Duck Lake living with the ducks

"Hello?"

Shit, Bazi thought to herself, but rose to her feet all the same. How would she deal with this? Nice or threatening? Strong leader or mean leader? She had occupied top spot for all of five minutes, and hadn't yet settled on a consistent style for this particular sort of interaction. If she wasn't friendly, would it make her enemies? If she was kind (which often went hand-in-hand with awkward), would she paint the pack in a poor light?

Luckily, Shadow chose that moment to appear at her side. Numbers automatically projected strength, which meant she would not need to make up for her small stature in front of this wolf. "Come on, let's see who this is," she half-whispered to her pack-mate, and stepped out into the light.

His voice didn't quite match his body. Though it was by no means light, it lacked the qualities of an older voice - the way new leather differs from the textured surface of something a little more well-worn. He was young, then, and well built. Bazi took a few confident steps forward, tail raised to half mast behind her. "Are you stealing our ducks?" she asked in a voice carried by a sardonic undercurrent.