Annubis is ready for her.

Maybe it’s because he spent most of his youth chasing after such a prickly mare as Hyacinth; more likely, it is ingrained at his core. Whatever the reason, the impish grin that remains plastered upon his lips as the pale woman turns her ire onto him grows.

Her teeth snap inches from his whiskered lips as fury resonated in every tightening muscle of her body. Those pretty little fluted ears that perk atop her skull snap backward, flatting against the waterlogged curve of her damp neck. ’You had no right!!...’ she begins, fury curling from her nostrils like proverbial smoke from a dragon’s breath. Multifaceted eyes of gold and green hues dance as the sterling beast bites back a sharp retort of his own. He had a right. He had every right. It all depended on the perspective of the matter. Predator or prey. He was the wolf in this jungle, untried and testing the sharpness of his claws and the strength of his teeth. The calico stallion was merely an opportune moment. A weakling stumbling along behind a larger herd of healthy herla. Was it really his fault that Annubis had bested him? No. Was it likely that he would come seeking retribution? Oh, only if Annubis is lucky. The Tinuvel stallion didn’t seem like the type to merely stumble back into the shadows and watch in defeat. Annubis had seen it in the hard flash of his green eyes when the silver wolf herded away his prize into the ocean. This was not over.

’... you’re gonna need saving if I have anything to do with it…’ she continues, taking a stalking step toward him. This time, the expression of amusement on his ashen lips does falter. Raven-tipped ears twitch as a disbelieving scoff rumbles deep within the cavern of his broad chest, escaping past flaring nostrils in a derissive snort. ”Is that a promise love?” he asks, his voice dropping in octave as he lowers his skull to bring his brow nearer to her own. Dark lashes blinked lazily as she continued to berate him, questioning his motives and complaining rather loudly about his lack of empathy when it came to separating mother and child. Honestly, he survived. It might even do her colt some good to be apart from a coddling mother figure like the pale girl glaring up at him. The words almost leave his lips. Almost.

She does at least give her name. Raini. Pretty, but somehow seemed too delicate and fragile to his ears from a mare with such venom and fire in her eyes. Maybe if they had met on different terms, he could see it. For now, little cockatiel seems to fit best. Not exactly a high-pitched screech like the little annoying parrots, but still shrill enough to annoy the most innocent of passersby.

But the sterling beast has spent most of his life on Atlantis and such neusiances were easy to tone out and muffle with thoughts and more pleasant scenes. In truth, he almost yawns as the same lulling boredom draws at him, causing his muscular haunches to shift their position on the sun-warmed sand. ’...If you put a mark on him…. I’ll kill you…’

That did it. The threat, the warning, it draws him back to the present and away from the growing boredom of listening to her rant. Golden ooids flash as the beast smirks, lifting his thick skull just enough to force her gaze up to his. A foal killer? Now that was something he was not. The silver wolf grew up as part of the jungle pack. He experienced firsthand the love and devotion his father had for the children he sired. A trait that, in turn, bled into who he had become. Annubis’ fierce protectiveness for Promise’s innocence. The deal he made with Garmr was to grant a prickly Emerson and her daughter freedom among the shadows of Atlantis. No, she might want to paint him as the picture of evil in her mind, but she had not seen the worst there was to see on these islands.

But that doesn’t stop him from needling her. It was like a buffet laid out before a starving beast. Was it really his fault? ”You know…” he begins, amusement dancing in his gaze as he blows a fetid breath against her pale cheek, ”You have a little vein that pops when you’re angry….. Right……. there.” he finishes with a chuckle, his exhaled breath tugging at the silken threads of forelock that frame her brow.