Blacktail Deer Plateau Calling by stormlight

Since it's been over a week and I consider this an important thread, I'm going to skip ahead in the posting order. Sorry to skip Cuan; feel free to toss in a post at any time. :x

Now both Koontz and Ray squared off with her, the latter baring his teeth openly. Pied blinked at him, swallowing against the lump forming in her throat. She took a few steps backward, more hastily when another wolf appeared on the scene. Although the numbers were even, she felt outnumbered, perhaps because it was tough being faced off against her cousins this way. Furthermore, she sensed danger all around them and she wondered how soon the rest of the pack would be upon them.

Ray ordered them to leave and Koontz punctuated this demand with her own. Pied said nothing but exchanged a sideways glance with her pack mates. She wanted to go, now, before things got any worse. Before she could possibly convey this message verbally, the silvery Alpha female suddenly began laying into her, her words both surprising Pied—she hadn't known her pack mate's history here—and stinging her deeply. The words sank into her like a whip biting through fur, flesh and bone, particularly when Koontz effectively disowned her.

To add insult to injury, she then threatened bodily injury to all of them, including Pied. Balking inwardly, Pied slowly began to shake. Simultaneously, large, cold raindrops began to fall as the stormy heavens' gates finally opened. Before long, she quaked furiously, a combination of being emotionally overwrought, soaking wet and chilled to the bone in more than one sense of the word.

"Fine," she said just loudly enough to be heard over the rainfall. "I guess that makes us—and our packs—mortal enemies then." She shivered violently as she said it, her eyes briefly connecting with Koontz's. She was upset and also angry. No matter what had transpired between her cousins and Hawkeye, she didn't understand why Koontz had felt the need to abruptly disown her. Quietly, Pied seethed.

"Come on, you two," she muttered to her two companions, who had stood quietly by during most of the altercation. "Let's go home and let Jinx know what happened here," she added under her breath, so that only they could hear. There was a subtle threat contained in those words. Koontz had blown this whole matter way out of proportion and Pied felt she had no choice but to let her leadership know about the vendetta between the packs. And though she might feel differently once she'd cooled down, currently Pied savored the idea of one day getting revenge on Koontz for her hasty overreactions.