Our New Home

She grinned at the all around confused expressions. All four of the pups emulating Temo in the wtf? look. She pulled out the picture that the camera ejected and waited for it to develop before handing it to Temo. the picture showing him and the pups a milisecond before the flash blinded them, all of the looking curious at what she was tinkering with and the pups sprawled over Temo.

A smile forms as Temo takes the picture and looks at it. He giggles amid the corus' of "Let me see" and "What is it?" as the pups climb on him to look. He holds the picture down so they can see.

She laid the camera back down on the bed and moved to stand again.

"Now who wants to hear a story?" The pups nodded enthusiastically, their tails wagging at light speed. "The human pictures are rather dull and plain are they not? for they do not move nor interact with their surroundings. But we, the storytellers and sha-ones we can bring the past to life and give it purpose." She stopped to think again for a second.

"Now what of a story about the Ice-Bears of the Nothern Plateu, or the Sun-Cats from the bleached plains. Or maybe even the creatues that belong to the sea? Or maybe I shall tell of all of them?" With her grin in place, the den was plunged into a darkness around them that not even lupine eyes could see through and a soft yellowy orange light. The back wall of the den was illuminated by the orange light that flickered and glowed across it like the beams from the human fire.

Looking up at Jace when she asked "Now who wants to hear a story?" His face brightens up more as the smile forms on his lips. Not saying anything because their pups echoing his feelings.

After she asks what story to tell, Temo whispers "Tell All." Then looking around in the sudden darkness that they were plunged into, focusing on the den's back wall as the orange light began to play over it.

She grinned into the darkness, casting her mind back over two decades to the one and only time she heard this story, remembering it and the way it had been told.

Tsuka had been her birth-pack story teller, a slightly odd male that kept mostly to himself apart from to tell the stories, he had a way with words that made the stories come alive. An innate non-magical ability to bring color and life to the phrases born into those destined to be the storytellers such as an Alpha born with the ability to lead and an Omega to bring peace. Jace took a second to reflect upon where her destiny would have carried her had things happened differently before focusing back on her storytelling.

The lighting cast only her shadow onto the far wall, the shadow of her hair and clothes curling and ruffling as though in a slight breeze although her hair and clothing remained still upon her body.

Kemo's eyes shot open, on his paws before he even realized he was laying down. He looked around confusedly, where was everybody? "Shantsa? Pups? Balto? Nahina? Aleu? Where are you?" He sniffed all around the small clearing he was in but couldn't find even a trace of their scent, only his own. No paw prints, no traces of fur, no broken twigs or signs of disturbance on the ground. It was like they had simply vanished in thin air and it was freaking him out. He closed his eyes and sniffed deeply, looking hard for a trace of their smell, but there again all he could pick up was his own scent. He cast out his telepathy, but it didn't seem to pick up anybody at all. He was alone... completely and utterly alone...He reared back his head and howled mournfully as loud as he could before crumpling to a heap on the ground. What had happened?

It was then that he realized he had been too busy freaking out to realize he had seen some mindglows on his telepathy radar. Temo, Jace, and their pups were in their den doing Ancients know what, but they might as well have been the Ancients themselves for how excited he was to see them. He got to his paws again and took off toward the dens. Within minutes he arrived at Jace and Temo's den, padding in through the (hopefully open) door and looking for all the while like he had just seen a ghost. "Temo..Jace...my nieces and nephews...It's been forever since I have seen you!" He grabbed them all in a huge group hug, ignoring the clearly evident WTF? looks on their faces. "Where is my family? I can't find them anywhere!"

Jace jumped when Kemo suddenly burst in, the flickering light died and the normal lighting returned to the den. The pups yipped in excitement at seeing 'Unce Keeeoooo!!' and swarmed around him with their tails wagging furiously.

"Kemo, what the hell...?" she managed before they were all pulled into a hug.

"It's good to see you too" she looked concerned when he mentioned not being able to find Shantsa or the pups.

"Have you checked your dens? Or the lake? they could be playing out there?"


