Fel was in a hole. Not a figurative one, either. It wasn’t incredibly deep, but it was a small trench that mostly hid her. It was right in between two bushes, so it would not seem out of place because it would not be seen. The ambush spot was also a good ways away from the actual pack clearing, by the outskirts around where Narla’s new den was. They should not be seen and would not be interrupted. Her scent masked by grass and dirt, she lay on the cool earth. She was sheltered from the sun and immediate sight by some of the forest underbrush, some excess dirt, and a light but leafy branch she positioned over herself. You see, Fel knew that many things in life consisted of probabilities, and she often researched these probabilities, be it consciously or subconsciously. She did not know that Narla would cross that pathway from her den in the next few minutes, but she knew that it was highly probable as most wolves have a routine and Fel had lied about the time of her shift. It was not time, although it was the early morning, for her to run a border check. The wolves for that duty had already moved out. Narla, however, was about to receive a lesson that Fel would make sure she never forgot.

Ears flat against her skull and body entirely still but coiled to leap and strike, she watched with her undead orbs for a sign of her presence. Her black nostrils flared, taking in the scents of the forest and others. There was a reason Fel had not seen the creature’s naive rank challenge… She would not have been able to guarantee Breeze’s safety if she had seen her hurt Narla. But the brutish fae heard of why Narla failed, and it made her frozen blood boil to think about such an allowance. Mistakes happened, but corrections to mistakes should always be made to ensure that mistakes don’t become patterns. She waited a few weeks without mentioning the incident though. There was a point to prove in this.

Fel would teach her creature today that there is no safe place, there is no such thing as security, and there will be no such thing as blinding confidence… or mercy.

The prey came just as expected, and the predator waited patiently for the right moment to pounce. Of course, Fel’s power was crippled by the extended period of time she had spent in the hole, as tense as she was, but the element of surprise was worth that. She didn’t have to knock Narla into a tree… And gravity would do what Fel wanted if she got her body into the air.

The raven beast did just that, flying through the air after a relatively successful launch and tackling the smaller figure. With the given angle, the two bodies wrestled and rolled until Fel hit a stray root and forced their stop at the next semi-rotation by catching herself with her hind paws. What was unexpected though, was that when Fel stopped rolling, her large black nose was pressed right up to Narla’s proportionally smaller one. With a snarl of annoyance at this position, she sought to knock back the smaller maw and attach her jaws around her neck while the weight of her body rested on the that of the other.

Fel growled out through either clenched jaws or clutches of fur, “Never expect that the fight is over. Unless all that is around you are corpses, you can still be attacked. And you of all beings, my small creature, should always anticipate an attack.” The threat was very clear and dangerous, though Fel knew deep in her blood-pumping and otherwise meaningless organ that she could never truly harm Narla or allow such harm to come to her. There were, after all, reasons why she didn’t watch her spar. She didn’t want to admit to that though, so she continued securing her dominance in the position until the other spoke, after which Fel would swiftly get up, step aside, and watch her.

Fel stared at her creature, completely baffled. Narla was always the fiery, cocky spirit who didn’t know how or when to give up. She had even charged at a cougar on command, and yet now she was so weak and disenchanted. The beast let go of the neck and stepped off of her. Her dominance was no help here, and the lesson was over. There were other things that needed to be corrected here, although fixing morale was her weakness. Fel was not one to lie and sugarcoat things; she said what she believed was right, and if she didn’t believe what she said, it was probably because she was talking to Desmond and his self-confidence was down. She walked away a few steps, tail thrashing in disgust as she turned around. The creature was sat, with its head drooping. It was despicable. Fel would wait until her apologies finished before growling, “This isn’t the apprentice I taught. What Lead Warrior falls limp to be tackled and scolded and then sits with her head dangling like a cherry? Get your ass up.”


She stood where she was, occasional breeze ruffling her fur. They were in the shade, though it was still quite hot. Fel took a deep, calming breath and assessed the situation. Was this one defeat really the only thing that was dragging Narla down? Could that even be possible? The Narla she knew would have gotten back up from the fight and challenged Breeze again the next day. There was probably something else. “Is there anything else clouding your mind? I do not believe that this one defeat is enough to break you, as I have tried to do for months. There was strength in allowing you to keep your fire, once under control. I want my creature back, so spit it out.”

Fel's steady gaze rested upon her creature. Her creature. It was the possessive pronoun that was important here, not the noun. The fact that she was a creature, a canine other than a wolf, had long since fallen out of relevance. But it was so meaningful and precious to Fel that this canine abomination - this creature - was hers. She had known this for a long while. But this ownership had transcended into something greater. Narla would soon no longer be an apprentice of Fel's. Their bargain had been long over. But some claim still remained over her. Fel had taken this to be a mutual understanding between the two females, something that both knew and held in this silence. And both could hold this claim equally, for Fel had become as much Narla's as Narla was hers. The deranged cat in the mountains had proven that.

So when the words spilled from Narla's maw, Fel was not that shocked. The only two suprising things about it was that this was the reason behind all of her missing morale and that the tawny dingo had felt a need to mention it at all. In fact, Fel had half expected her to mention it some day in the casual form of a question. 'When are we going to tell Desmond?' Something along these lines. The prospect of becoming official mates was also intriguing, as it was not something she had considered. But now that she thought about it, Fel was not against the idea. With the calmest outward appearance, she approached the frightened one. She could feel the nervousness in the air feeding upon the silence. It was time to break it. "You know... 'I have been in love with no one, and never shall, unless it should be with you.'* And no one should ever love me, as they never have and never will, unless it is you..." She paused, craning her neck down to set her gaze level with the other's and smiling slightly. "I thought you already knew that."

Fel stepped to the side, lifting her maw ever so slightly to leave a long lick from the canine's temple all the way down her spine to the middle of her rump. And in this calm manner of hers, she circled around her to come about on her other side. "You are familiar with pack law... In order for us to become mates, the alpha must give us his blessing. It is not something to worry about, as Desmond is not likely to deny me this much, but it is still something that needs to be done. We should approach him about it this evening or sometime tomorrow." She looked around quietly, feeling comfortable in their solitude. The pack was off doing their own chores, while these two faes swam together in a sea of violets.

*Quote credit to J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Carmilla)