Stone Circle Nurturing Panic

as the distraught woman took a step towards pema dauntless takes a step forward to mirror her, instinctively ready to protect his mother. he's full grown now, if not very close to being full grown and though he hadn't agreed with pema's choice — unaware that it'd been him she'd unnecessarily worried about — he wasn't going to let her hurt pema if that was the designs she had in mind behind her grieving eyes. she was definitely the wild card out of them. dauntless huffs when she says that he was a motivating reason for her decision. he wasn't a child and the implication that he was a wee babe that needed protection insulted him more than it warmed him ...especially given the tension that hangs in the air like crack of a whip. "no," he isn't normally so argumentative but the sting of insult still smarts. "i'm going with you." dauntless protests. there was no telling the danger she would be stepping into, not to mention that she would be alone with four distraught easthollow wolves. he wasn't about to let her go off on her own with them. "i'm not a child anymore. i can protect myself." he reminds pema gently.