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WC: 651
The pack had been doing quite well this winter. Naniko was proud of them - they kept the store of meat up to an acceptable level and didn't over-eat, it would seem. She was glad to have a few new Zepars around to help fill up the cache. Her sons were growing larger and stronger, but with that came a much bigger diet. They weren't very good at hunting yet and would often take small amounts of meat out of the cache to tide themselves over while in between meals. They were also gaining skills at fishing, which would help them out if they could not find prey in the mountains due to the winter weather or a harsh snowfall. Their pack sat right against the ocean on the lower East side, a body of water that never frozen over and that would help provide the pack with sustenance through the harsher months of winter. The ocean held so many different species of fish..every time she went to fish off the cliff sides she caught something new.
She carried a rod over her shoulder as she walked the border, headed around the pack and toward the ocean. She hoped to gather a few more fish for their indoor ponds, a place where her children could learn how to fish as they got older and learned to shift. Even though they were growing up, they still had much to learn and would need to master an all new set of skills when they did complete their transformation. Naniko was proud of how far they had come so far...but her children were also quite disobedient, something that she was not proud of at all. She had more recently tried to detach herself from them a bit more, to go out on her own without her whelps constantly traveling along behind her to try and teach them more independence. But no matter what hour she went out and no matter where she went, the pups would try and follow regardless of what she told them.
It was Severus that heard the howl first. He popped out of the brush surrounding Naniko, shouting to her. "You hear that, Ma? You hear it? Someone's nearby!" He yelled loudly. Naniko put her hand to her forehead, shaking her head at him. Did he not understand that silence was one of the best weapons in the arsenal of a pack wolf? They could have had the element of surprise and have had some time to observe the newcomer and their behavior before approaching. Now all of that was dashed because of his loud mouth. "Quiet, boy!" She hissed beneath her breath, reaching a paw out to knock him on the head. "You've just revealed our location. Either be quiet and follow me, or go home...because I won't put up with it again." She warned.
The pair crept closer to the borderline. Severus made himself shorter like his mother, crouching down on his four legs. Naniko normally remained in her optime form and it was this form that she was occupying today. She found it much more useful to have thumbs and to be able to use the human objects that she held so dear. Without the rod that she had, fishing would be much more difficult...and all of her weapons would be next to useless without thumbs to help her maneuver them. She laid the rod down, leaning it up against a nearby tree as they came out of the brush toward the newcomer. She looked to Severus, clearing her throat to prompt him to speak. He could address this child - he was the Angela's son, and needed to learn how to do such things anyway. The boy stepped forward toward the other pup, keeping his posture cautious. "Who are you? And what are you doing on Anathema pack borders?" He questioned before looking back for affirmation from Naniko.