I do not need anything else. You do not need to get me more food. I’m sure there are others who could… use it more than I.” She hesitated, and then continued, feeling the need to thank him again. “Thank you for taking me in. I will… work hard to earn my place here.”