Redtail Rise Never a diva but occasionally a real dick

I figured I could sneak in one or two short posts, inspired by this panel and this panel of Off-White.

Saena wasn't close enough to really hear the exchange, but she stood in the trees, watching. Smash's scent wafted up even to where she was hidden. Though the Alpha female genuinely liked Smash, she wasn't thrilled to know the woman was in heat. At first, she assumed that this gathering was a sort of mating circle, and she stood vigil to ensure that nobody broke the rules... but it became clear the longer she hunkered down in the bushes that this wasn't what their gathering was about.

Reek was too crestfallen, and Arion too alarmed, for it to be anything like that. Plus, Reek had a mate, albeit a strangely absent one. She'd expected to see more of Wynter following her permission, not less. But that's a story for another time.

When it became clear to Saena what was really happening (she didn't need to hear their words to understand this), she broke her cover like a mild thunderstorm. She was too small to make such an impact as a thunderstorm in full bloom, but still she stalked down the mountainside with her hair lifted along her back and her tail raised. She didn't call out anything to the retreating Smash, but stood on an outcropping of rock with her snout flung to the sky, wrinkled and unwelcoming, with a brief flash of teeth. Arion and Reek might take her display poorly, but if they looked closely, they would see disappointment and unrest in Saena's eyes, and the glimmer of tears, for she had hoped to make a solid friend of Smash and hated to banish her from returning this way.

But she had to make a statement, or wolves would continue to come and go. Hers was not meant to be a transient pack. Permanence meant something, especially after all the shit her family had put her through with straight up abandonment. So she stood tall and rigid, her body language screaming, don't you dare come back looking for a home. Whatever reason Smash had for leaving wasn't good enough for Saena, and though she appreciated the call, which surely meant that Smash really was explaining herself, she'd been unable to feel good about anyone leaving ever since Junior's unexplained disappearance.