Bearclaw Valley as you promised me that I was more than all the miles combined

athalia was not strong enough to kill him.
not physically, nor emotionally; as her stamina runs thin, the boy is successful in his bid to break free. she snaps her jaws at him again, moves to lunge, but tumbles to a stop as ancelin puts himself between she and he.
she thought he would have run screaming from her, but no, not immediately. the bright blue eyes burn into her own long enough for her to meet him with one glance of pure — hatred.
and yet she lets him leave. she cannot watch as the trail of scarlet disappears into the shrubbery, but she calls after him, finally releasing her voice, shrill and yet resolute; you come back, you die! son of a bitch!
her breath is sharp and heavy and frighteningly fast. ancelin's voice rounds upon her and her head whips toward him, reaching up to wipe away the blood which dribbles from her chin. the copper fur along her nape spikes. she looks at him as if he, too, was about to run — if one looked closely enough at the stony façade which swept her countenance, one would see fear beginning to bludgeon at her from beneath the surface.
brother, she says flatly, scooping herself up and cowering, away, away, away from ancelin. dead to me. not brother. he leave. everyone leave!
anger, returning;
he is like mama! her voice shatters into an unrecognizable, warbled cry, and she
crumbles.