Porcupine Ridge in the doghouse

@Capriccio

Late in the morning, the soft fall of snow had stopped, and the black wolf rose from his bed to shake his coat. He had but one intention this day: to seek the alpha female. Little had they seen of each other, and each time their paths had crossed her fury could be seen and could be felt. He had given her some space, for that some of the fire may die down, some of the ice may melt, but whether it had or not he was bound not to let this unease persist.

He followed her trail at a brisk trot, and soon spied the darkness of her fur against the snow, with the sun catching on the silver that accented it. He paused for a moment, but only for a moment, before he approached. His gait was slow, tentative, and his ears were folded back while his tail, hanging slow, swayed gently.

Mature for language. <3

Capri had done a rather excellent job of avoiding not just Taggarik, but the others – almost to the point that she wondered her own mentality and the true reasons for even pushing to remain the Alpha, given her inability to push past her anger and act in the place that had been bestowed upon her. The encounter with Saghani had been the first time she had to earn her position – and it had left a bitter taste in her mouth if only because it had meant her dark counterpart had been intimate with the woman.
 
Not that she would ever admit these thoughts to anyone else.
 
Her lope was brisk, her nose gingerly brushing the ground as she aimed to pick up a trail of a goat. She could do with a distraction, and with the rumble in her stomach, a hunt was the easiest one to have.
 
Of course, the wind would shift only just so, and she would stiffen when it indicated another was on her own trail. Her frosted eyes glanced upward, and as she noted Taggarik’s large form closing the distance to her, she felt her own form lift higher, her lips pulling back to bare her teeth in a quick flash toward the Alpha male. Nothing within her stance welcomed his presence, and while she desired nothing more than to quicken her pace and sweep away, she found herself stubbornly rooted to the spot. “So,” she drawled quietly, her usual gentle voice laced with frost. “Who will be your next fuck toy? Perhaps I can have a heads up next time so I can know when to watch my hide.” Kesan, Jhala, Vuk. All potential she-wolves Taggarik would bed -- her fear before had been they would come to heat before she did. Apparently, this did not matter to the male.

Give it to him, Capri! LOL

She wanted nothing to do with him, but she did not chase him from her presence nor flee his own. Instead, she bared her teeth and coldly assaulted him with a harsh question as her eyes seemed to bore into his skull. He did not begrudge her anger with him, and as he had the day the black female followed him home, he quietly accepted it, holding himself in soft deference to her with a lowered head, folded ears, and drooped tail.

He did not answer immediately, but when he did, he spoke softly as he plied for understanding. "Is it that I had sex at all, or is it that she followed me home and challenged you? What is it that you are mad at? Both?"

There was a selection of choices before her -- she could continue her heated frustration and anger -- she did it so well. She could completely back him in to a corner, forcing her anger upon him until one point he would likely break.  Her rage and upset fueled her -- strengthened her and weakened her at the same time. His question could have had the ability to crumple her before him, had she still not been so pissed.
 
His own form was minutely submissive -- quite the difference from when she had first joined his ranks. Her frosted eyes levelly regarded him, cold, and her stance revealing no warmth or welcome. He had hurt her.. and he failed to even understand why.
 
Choosing the road that allowed for communication, Capri steeled herself emotionally, her muzzle notching up even higher, despite the tremble that wanted to course past her entire body. "I poured my heart out to you -- about wanting a family of my own. My fears stem from the females within this pack -- Kesan, Jhala.. Vuk. That they go in season before I do." She paused, her eyes still boring toward his own features. "Imagine my surprise when you surpass even those worries and bring home a random wolf you just decided to have sex with. To challenge me."

Had he known that it would have hurt Capriccio or so badly damaged her trust in him, he would never have done it. He did not believe she would have cared, having indicated to him that she thought their families would not be one in the same, that she would step down when he took a mate for himself. He had other ideas, but even as the words sprang unbidden onto his tongue he held them, until the retreated down his throat and were swallowed. His expression softened into one of regret, and his own hurt to see that he had caused her such pain.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, a simple but genuine apology in lieu of explanation she probably did not want to hear. The she wolf had followed him home because he had been too perplexed and too stubborn, thinking she would have turned and left him eventually. "I will not allow anyone to challenge you." Nor had he; as that black female stepped toward he had been quick to intercept.

Tentatively, he stepped closer.

He took a step to her, and she took one back, not wishing to have the distance closed between them. His words did little to soothe her – instead, they flared a speck of indignation in her – as if he had certainly missed the entire point of what she had just said.
 
“I don’t need you to protect my rank,” she noted, her tone firm, her eyes cold as they studied him from their distance. “I’m asking for a heads up next time – that when you do take your mate, perhaps you could actually let me know before she tries to push me in to my place.” Of course it hadn’t truly happened that way – even she had seen that.
 
But given that Taggarik clearly held no qualm with mating with the wolves outside of their pack, she wasn’t even sure what to expect anymore.

Gonna fade here so we can have one post PR v RJ!

She would not accept him any closer, and so he, too, took a step back in acknowledgement of this. His ears, already held back, folded even closer to his skull.

"There should not have been a first time," he said softly, and once more he found that there were words on his tongue he dare not speak, things he dare not tell her, promises he dare not make. "I, um..." he uttered, his brows pinching as he struggled to say something more, but he found nothing else that he felt should be said now. He shook his head.

She did not want him near and now was not the time for what he wanted to say, so with one last apologetic look he turned and slowly walked away.

It was clear there would be no reasoning with her – stubbornness and fury emanated from her in waves, and Taggarik chose the more intelligent route of not furthering their conversation. His words were meant to appease her, but they only stung more – as if further indicating he still wasn’t even sure why it had hurt her so much.
 
Was she even sure why?
 
With brows knitted together, he uttered a few words, and then turned away. She watched him go, her posture terse, her eyes wintery. She spoke nothing more, and as if to reiterate her point, she swept away in the complete opposite direction of him.