But now, as he strode into her personal space, she felt no discomfort. She was strong enough to take him, Ava realized with a clarity that astonished her.
Her She Bear would grapple with his and maybe she wouldn’t win at the moment because she was young, but it came to her that one day, when her father was weak, she would Challenge him and she would win.
Normally Challenges ended in death. She’d never take it so far, but she knew that in the future, her fate was to take over as Clan leader.
It made things clearer as well as muddying her vision too.
When she didn’t back up, stayed strident in the face of his anger, he frowned at her. He’d expected her to leap back, bounce past him and obey as she’d always done. Like everyone always did.
But not today.
Never again.
Tad approached, a q
