Stone Circle You Need More Than Manners

Her name had not been called, but the sheer urgency in Desna’s voice kicked Nanook to a wild sprint. Her thoughts ran everywhere, and numb all the same. The Apaata heard the snarls through the thinning forest long before she caught sight of Desna’s bristling jaws locked around the throat of a stranger on the ground.

Nanook prepared to sweep forward to join the front, when a different motion moved her - the Pali shuffle of one of their newest recruits loomed over a bush - two small shapes beneath her.

With a snort, Nanook redirected her charge toward the three, and whisked around their other side. The pulse of her heart hammered against her skull, and though she feared what might happen if the stranger caught sight of the innocents, the moment to herd the children away was now while Desna held the intruder to the ground. With most of the pack already rallied, her sister would have enough help here - she had to trust that.

She looked briefly to the lithe woman with a glance to tell her they had to get the kids away, before Nanook bent low to urge both Steph and Clary with a full gesture to run back to the den - and she would be sure to be right behind them.