(( Sorry for fail post but its all i could come up with o_O ))

The look he gave her was a dark one, full of worry and foreboding. "I've checked everywhere! The dens, the packlands, the castle, the lake, everywhere! I even sniffed around the place where bella was or whatever her dam name is. I can't find them anywhere, what am I going to do Jace?" He was a wreck, his eyes huge with worry, his body twitching slightly with the pulsing adrenaline, his mind trying desperately to cling to that simple mantra of "she's alive, don't worry Kemo, she's fine and so are the pups. They're all fine, somewhere." Tears fell from his eyes as he realized something. If they're fine and all ok, then why aren't they safe in my arms?

Jace tries to get Kemo's attention, he was mumbling to himself and looking quite deranged,

"Kemo! Kemo calm down! KEMO!" eventually she gave up and belted him one across the face. He stared at her and she said,

"Calm down alright, panicking isn't going to help. are you absolutely sure you checked eveywhere?"

Beth woke up suddenly, something was wrong, she could feel it. She untangled herself from the mosquito net and rolled out of the hammock, hitting her elbow on the way. Cursing softly she inspected the scrape and decided it would be o.k. Looking around the tree she resided in and over the lake, she shivered but not from the cold something in the air made the hairs on her arms and neck stand up, something oppressive and dark. Grabbing her pack, the sharpened sticks and a club she'd fashioned from a thick branch, she climbed down from her tree and started off into the surrounding forest, her eyes casting warily around for danger.

The time she had been living here in the wild were beginning to show, her clothes were becoming more and more patchwork, as well as her pack. She had become more forest wise in time as well, she was now able to move almost as silently as the creatures through the dead leaves and shrubs. Her scent was loosing the oppressive stench of human to be replaced with the smell of the trees and the grasses and the air. Beth carried on for a short time, searching for something that would become her day's dinner.

A soft whimpering noise caught her attention and she moved towards it anticipating some injured creature that she could use to feed herself with and also put out of its suffering. She moved forwards around a tree and found not an injured creature but a litter of wolf pups, all huddled together in between the roots of the tree. She counted them quickly and found there were 11 of them in total. She kneeled down in front of them as they stared at her with terrified eyes, remembering the tales their father had told them about humans and how they would kill a wolf as soon as look at them.

She looked a little closer at them and realized that they were larger versions of the pups she had seen running around with Shadow and Duchess, as she still referred to them. A loud hissing noise erupted behind her and the pups suddenly grew a lot more fearful. Beth whipped around, her hands going for a sharpened stick and her club. The cougar that had been stalking Beth for the last thirty minutes charged out of the bushes towards her, for a second Beth simply gaped at it, her mind going completely blank before focusing again. She ran forwards a few steps and swung her club around, the bulbous head smashing into the cat's shoulder knocking it off course and sending it flying away from her and the pups, who were now yelping and crying in fear and confusion.

The cat righted itself and spat furiously at her determined not to be denied his meal and charged again, swerving at the last second and lashing out with a paw, the claws catching Beth on the shoulder, tearing through her clothes and opening several deep gashes that immediately began gushing blood. Her right arm suddenly dropped dead and dangled uselessly, the club dropping from her limp fingers. Beth gripped the sharpened stick in her left hand tightly, took aim and launched it at the attacking cat, the makeshift spear pierced the cats chest causing him to stumble forwards, the end of the spear catching against a rock and his forwards momentum forced it deeper into heart and lung tissue. Beth quickly grabbed another spear and help it ready as the cat staggered around and hissed and spat before making a horrible gurgling noise and falling over dead.

Wanting to make sure it was dead, Beth yanked out the spear and punched it down through the cats eye and twisted sharply, snapping its neck. She was beginning to feel the loss of blood heavily and tore off the strip of her shirt and wrapped it around her wounds as best she could. She walked back to the pups, still huddled against the tree roots and rummaged through her pack with her good hand. Finding her audio recorder, she rewound it to the beginning and plugged in the amplifying speakers and set it to play.

