King Elk Forest I met him in a crowded room

For a moment, Saena wrestled with the bush. She flailed on her back, clipping her teeth at the raking twigs and thrashing her legs at the thick, squat trunk, but in short order she righted herself. She shook roughly, then promptly seated herself and began to swipe her tongue over the unruly fur of her chest.

It wouldn't do, oh no it wouldn't. Saena was a huntress but she was also a lady and a lady could not abide being an unsightly mess.

She whipped her head up at the sound of a voice. Kojak's greeting was polite, overly so, and presumptuous. Saena straightened, the picture of perfect wolfish posture, and fixed him with eyes that danced between warm and haughty all at the same time. "You address a queen," she reminded him, although she had never before seen Kojak. It wouldn't do to ask who he was, though. A queen must pretend to know all. "You will bow in my presence, loner," she said, her tone suggestive but also brooking no argument.

So when Spring arrived, Saena turned eyes upon her and, with no hint of recognition, pointed out that, "it is customary to address your queen as Her Wildness or Her Graciousness," as if Spring had done it incorrectly. The woman had said Saena's name, so the regal female assumed that Spring was a subject of hers, and promptly lifted a paw as if she expected her subject to bow and preen her toes. She might not recognize Spring in the slightest, but she expected her due respect all the same, with less of the brusqueness with which she'd addressed the wolf whose smell told of no others.

In the background, she noted a white hawk. It was visible only to her, so her eyes flicked toward it, where the other wolves would see naught but an empty bough.