This evening was dark and especially quiet, unnervingly so. Zalen sat outside the main den site; someone had started a fire here and he was tending to it, despite having absolutely no need for it. The crackling and sputtering of the flames seemed to put him at ease, but any calm demeanor was betrayed by the constant fluttering and turning of his onyx ears. He knew the borders were being well patrolled, and that all the ones who needed to be protected were close by, but he still could not help to have the feeling that the air was pregnant with the possibilities of dark tidings.
His mind began to wander, began to flicker like the shadows cast by the fire, as he prodded the glowing coals with a stick. Suddenly, a ghostly cry came the distant call of a coyote; his head immediately shot up and ears pricked at the sound. Though it had startled him, it did not give him much pause; Inferni was nearby, and on clear nights like this their calls could often be heard. This call had been much closer however, which he supposed had been the reason he had been so startled, and he turned back to the fire to continue his musings. Before he could begin to do so however, a loud booming call of a wolf started up like a fountain near the borders. Zalen was immediately on his feet; it was Ciara, and he recognized the worry in her call.
The Alpha let out a loud whine, alerting any others in the den that he was going to investigate, and he dropped to all fours and was off galloping like a wild horse. As soon as he was several yards away from the firelight, his form melted into the shadows like a ghost. It did not take long to make the trip to the borders, and as he neared he could smell Ciara, and another. She soon came into view, her light coat standing out clearly in the sickle moonlight, but the other was harder to see for he was dark. Zalen’s hackles rose as he neared, but slowed to a trot until he was next to his Epsilon’s side, his breath billowed out into the chill air. In his Optime form, on all fours and in a dominant posture, he looked quite formidable, but the dark, unknown male before him was large as well, even in Lupus. Zalen was on edge, and he did not immediately acknowledge the stranger, but instead turned to Ciara, I heard a coyote. He was wondering if the cry he had heard prior to her howl had anything to do with this dark man’s presence.
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