Wear It Like Armor

No sooner had the words left her mouth, Satira felt her father's body tense, going rigid with emotion. She was shocked by the look of shock and hurt and protective anger on his face when he pulled back to meet her gaze on her level. Tira had never seen her father angry before! This must have been super serious for him to break his usual composure to show such emotion. He rejected her claim and reassured her so vehemently that it shook little Tira to her core and was the final push she needed for the emotional dam to break. The tears that had been welling up in her eyes spilled freely down her tan and ivory cheeks, only falling faster when she felt her father's forehead rest protectively over hers. She nuzzled her tiny snout up into his chin, soaking in the love and affection he showered upon her. Mojito's kind compliments made Satira smile. Her father always knew just what to say to bring a smile to her face. Her tiny puppy heart swelled to hear her sire speak so reverently of her, and he even made her giggle amidst the tears when he told her not to tell Asla that she was the most beautiful wolf.

Then Mojito asked what made her think these things. Once more, the red boy's words came back into her mind and her smile slowly sank from her face. Floppy ears folded back to her head, the ends dangling over the edge of her skull. She didn't want to tell her father about how she'd snuck out of Armada lands unescorted, but she didn't want to lie to him either. "I... I met a wolf a few days ago, by the border near the willow forest," she explained, sniffling back some tears and wiping the rest away with a minuscule paw. "He said... He said that I wasn't a real wolf because of my ears." Satira whined quietly under her breath, looking up into her father's blue eyes that mirrored her own, seeking the answers only he could give her. "Is it true, Daddy...? Are we not real wolves because of our ears and our fur...? How come we look so different to everyone else?"

"Satira"