Suddenly Kemo's howl boomed from the speakers and began echoing out, the natural shape of the land making it carry much much further that it would have done normally. Beth fiddled with it and then the howl blasted out at double the volume, making the pups flinch at the loudness. Beth sat down next to the pups, who seemed a little less scared of her now, and set the recorder onto repeat certain that one of the werewolves would come to investigate.

She passed out from blood loss hoping that someone was on their way.

The force of the slap knocked him out of his frenzy, the world coming back to him in one shocking instant. "Yes, I checked everywhere, well I did kind of run through certain areas, I suppose in my confused and worried state I might have missed someplace. Would you come and help me look now that I can actually concen-" The sound of a howl clearly traveled into the den, cutting off his speech and all thought for a moment. It was so instantaneous, the transformation in himself, that even he didn't realize it happened yet..anger, an emotion that fit so well with violence, had taken over his mind. "A stranger, in my lands? At a time like this?" His mind was so focused on the anger that he didn't realize how familiar that howl sounded. "What has happened Jace, can you feel their mindglow? I can't concentrate, all I can see is my pups and what harm has come to them." He ran out to the outside of the dens, his focus entirely upon the source of the howl. "Hurry, we must go now, before it's too late. I'll need your guys' help to keep me away from them in case they're innocent, though I doubt as much." He took off towards the source of the howl, intent on finding this stranger and tearing them limb from limb if he even found a trace of his pups injured or worse nearby.

Jace tilted her head at the howl, it sounded exactly like Kemo but that was impossible? wasn't it? She nodded and cast out her mind, but the sound was coming from nothing it seemed, very strange. Then 12 glows came into focus, eleven she was used to and knew in an instant and one was familiar but not as familiar, the human Beth. She searched around for Shantsa but couldn't find anything, she knew Shantsa would never abandon her pups and especially not with the human. Suddenly realizing that Kemo has left the den she turned to Temo and said,

"Will you wait here with the pups while we go see whats happening. We'll call you when we find out whats happening?" He looked reluctant to let her leave but hesitantly nodded, licked her face then herded the pups back onto the bed and began to distract them with the feathers. She ran out after Kemo and caught up to him even though she was in human form,

"The howl doesn't appear to have a mind signal, its as though its coming from nowhere, an empty space. But Beth is near to it and so are your pups. I can't find Shantsa anywhere." She listened to the howl, that suddenly stopped and then started up again, repeating the exact same pitch and tone and length, there was no way that howl was naturally produced.

He heard her steps, light with only 1 beat per step rather than 2. So she was staying in human form, but why was that? He knew she could fight well in that form, but it wouldn't be smart to show that she was human around a potential stranger. "The howl doesn't appear to have a mind signal, its as though its coming from nowhere, an empty space. But Beth is near to it and so are your pups. I can't find Shantsa anywhere." That caused him to get a hold of himself. "My pups...they're right next to the howl? Beth too? But how could she be near the howl and the pups?" This confused him greatly, increasing his strides to push him faster through the trees until at last, he broke through into the clearing.

The scene that laid before him caused him to stop in his tracks. A cougar lay nearby, obviously dead, a weird stick like object with he recognized from his brief interaction with Jace's family as a spear sticking out from its head. A human was laying nearby, it's right shoulder stained red with blood, though it was the third sight that he cared about most. Lying together in a furry pile of fear and loneliness. Those looks tore inside him, the pain much worse than anything that can be physically done to the body. Tears fell from his eyes, his ears dropped back against his head, but he was brought out of that instantly as he heard 11 voices all say at once. "Daddy!" He ran to them, pushing everything else out of his mind for the moment, getting himself caught up in the reunion between father and pups.

