The last words spoken to her this morning had been the following: Do not leave the clearing.

They had not been uttered by their mother, although Sarabi repeatedly warned them not to stray despite Blackthorne's less than pleasant back chatter. Indeed, Thorne was the one who had demanded she stay. He snidely told her that he didn't have time to babysit her and that she needed to make sure that mother didn't figure out he was gone.

So here she stood on the precipice of the den and the world, her silvery looking eyes staring out with a solemn gaze. It did not bother her to stay here. What Blackthorne told her to do, she did, just as she understood the implicit meaning behind her mothers warnings. There was a danger out there and while she didn't fear it completely, she knew that she wasn't strong enough to compete.

Besides, when one was told to do something, one did it. With a few exceptions of course - Blackthorne being one. She understood from the moment of birth that he was the leader, the alpha, and so she never once disobeyed. Never once understood why mother and him quarreled so often, her head often found arced to the side in contemplation and confusion. It was such an instinctive response she couldn't fathom that Sarabi did not have it as well.

The clearing is thick with grass and a wildflowers. Birds swoop down low, peck the ground, then pause to eye her as she comes to sit directly in the middle of the clearing. She does not chase them because what are they to her? Not yet a source of food, just a curiosity. Her milk teeth ache for her mothers belly yet she had eaten earlier this morning and couldn't complain. She would wait, as was her lot in life, and this did not bother her.

But in the meanwhile she would stand sentry over the clearing and be ready to report to her brother when he returned.