The smile was dashed when the dark-coated female arrived, finally adding a face to "her". Adelaide remained low, silver eyes trailing over the woman's paws as she spoke bitter words that even she could taste. "Winter will soon give way to Spring, miss." She said quietly, her eyes no longer pointlessly searching. "And when that happens, I will remain." She spoke with as much courage as she could muster. Though she could not promise invulnerability, she found no reason to wander far from home.
She turned her gaze upon Angier, waiting expectantly for some command. She didn't dare move past the border until he led her, or moved himself. Only then did she let her paws shift beneath her, ushering her into the next chapter of her life. One hopefully better than the previous.
As soon as Elettra arrived on the scene, Angier seemed to have taken a step back, allowing his partner to take control of the situation. The fur at his nape bristled apprehensively; for a while he could have sworn that he could feel the waves of vexation radiating from her. He held his breath and stood by as she questioned Adelaide, demanding of her the reason as to why she had come to Willow Ridge.
"Do you come to my border merely to go missing or to die? ...Many have been lost to us this winter." It was apparent by her selection of words that she was not going to take anything short of a modest answer.
Angier's eyes went to Adelaide as she answered, "Winter will soon give way to Spring, miss." He had to keep himself from making a face as she glanced back to Elettra. "And when that happens, I will remain."
Everything seemed to fall into an abrupt stretch of silence that last all but a few seconds before the Archer woman parted her lips to speak, "We shall see..."
The Lyall's molars ground together as the dark lady turned about to face him. Angier's heart momentarily stopped beating, but she gave him a small nod of approval. He released the breath he had been holding as she made her leave. He watched her walk away and while the sound of her footfalls grew more distant by the second, he brought his attention back to Adelaide. She was attentive, waiting for some sort of command or signal. Relaxing now that the rogue woman had been verbally initiated into the pack, Angier swung his head to where his mate had strode off to.
"C'mon," he invited her, not yet daring to touch her or mark her as one of Willow Ridge's own. "I will show ya where you'll be stayin'. Then I'm gonna introduce ya to the cubs. They could use someone like you." His voice lowered, "They're all spoiled and 'ave been babied fer much too long, especially Sköll; I'd like you to teach them a lesson or two."
He made to set off on Elettra's path, but before he could begin his leisurely route through the willows, he made eye contact with her one more time, just to be sure she followed...
(Applause.)
Are you watching closely?
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