beauty on the breeze

Theory was mad enough to spit. "Not be taken badly? How can an invasion not be taken badly?" What kind of deal was Corvus talking about? Someone's boyfriend? It sounded insane, like a story that a child would make up. "And, if Acere had any shred of chivalry or decency, he would come warn me himself. I wouldn't find out like this," she scoffed. Theory shook the rest of the sand off of her fur and blew out a sharp, angry breath. "I'm sorry," she said quickly, noticing how Corvus had subtly shrank away. "This is just, well... it pisses me off," the young alpha grumbled. The crass language sort of surprised her, but she rolled with it. It felt good to let her anger out.

"I'm not sure there's any point in sending a messenger ahead. I wouldn't want your friend to get punished for doing the right thing and telling us," she mused aloud, running through different possible scenarios in her head as she spoke. "We should just prepare. A raid is a raid. If they made this deal on behalf of some other party, they will be taking something, even if we don't know what they were ordered to seize." Theory looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, trying to bury her anger for a moment so that she could clear her mind. "And we'll have to prepare whatever puppies are interested. If it's a "training" mission, he might bring along his children and I won't have them fight against full grown adults. That isn't right." She stared out over the waves despondently. Why didn't he warn her himself? Maybe he still held a grudge against how Shaye had treated him. "And Corvus, Ignis must be a very good friend to come ahead of the raiding party like that. I really appreciate that you shared this information with me. It's why you're my Blackthorn. Thank you, I mean it." Her tone was serious and emphatic. It was rare that she donned her alpha mantle for him but she felt it was necessary.