“If you put the fawn down and he becomes breakfast,” Lottie called back in deceptively cheerful tones, “I'm going to tell Idun you abandoned a little baby deer and you're going to have to put up with her disappointed looks for the rest of your life. And we're gods. We live forever. Think about that.”
Her tone belied the nervousness that was gripping her, because really, she was just hoping this was going to work. She thought it would work. It worked with most animals, but then, most of the animals she ran into weren't exactly wild creatures. Unless you counted the rogue sheep that wandered up the side of the mountain. Some of them could be kind of bitey. But Philotes was pretty sure the wolves, and hungry wolves at that, were going to be more than bitey.
They slowed up when they saw her, confused by the fact that she was approaching them. That was not what prey usually did. Prey did what Tyr was doing, it moved away from them. So she didn't truly distract them from their ultimate goal, but it was enough of an anomaly that they focused their immediate attention on her. Which was good, she told herself. She needed them to pay attention for this to have a chance to work.
Philotes stopped, the wolves slowly creeping forward, a few fanning out to the sides so they could go around her. She didn't smile, because showing teeth was not a sign of friendship for wolves. It could be a sign of submissiveness sometimes, but that wasn't the impression she wanted to give either. She stood as tall and square as she could to show she was strong, then she did what she did with the domesticated animals that she'd calmed this way. Lottie concentrated on what was at the very core of her being, the essence of what made her... well... her.
The friendship and affection flowed out of her in slow, curling tendrils, creeping across the snow like unseen smoke. As the threads of her power reached the first of the wolves, they began to shake their heads, tuck their tails and a few of them sat down, utterly confused. The alpha male, though, was not so hesitant. He approached, cautiously but with growing speed, until he was running at Lottie. For a second, she thought that he was going to attack her.
But when he went up on his back legs to put his front paws on her shoulders, she saw the look in his eyes. It was then that she smiled, involuntarily, happy that the wolf had responded the way she'd hoped. So when he gently grabbed her face with his mouth, her teeth got licked. Through immediately clenched teeth, she muttered, “Ewww, dat sho grosh.”
She didn't pull away, however. She'd seen wolves play this way with each other in packs. They would chew and mouth each others muzzles. As far as she could tell, it was their way of hugging, since they didn't have arms. But Lottie did, so she lifted her hand to ruffle furry ears. Which earned her another lick of her teeth. She was going to have to rinse out her mouth with the strongest alcohol she could find when this was over.