Bearclaw Valley They don’t get the context ‘cause it’s too complex

Evien had never been a patient wolf. His temper was often bubbling right near the surface, and though he had gotten better at controlling it, that did not mean that it was not still there. And Donovan was stirring the pot as it boiled, rolling in the medic's chest and threatening to spill out in a way that would do nothing but make the situation worse. 

The fur along his nape had risen up, but his posture was kept carefully neutral as he walked up to stand alongside Astara. He felt dwarfed here - as he usually did - but he didn't feel intimidated. Not with his packmates around him. 

"Care to enlighten me on how she's closer to death than the pup?" he questioned, knowing good and well he was likely getting too close to the Saints' leader. But it wouldn't have been the first time he got in the face of a wolf twice as large as himself. "How she ran all the way back to your territory like the goddamn coward she is, when the kid can't even stand up right now?" Mismatched green eyes narrowed up at the man, quivering from head to toe with anger. 

These guys had a lot of nerve, coming here like this.

His ears perked when the brindle wolfdog mentioned that she would be punished. Had they not just said she already had been? Distrust lingered in his eyes as he appraised Donovan. 

Evien sucked in a deep breath through his nose to steady himself before he could speak again. "You're a fucking liar. Has she received her punishment or not? I know it might take some brainpower, but at least try to keep your story straight," he growled out, muzzle wrinkling in distaste. This whole situation was beginning to give him a headache.

"What's idiotic is what you're doing right now," he stated succinctly, raising his chin and meeting the wolfdog's eyes. "You'll have another enemy after you if you're not careful." It was a very thinly-veiled threat, but he could see it echoed in the indigo eyes of his co-lead. 

Donovan's last words narrowed Evien's eyes further and he snorted, tail raising for the first time in the entire conversation. "No, keep your healers. You're going to need them more than we are." He hadn't needed help before - not in his entire time spent with Ursus. He wasn't going to take it now, and certainly not from any wolf that followed this man.

The smaller Saints wolf whispered something to Donovan, and Evien arched a brow, studying him carefully. If there was any intelligence between the two, it resided in that one.

What are you planning?

"You would be better off letting him speak for you," he told Donovan, a small smirk growing on his maw. But he'd leave it there, figuring that the man would be able to understand the insult well enough. 

Toad and Skoll were still there, lingering in the background. Evien had not always gotten along with Toad, but he trusted him. And Skoll was always a solid presence. They'd never hesitated to help protect their pack before, and he knew they wouldn't now. 

It was beginning to irritate him, how Donovan's attention was only fixed on Evien rather than the shadow beside him. She deserved his attention and respect, as well, and yet she received none of it. "You apologized to the wrong wolf," he stated, glancing over to Astara. Donovan should've begged the mother's forgiveness for the grievance his own wolf had caused, but had failed to do so. "If you can't get rid of your subordinate, then this conversation is over. Don't come back here." His head pounded relentlessly behind his skull, but such was the effect of speaking to a prideful moron. "We're done." 

That was all there was to it. Evien looked to Astara again, wondering what she would do.