Silvertip Mountain slinking through the shadows

Not bad at all, but I hope your headache is gone or goes away quickly!! <3

Aguta tested him. She pushed up against him with her tail and head held high. Goldry could feel her hot breath on his fur. He didn't turn to look at her. He watched from his peripherals – watching for signs of a threat. He listened to her breathing in case she stopped, sucked in, and gave him that vital, fleeting clue that she was about to strike. His muscles flexed and his claws dug into the earth as he prepared to pivot and shove her back if she attacked.

Nothing. She dominated him, and he submitted. He didn't wish to fight. Not now. And though he had ambitions to ascend the ranks, he was also cautious and practical. He held his tail relaxed and languid. He kept his head and body lower than both of them, and he avoided direct eye contact. If she pressed him further, he would display more colorful presentations of his current inferiority. But he hoped he wouldn't have to. Not out of pride, but out of nature. He was not Omega.

Finally, she spoke. His tail wagged slowly and gently.

Her tone was inscrutable. He chanced a glance at her, and her face was as hard and unreadable as stone. Goldry suddenly realized Tonravik wasn't the only one to whom he had to prove himself; and although they had been friendly on the hunt, he could not assume Aguta would grant him even the tiniest of favors here, in her homeland.

But he grinned just barely, and rather than shy away from the challenge, he embraced it wholeheartedly. He would prove his strength and cunning, his talents and his skills. He would show them all that he belonged.

For now, he kept his rank. There could be little to be gained by challenging Aguta here. Even if he won, the foundation of his ascension would have been weak and vulnerable. It was not the most strategic move.

He glanced at his new Alpha. Tonravik seemed pleased, but it was hard to tell.

Goldy twisted an ear toward Aguta and looked toward her. His tail swished in slow, rhythmic arcs. I will earn, his body said.