The birds and the bees

Initially the boy was stupefied, but it wasn't long before his flesh began to swell with the burning of the tiny sting. It should have been easily ignored. The wasp was insistent - apparently loathing wolves - and it buzzed around the boy's head no matter where he tossed himself. Preoccupied by this, Tiarnan did not notice the stranger approach - but he caught her scent, which mingled with a familiar aroma and made his spine prickle. The stranger was close in the next instant, almost atop him, and snapping her teeth.

Naturally, the boy resisted. He buckled down and lifted lip, exposing a defensive grimace that was further soured by the growing itch of his nose; the stranger's voice caught in his ears as he turned to look upon her, and the chasm that separated them. It was enough to ease some of the tension in his body but Tiarnan did not relent in his posturing - his tail lashed with irritation, and his grimace only shrank to a tight-lipped frown.

Her words meant nothing to him, but he was quick enough to catch some terms - Jinx being a prime one, although the mention of the pack did not ease the idiot's nerves. She had saved him from a pest, but that didn't make her an ally.