Nova Peak just keep breathing

It wasn't a good feeling. True, there was a tiny part of her that felt a power rush at the notion of being feared, yet the whole thing primarily felt unpleasant. She continued goggling at the stranger as he reacted to her presence like a misbehaving puppy prostrating before his irate mother. He did eventually right himself slightly and creep closer, his demeanor still entirely submissive as he attempted to apologize and explain.

"Why are you acting like that?" she wanted to know, only realizing after the words left her mouth how very blunt they sounded. "I mean, I know I growled at you. It was more of a knee-jerk reaction than anything, though. It wasn't... personal. I'm not going to hurt you," she said in a tone that said, surely, you must know that! It evidently wasn't as obvious as she thought, though, which only added to the peculiarity of the the situation.

Unbidden, an image of that black-and-white wolf cropped up in her mind, beaten and bloody. She grimaced a bit. He had asked for that, though, during one of Wildfire's very worst moments. She would never hurt anybody like that now, especially not unprovoked. And this guy hadn't provoked her, not really... Wildfire felt her chest tightening and her skin growing warm, as if it no longer fit.