He watched with intrigued eyes as Ylva spread her wrists apart, smirking at the familiar sound of skin sizzling like hot coals. Ylva wore a look of irritation on her face as the flimsy chain fell away, leaving in its wake red and angry flesh. Painful, surely, but nothing that would keep the wolf incapacitated. Antony's flair for the dramatic, trussing up Ylva as though she were a pretty doll, was idiotic. It appeared Ylva did not fear the momentary pain, and for that Valko was only mildly impressed.<br/><br/>Offering no resistance when Ylva sent the sniveling little wolf away, Valko watched as Olaf scurried out of his hall and back to his new alpha. The silence surrounding them quickly gave way to quiet murmurs as his wolves whispered thoughts on what they had witnessed. This buzzing graduated to full discussion as their meal was resumed, theories abounding about why Valko would accept a female from another pack when there were plenty enough in Kriki who would make an acceptable mate.<br/><br/>Sharing the pack's curiosity, Valko's ears pricked up as Ylva spoke to him in a hushed tone, inviting him to step closer. The alpha did not answer her question immediately. Instead, he focused on the fresh wounds embedded in her skin. He reached forward, taking her hands in his and lifting them so that he could get a closer look. “You're not wrong,” he replied, his voice low as he inhaled the scent of her burnt skin, like a scorched pinewood. He resisted the urge lean forward and caress the wounds with his tongue. “I mean you no offense, but I must encourage you to think about this tactfully, without the sounds of your fury howling at your ears. Come here.”<br/><br/>Still clutching at Ylva's hand, Valko led her to a small table near the very back of the hall, private as private could be while surrounded at either side by long, crudely carved tables stretching the entire length of the hall itself. He motioned for her to sit before waving to a husky male with long wispy hair the color of straw. “Hermod, will you fetch a damp cloth and some aloe? And tell Sigri to bring us more meat and drink.” The blonde wolf nodded and departed, and Valko took a seat next Ylva.<br/><br/>He did not look at her as he spoke, instead preferring to stare at the grain in the wood sitting before them, his eyebrows furrowed together and his jaw tense. “I do not approve of what happened to your pack,” he began, chest rising and falling as he took a deep, steadied breath. “But I have no intentions of causing strife. Rejecting Antony's offer would result in either him carting you off to another alpha or expelling you from Evergreen completely, demonizing you as a rogue wolf. It would give credence to whatever weak claim he currently has for ousting your family. That same rejection would breed tension between Kriki and Evergreen. Perhaps Antony would try to appease me in some other ill-conceived fashion, perhaps he would see it as a reason to ignite war. I do not pretend to know his mind.<br/><br/>“Truth is, I want nothing from you,” he concluded, leaning back in his chair and peering at her from the corner of his eye. “Though I would prefer it if you avoided doing something rash.”