She moved off of the intruder, ripping herself away from her. Letting out a loud growl she snorted in her direction, until she saw her alpha in the corner of her eye. She turned her bloodied muzzle towards him, tail slowly wagging behind her. She felt a stiffness in her limbs from the battle, but didn't care if she had won or lost. She did it to protect her pack and its honour, to follow the rules that had been set by the very wolf she walked up to now. She smirked, panting slightly as she fought to catch her breath. This was the first real fight she had been in, and she wanted to see how Valentine thought she did. She wanted to do so well, to make a name for herself. Mercy also had a desire to move up in the ranks, a lower rank was uninviting to a warrior. Dropping her rump on the frozen ground she looked over her shoulder at the woman, growling at her one more time before facing off the bear-wolf. Her purple eyes looked up -- only the real time she had to look up -- and searched his face. "Did I do okay?" She asked, elongated tail smacking against the earth.

"Did I do okay?" Mercy's voice drew him out of his revery. He turned to her, his gaze softening from the hawkish stare he'd been cultivating while handling the trespasser. Of course she had done well. Win or lose, she'd put herself out there in service of her pack and risked great injury in facing an unknown. The Tribune may have lost, but she had done well. Her alpha was pleased. "Okay?" he asked incredulously. His tone serious, he continued,"My dear, today you have shown me what you are made of." Her courage, her initiative--she was made of great things. "You did well and I am impressed." "Talk" "You" Think

She hung onto every word that the man said, her heart swelling with pride. Even though she had lost, he was still proud of her. Her ears pinned slightly, she felt like she could have done better, but at least he was happy. "Can you help be get better, Valentine? Dione is busy with her stupid puppies, and I want to be able to get better," she was careful not to sound hostile, but if she had only been training more perhaps she would have taken that woman's sight away from her... She wanted to train harder, to push herself to be able to protect her pack. Sitting, she curled her long tail around her and yet still looked up at the bear-wolf, smiling softly. Her muscled were sore, she felt the burn of battle still within her. Valentine had made her go see Ellis, so she didn't know what happened to the woman. "Did you beat her up when I left?" she asked with a small giggle, purple eyes shimmering. She had no idea that the stranger was still here -- let alone the fact that she was Valen's slave. She was till angry that she just crossed the borders. They were strong, the scent would have crossed her nose and yet she still crawled in. What a useless thing on her face, perhaps Mercy should have tried to take it away from her instead of her sight...

Yes. As he'd wanted to do since Dione had brought her home, Mercy would now train with him. At least for the time being. "Of course." How could he refuse? There was, however, one troubling thing about the Tribune's request. Tacked to the end of it was a subtle revealing of how she felt towards Dione's newborns. Jealousy was understandable, but Valentine felt obligated on behalf of his young members to say something in their favor. "Mercy...try not to blame them. I know it changes the dynamics in your..." Mutant band? Freakshow? "Family, but try to keep in mind that they didn't have a choice in the matter." A smirk tugged at his lips as he thought back to Imperium's newest arrival. "No," he rumbled, "But I made her a slave." And that, at least in the brute's mind, was a fate worse than a beating. "Talk" "You" Think