north sea storm

Julooke was silent and for a passive moment Ragnar looked at her, knowing that if things should turn hostile he could easily send Verrine and Julooke back to safety. Ragnar was well adept at taking care of himself in battle, had faced down larger numbers with less wolves for the Berserkers went out on raids in small numbers for efficiency, never bringing their full host when they went. The situation was annoying but hardly what Ragnar would consider daunting. He wasn’t afraid of these wolves. Icy Caribbean eyes moved to Verrine then when the male spoke offering something that Ragnar hadn’t considered. That Gyrfalcon Keep was hunting grounds to the pack that Majesty had left, and though Ragnar was not aware of how the situation went down, did not know the Silvertip’s leaders he could not help but feel that much like the case with Horizon Ridge the intrusion would be highly unwelcome. At Verrine’s observation the Viking grinned coyly though the grin itself held no real mirth but the irony of poor choices on their leaders‘ part was nothing short of amusing to the savage. Either they would be smart or they would quickly regret the choices made. “Stupid,” Ragnar agreed in a low murmur cast back to his subordinates though he no longer faced them.

The Isle pack had backed themselves into a tight corner with Silvertip Mountain and Horizon Ridge; one at their doorstep and the other damn near there. To be fair, Horizon Ridge held the claim of seniority. It wasn’t like they had both formed new at the same time, the Ridge had been a clear and superior presence in the Wilds when Ragnar had joined months ago and it showed no signs of going anywhere of that Ragnar would make sure.

The woman that somewhat approached the group, though she kept a wide berth which was a mixture of irritating (if because he felt the need to raise his voice and Ragnar did not often do that) and begrudgingly appreciated; smelled too new. As it stood, Ragnar was not interested in fighting with these wolves outright. Not today, at any rate. He simply came bearing a message — nothing more. It was about all he had the power to do without asking Pump’s permission first. The Viking inhaled deeply and let it out, canting his head so that the sun brought to the light the scars on the left side of his face previously held in the shadows. His position was not relaxed but it was not as hostile as it could have been, as the muscles in his body screamed for it to be. Presently, Ragnar had no choice but to entrust his message with this woman and hope that as it passed from her to Majesty that nothing important was let out of it. To be sure Ragnar already began making plans in the back of his mind to seek out their leader privately after he spoke with Pump about it. For a long stretch of moment Ragnar was silent, assessing, studying with the patience of a predator that had been at this game for a very long time.

“I have a message for you and the others of your pack,” The silence was finally broken by Ragnar’s soft, heavily accented voice. “Your pack is too close to Horizon Ridge’s borders,” It was a simple statement, his tone quiet but assertive because it was imperative she understand, that they all understood that if Ragnar caught even a whiff of them on Horizon Ridge’s territory he would rip them apart and throw their entrails back onto the Isle for their leader to find. “You will avoid coming to the mainland through our shore. If any Isle wolf is caught,” A devilish smirk had began to play at the corners of the Viking’s mouth. “And you will be caught, my Wardens are extending their patrols to cover the Shore; actions will be taken and lessons will be learned.” Despite his smirks Ragnar was far from playing around. His threats were serious and grim. “And you may have noticed but your little Isle will not sustain the pack it holds. Ravensblood and the Totoka River are hunting grounds for Horizon Ridge, have been hunting grounds for us before your leader ever came into these Wilds. My wolves will chase you out of them if they catch hunting happening. You might also want to be concerned about the wolves of Silvertip Mountain, too. I am sure they will not appreciate you hunting on their hunting grounds, either” It was food for thought, and either the message was received and heeded or it would be disregarded. Either way, that was on them. Ragnar did not care for any of their lives and liked to think that maybe next time some more sense would be put into claiming lands.

With his warning given the Northman fell into silence, watching and waiting.