Settling in

The shock and fright on Wylan's face made Marina feel good, like a catharsis of all her anger and pain to have someone—anyone—finally listen to her and feel something for her other than indifference or contempt. She wasn't some object to be bought, sold, or traded. She was a living, breathing wolf with a family, a home, a history, a name. No matter how much trouble it got her in or how much pain it brought to her life, she refused to be silent on that fact. She wanted to remind the wolves that contributed to her misery every day of what they were doing and who they were doing it to. But poor Wylan had clearly been blind to the truth. The way he recoiled when she yelled and the way he looked at her didn't lie. He'd been naive to the real reasons why she had ended up in the Armada.

Wylan started to make some sort of excuse for that sorry mockery of a wolf that led this pack, but whether for a lack of having a good argument or for knowing he couldn't say anything to make this better, he shut up. Instead, he just apologized. Marina didn't respond, but the bristling of her fur did settle a bit. Or it did, until Wylan jerked and twisted her leg back into place. The pain was as immediate as the crunching sound of the ball join popping back into place. Marina let out a sharp scream and then bit down on her own leg to silence herself. Don't let them hear how much they're hurting you. Muffled growls and groans of agony uttered around the flesh in her mouth, her fangs biting into her skin as she gritted her teeth and bore the pain. Then, as the splint was set, sweet, sweet relief began to wash over her. That dull ache in her leg slowly ebbed away. It would take some time, but she was on the mend.

Marina continued to just stare at the wall all the while Wylan worked, and when he finished and tried to reassure her that things weren't terrible here, she just curled in on herself and covered her face with her fluffy tail. "Just leave me alone... please..." Marina curled tighter on herself, hoping he'd just listen to her and leave. She didn't want him to be here to see the way the tears were rolling down her cheeks, her face hidden away from the world by her tail, as if she could pretend all of this was a bad dream.

"Marina"