Outrun the Storm

Artorias only glanced away from Resin when he heard someone else approaching, spotting the dappled form of Rudy joining them as well. He lowered his guard a bit, returning to making sure his mother was okay. She pulled him close, the lick to his crown calming and easing, despite the gristly injuries she bore. She spoke eventually, reassuring them that she was fine and that they needed to be very careful and look out for their sisters. Art's ears pricked up as two things stood out to him. One was that whatever had happened to mother, it had happened in their home. Something had attacked them in their own home lands. His stomach twisted at the thought of enemies already trying to invade their home, and an unfamiliar anger began to smolder in his heart. No one was going to harm his family or his pack. Already he made a mental commitment to double down on his training; he would need to be the bulwark against the outside threats for his family.

The second thing was how his mother had addressed Grimshaw in her words. She had said "their sisters". Artorias' brows narrowed a touch and he avoided looking at the dark-furred pup on the other side of Resin. They weren't Grimshaw's sisters. Grimshaw wasn't a part of their family. He had done nothing to prove he deserved to be part of their family, and as far as Artorias was concerned, he was a usurper unceremoniously dropped in the middle of their lives without their input or opinions. Artorias didn't like the way he behaved, he didn't like the was he skulked about, and he didn't like the way he looked at Bowen in particular. Although they hadn't interacted at all, that had been a deliberate move on his part. Grimshaw had made no attempt to be a part of their family, and as far as he was concerned, Grimshaw wasn't a part of their family because of that. Artorias didn't trust him, and until something gave and changed, he would always be an outsider. He wanted to say as much, to voice his concerns to his parents and demand to know why they'd brought such a miserable blighter into their lives and ruined what they had before, but that wasn't who he was. So he just bit his tongue and swallowed back his emotions.

"Okay, Mom. I'll keep an eye out for them, I promise," he replied, nuzzling affectionately into the fur on his mother's larger chest. He opened one eye to glance at Rudy beside him. He could count of Rudy; he knew his brother would help keep their pack safe with him.