In the shadows of the forest

The way the strange brute was looking at her left an unsettling feeling in the pit of Ember's stomach, leering at her like a predator stalking wounded prey. Unfortunately for him though, Ember was no prey. She held her ground against him, narrowed eyes pointed straight up at him. She had grown up with dire-sized brutes with half her family practically dwarfing her, so she wasn't intimidated by his size alone. His demeanor, however, was another story... Everything about this stranger exuded a threatening aura, from his guttural chuckle to that wicked grin of sharp fangs turned in her direction. He was trying to dominate the space around them, using his bulk to make her feel backed into a corner. Unfortunately for Em, it was working. Her fight or flight response was kicking into overdrive, every neuron in her body poised and ready to react at a moment's notice. If he wanted to try anything funny, she'd be ready to beat his ass down—or so she hoped.

The brute spoke, his voice deep despite his obvious youth, both adolescent wolves seeming well beyond their age, though in very different regards. He pressed closer, invading her space with a cool and arrogant demeanor, lazy words drawled out in vocals that bordered between charming and menacing. Ember's fur bristled in response, the fae taking a single measured step backwards from him to keep him from getting too close to her. He didn't smell of the Syndicate, but just because he wasn't one of her family's enemies didn't mean he wasn't a threat to her. "Guess I'm one of the lucky ones, huh?" she quipped back, really wishing she'd brought her sword with her more than ever. Even though he was a conventionally handsome looking brute, his mannerisms were alarmingly disconcerting. The way he spoke, the arrogant air with which he carried himself, the way those mismatched eyes leered at her and his tongue rolled over his fangs... It was like he was looking at her like a toy or a plaything rather than another wolf. He was challenging her, the static hanging in the air just waiting for a spark to set off the powder keg between them. Em didn't know how to respond. If she chose aggression, violence would inevitably follow. She had to play this carefully.

The brute mocked her bravado, doubting her prowess to keep herself safe. Ember gave a low growl in reply, taking a single step forward to undo her earlier backpedal, no longer caring if she pressed herself closer to the stranger. He wanted to show his dominance by making her feel small? Well, she'd press back against his invasion of her space with one of her own—an unstoppable force and an immovable object. "What, you think a fae can't look after herself?" she retorted, holding his piercing pink and blue gaze with her smoldering blue eyes. "Well I hate to break your misogynistic delusions, big guy, but if you think you can scare me because you're a brute, you're gonna learn a hard lesson real fast." Em held her head high and lifted her braided tail in a defiant display to his cocky show of dominance. She would not be cowed by this brute with his overinflated ego.

"Ember Carpathius" | "Carpathian"