Hushed Willows we'll create an empire for you.

Harlyn didn't move a muscle until Tambourine leaped towards her paw. It was instinct that drove her then as all she saw was another attempt to turn her into prey. Swiftly, she bore down on the pup with a throaty snarl, grabbing his scruff and yanking him down onto his back to force him into submission. It was done with force, but not with the intent that he be hurt at all. She simply wanted him down in a position she knew to be one that was safe for her so that she could think through the morbidity of what had just happened. And so she stood over him dominantly, holding him down while she sorted through her emotions.

As much as it horrified her on an emotional, physical and moral level, Tambourine was just a child. Perhaps he'd thought her dead. Maybe he even mistaked her for a different animal. Or perhaps on the simplest basis of all, he'd seen the ragged skin of her arm and thought she was just holding out a scrap of meat for him. The logical workings of her brain began to steady her wildly beating heart and lower the gorge that had risen in her throat. He was not a mentally ill, demented, sick beast. He was just a confused little boy.

Still shaking, Harlyn nudged his temple to comfort him, assuming her move had probably terrified him. In spite of herself, she felt bile rise again and she swallowed hard and shook her head to keep it at bay.