The night is my companion and solitude my guide [J]

She listened intently as the Alpha male began to explain his pack in much more detail than the DeMonte woman could have anticipated. Partway through his introduction to Wheeling Gull Isle, the female seated herself on the sand, getting comfortable just as he launched into an explanation of the pack's rules.

And it was here that the female found herself returning. From what she had gathered, the pack members had initiative and drive, even those who were uncertain of their place. The standard rules of a pack applied, which Viatrix had expected, but there was a very non-traditional twist to Majesty's rules that did not appeal to her traditional way of life, and that was that trespassers were not to be harmed.

She waited politely for the man to finish his explanation, collecting a few more questions in her head for later, then finally asked, “Is that wise?” Without pause, the female introduced herself as “Viatrix DeMonte, descendant of Bronx DeMonte, founder of Whisper Forest in the Salvaje Valleys, or so I'm told. I am a wolf, sir, and I excel at what we wolves excel at: tracking, hunting, and mind games.”

“Mind you, I am also a tactician,” she added, ”which is why I ask if your rules are wise. With all due respect, is someone trespassing not considered a good reason to deal with them hostilely? You would allow strangers to walk freely through your land and, in doing so, undermine your authority? They do not answer to you, so they may not respect you here.” Having been raised by wolves with utmost loyalty to their Alphas and impeccable guarding of their homes, spanning back generations to Bronx the stoic guardian himself, Viatrix simply couldn't imagine allowing a non-pack wolf to traipse through her pack's territory unharmed. Truth be told, if she ran with this Majesty, it would be the first rule she broke, being a prideful wolf herself and not willing to sacrifice the strength of the pack for illogical reasons.

“And is your home wise? You knowingly chose a location with scarce prey? Did you consider the fact that the sea would freeze your nads off in winter before you even made it to the coast to hunt when you chose somewhere that is scarcely populated?” Majesty's answers to these questions would make or break Viatrix's interest in his pack. Whether he liked it or not, the spunky logician had turned his interview into her interview.