Blacktail Deer Plateau rattlin' bones

When Dante appeared, Junior wanted to shrink away and hide. She liked him and she didn't want him looking at her, not when she felt like an ugly mess. But she didn't really have much of a choice. It was a good thing eye contact was considered disrespectful among wolf-kind; Junior could barely bring herself to look at him.

And when he admonished her for not leaving the Nereides under the best circumstances, her ears flattened. "They didn't deserve a goodbye," she replied defensively. "Do you know how they view males?" Despite herself, Junior now looked sharply at him. "They think males are beneath them. Males are always at the bottom of the hierarchy, even below female pups, no matter how much they contribute. And the sisters even beat them." She looked away again, ashamed of her involvement with them, however brief.