The forward step on her part was countered with Shinyuu's raised hackles. Not waiting a moment, Iopah responded in unspoken-kind. She took another step forward. The movement was no longer testing and probing, but rather asserting herself. Her high-flung tail was stiff, there was no sway to it as she moved forward. From the corner of her golden eye she saw Taslima shift, stretching and tilting her head. Iopah felt her tail give a brief twitch at that. She saw -and appreciated- the attempt at diffusing the tension, but it was coming from the wrong wolf.

Her attention was stretched tight on Shinyuu, the yearling's question registering little more than a laconic blink from the Pines' alpha. It wasn't that she didn't care if the ivory woman might need help, but it was secondary now. This wolf thought she could meet Iopah's unspoken request for respect with bared teeth. Perhaps she was being a bit pushy in the way she was enforcing it, but the other woman had done little to explain herself and Iopah was not known for her patience with strangers. Keeping her family safe was far more important than a few ruffled feather, in her opinion.

The younger wolf spoke back up, the words tugging on Iopah's preoccupation. Her pale ears flicked to and fro, whilst keeping watchful eyes on Shinyuu. She listened silently, the flicker of her ears the only proof. They were low spoken words, heavy with feeling that even Iopah could detect; for a brief moment they tugged her gaze away from Shinyuu. The sharp golden eyes landed on Taslima, saying nothing still but for the sympathy in them; Iopah remembered her own past. The look lasted only a moment and then she was back to watching the white woman.

There was relief -despite her readiness to throw down- when the tense lines melted from Shinyuu's stance. It wasn't until they stepped back that Iopah let her own stance soften somewhat. It didn't drop any, but the stiffness vanished. Her brows drew together curiously, following the playfully swaying tail. "Are you lost?" Or perhaps, "Are you sick?" She now knew there were many ways to be sick, and every one as unpredictable and dangerous as the next.

There was always something to protect against, always something worth protecting. Her gaze went sideways to Taslima again, now having an understanding of sorts with Shinyuu. She gave a faint smile. "I can give you that. If you trust me, I can offer my home to you."