Between a rock and a hard place

He had to bark out a laugh at her explanation, huffing out a sigh and shake of his head as his hind end dropped into a neatly seated position. “That would do it.”

He smiled easily at her thanks, nodding, then his eyes lit up as his ears perked when she introduced himself. “I may have meta member of your family, Artemis. A sibling? I rescued her son Jupiter from these two,” He nodded toward the two mountain lion, Artashir’s dark features clearly sheepish, as Regulus continued, “And ended up with them for companions. So I went ahead and escorted the boy back to his pack’s lands.”

He had to chuckle at the memory of the boy. “It’s fascinating how different he is from my two in personality.”

He snuffed hard through his nose, clearing tufts of musky bear fuzz from his nostrils and scraped his muzzle through the grass before he turned his head to gaze down the ravine speculatively, musing aloud, “A bearpelt would be nice in the dens…” Those fathomless eyes flicked back to Iskra as he realized his lack of manners and quickly fixed his mistake.

“I’m Regulus Anatolii Adravendi, by the way. I’m the Archangel – leader – of Celestial, the pack northwest of here.” And, come to think of it, now that his nose was clear of bear musk… her scent was in his nose, now. Dragon.

His features sobered, and he studied her with fresh eyes, wariness slipping into his posture as he said, “And what is a Talis wolf doing so close to my pack after last Spring’s raid?”