Porcupine Ridge strange perfections in any stranger

As expected, the threat display had a minimal, almost absent effect. If anything it made the situation worse for Tryphon, who now had an agitated wolf circling about him. As soon as she dove for his throat - hidden though it was by his bowed head - he snapped his teeth, driven by the primal instinct to defend that precious point of himself. He did not latch upon her skin, though. In fact, the boy missed completely; he only wanted to make it known that he would not be hurried or pressured, no matter whose land this was.

He did, however, give a guttural response to her questioning. His voice was shaky and crackling, like a freshly built fire: "Looking f'rr someone." Having finally stated that, Tryphon expected a certain amount of leeway granted to him - she got an answer, and he meant no real harm. But that wasn't how the world worked. It was unfortunate that Tryphon had been displaced for so long outside of common society, or he'd have realized this, as he began to stride around her.