Peter met the woman's gaze unblinkingly, his hackles raising slightly at the green glow of her eyes, the pale skin. Upir. Given the choice between her, and the crowd of idiot townsfolk, Peter was almost tempted to go with the townsfolk.
But this was unfamiliar territory, and as dangerous as an upir could be, a mob could be worse. When she touched his ear Peter twitched, but didn't move away. If she'd tried to pat him like a dog, she'd have been missing fingers right now. Even he could admit it gave them a certain flair, though. He fell easily into step beside her but he was unable to resist the urge to snap at a straggler's heels as they walked past. The yelp and resulting scramble to get away made him snort, a doggy 'huff' sound that was clearly one of amusement.
He followed where the woman led, at least until they were out of sight of the mob. It was too risky not to. Once they were round a corner, however, he began looking for an escape route. Savior or not she was a stranger, and an upir to boot. -------------------- The locals let them pass... probably because watching someone turn into a wolf was something new, let alone talking to a woman they'd hung.
As they left, and the wolf snapped at someone's heels, Phaedra couldn't help a slight chuckle.
Once they were out of sight, she slowed her gait.
"I'd apologize for overstepping, but those....." She fumbled for the word, accent coming on as she got angrier. A string of Roma expletives followed until she found her English again. "... assholes aren't laying a finger on anyone else as long as I'm stuck here."
She wasn't phased at all by his change. It had been eye-opening, but Phaedra remembered wolves. They'd existed when she was human, just like this. The same kind of transformation. Some had been part of her own tribe.
Her eyes returned to their normal green.
"If you don't trust me, I don't really blame you. But you shouldn't be alone here. And you should probably let me help you."
Unless he liked the idea of being a wolf roaming through a town. Where everyone had guns. ------------------------- Peter wasn't big on trust; not people who weren't family. But right now...anything a little spooky was better than those assholes, even if some of them had had gills. He was way out of his depth, and for a Rumancek that was saying something. He was careful to avoid her eyes, standing out of arm's reach for what little good that would do. Her little stunt with the blurring speed back there had proved she could move faster than he could react, let alone hope to actually avoid.
He snapped at her fingers, more as a soft chastisement for the petting than anything else, before sitting back on his haunches. He looked at her expectantly, almost challengingly. 'Well?', that look said, 'now what?