Jael knows better than to think she's alone out here. She'd learned that the last time. She'd learned that the day she'd washed up, exhausted, and nearly lost her life for it. No, she knows better than to get complacent. This is different than the last time-- she's stronger. Well rested, well fed. Even the limp in her hind leg had faded, the broken bone all but fully healed. Jael was lucky enough to have been well cared for, and now? Now she's going to work her ass off, maybe not for the pack but for him. Make the most of her new lease on life, or whatever that was supposed to mean. Was that... fucking sappy? Maybe. Whatever.
A stranger loomed large, seeming to melt from the shadows. He takes up space, standing tall and tense. Aggressive-- this is a predator. This is a predator at work, and Jael's stomach lurches. Her ears pin to her head, but she doesn't shrink. A wild look about him, something in his eyes that turns her stomach. Coming to a stop but standing her ground, the wolfdog fixes the man before her with the classic border collie eye. Near unblinking eye contact. Full body stiffness, one more creeping step forward, staring back down at the stranger. Jael is perfectly still as she takes him in-- tattered ears, facial scars, bone spurs, freaky paws.
"No more than you have." The words are chosen carefully. She speaks clearly, but there is no backing down. Something about the size of the tenacity in the dog-- that's Jael. Unwavering. Entirely unwavering as she gazes at the stranger, tense. A credit to her lineage, shining true, for better or worse. She's no shrinking violet, and her gaze remains just as intense as the rest of her.
Professor
