I stood there, my emotions teetering dangerously on the edge between fear and terror; they swayed neither way and I was stuck in a sort of limbo. One emotion that I felt for sure was embarrassment. My face felt like the surface of the sun, making me glad I had fur to hide it. Never in my life had I been so clumsy. I had the blood of alphas running through me, the visage of the mountain in my silver eyes. Though I had been born a princess, I never acted much like one. Yet I still held a certain grace in my gait that had been tarnished today. They say the fault was not in our stars, but in ourselves, but surely it was fate causing me to stumble as I had into these two wolves.

I had hit the young girl hard, even for my tiny frame. She had gone tumbling, though thankfully not into the water. While the large, brown male had taken the brunt of my paws slapping him as I tumbled through the air, while the spray or liquid and mud showered him. I looked like a drenched mess, mud staining my coat. I didn't have to look up to know he was seething with rage, I could feel it radiating off of him. He roared something in a language I did not know, making me briefly wonder if he would understand any apology I could muster up. There was truly no excuse for my fall. True I had been chased by a mother bear, but where was this bear now? They would not believe anything I said, maybe that was one reason I refrained from speaking.

By now, the small pup had regained her breath and came trotting over to me. I winced, expecting her to deal in her own harsh words. But what came next surprised me. "That was a better scare than I mustered for sure..." She says with a happy tail wag. This young girl was certainly a site to behold: a raggedy, gray pelt and a single good eye. "Even Ole Grumpyface here has to admit that. Bravo! Bravo!" The young girl laughs, making me feel a little more comfortable. I even gave her a small, almost unnoticable, shy smile. When I looked back at the male, he looked less than amused, his blue eyes staring daggers into me. I shuffled ever so slightly closer to the young girl, not wanting to be near the male who I had unintentionally helped provoke into his current state.

The female edged closer, even going so far as to gently nudge me. The contact, of course, made me jump slightly, but I knew she would cause me no harm. "You know, if we team up, we could take Grumpyface down for sure. I'm Scallywag by the way. Who are you? Do you know him?" she said with a happy wag. I had no intentions of helping her go after him, he was already on edge and has reason enough to attack me.”Unlikely,” the male said, shifting my attention back to him. So he could understand me. I took silent note of her name, Scallywag, what a strange name for a strange girl. "I'm Denali, and no I don't know him," I whispered, my voice hardly audible. But I had straightened up slightly, feeling a little safer with the situation.

He spoke once more, clearly speaking to me even if I could not understand what he said. But I didn't have to to know it was a question and the meaning behind it. He wanted an apology, some excuse for me getting him all wet and hitting him. Yet I knew no excuse I said would be good enough, but I had to apologize none the less."I'm truly sorry about hitting both of you, and getting you wet. My intentions were simply to escape a bear, not cause such trouble," I bowed my head apologetically. My voice was still soft, something I couldn't help. But at this point, I wasn't as scared. I knew neither of them were assassin's sent by my brother Kaius, though this knowledge still did not tarnish my embarrassment.

❤ THANKS SKYE