She felt relieved when she saw Kemo's pups were unharmed although shaken up and very frightened. She kneeled down next to Beth and unwrapped the makeshift bandage inspecting her shoulder when the recorder suddenly let out another booming howl that made her ears ring with pain. She grabbed the recorder from the ground and pressed the stop button. She tossed it towards Kemo,

"Here is your intruder, your own howl recorded and replayed back through that machine." She ran her fingers along the gashes in Beth's shoulder, the wounds healing up instantly. Sure that the savior of Kemo's pups wasn't going to die she sent a mental message to Temo,

'Hello hunny, its just me. We've found Kemo's pups but there is no sign of Shantsa anywhere. We'll be having a visitor in our den as well, maybe for a while depending on when she wakes up." Jace picked up the humans pack and her makeshift weapons, slinging them over her shoulder out of the way, she lent down and picked Beth up, uncaring of the blood that covered the poor girl. She turned to Kemo, wodnering what he wanted to do next.

Looking up and a smile starting as Kemo burst in, then seeing the anxiety, a look of concern forming instead. Keeping quiet for the moment as Jace calms Kemo down and nods when she asks him to watch the pups.

Playing with the pups and answering their questions where Mom and Uncle Kemo went. Stopping for a moment as he Listens to Jace and answers back "OK" as he looks around wondering where they would put a visitor. He and the pups then make sure everything is put away and the den tidied up.

Kemo jumped at the sound, realizing it was his own howl. The weird machine landed nearby and he stared at it for a moment, interrupted by a lick on the nose by Aleu. He smiled and licked her face before focusing his attention back on the machine and then the human lying unconscious close by. "What happened here?" It was Balto who answered him just as Jace was sending her telepathic message. "That human saved us Daddy. She killed that monster and fell asleep, but she made sure someone would come find us. We heard your howl, loud as can be, and we knew you would find us soon. We had been trying to find you by your scent, but your scent is everywhere..." He smiled, looking at the human again. "She saved you from that cougar?" Kemo instantly looked at the human with a newfound respect, much more so than he had ever thought of her. If the world ended today and the humans were to be wiped from the face of the earth, he would fight to save this human's life, and a mate of her choosing. "Do what you can to help her, I want to know why she risked her life to save my pups, despite the way I treated her."

Jace had deduced that Beth has killed the cougar with her spears but hearing one of Kemo's pups say it confirmed her suspicions. She wondered how sick the cougar must have been to attack a weapon bearing opponent. She nodded at Kemo,

"Her wounds were non fatal but draining, she won't die from them but she may be unconscious for a few hours." Jace shifted Beth in her arms, wondering how such a small a human had managed to find the strength to kill a cougar, even a sickened one. A thought crossed her mind and she lay Beth back down on the floor before going to the dead cat. If another animal consumed its flesh the infection may spread onwards, with a wave of her paw the corpse decayed instantly and its bones crumbled into dust.

She returned to pick up Beth and asked Kemo if he wanted to return to the dens. Already thinking of moving Beth's tree closer to the pack, if she so wished to remain in it.

Kemo nodded as he watched her destroy the cougar's corpse, a slight nibbling on his paw ignored for the moment. "Yes we should return to the dens, I think that would be best for now. Come on pups." He rounded them all up, making sure each was following and making sure to keep shorter strides to allow their little legs to keep up with him. "That human has strength and courage I have never before seen in a human, besides the fact that she risked her life to protect my pups, even though I have shown little reason to her to deserve that. Maybe I misjudged her, she seems to care a lot about us. Most humans would have just said 'Screw that, I won't get involved, let nature take its course.' From now on, I'm going to show her more respect. I think she deserves at least that much." He smiled as he looked back at the human draped over Jace's shoulders. As he walked with her back to the dens, a simple question which on any other day wouldn't have bothered him was asked by one of his pups. "Daddy, where's Mommy?" His heart sank, ears drooping, tail falling to hang heavily behind him. A great sadness washed over him, a severe depression that limited even his movements. He stopped for a moment, reared back his head, and released a loud, painful, mourning howl into the air, one that seemed to carry for miles, signaling to everything around that he had lost his only love, never knowing if she would ever return to him.

Jace looked away sadly when one of Kemo's pups asked where Shantsa was. She threw back her head and joined Kemo in his mournful howl, their voices mingling and echoing off of the mountains, down through the gorges and across the forest like a wave breaking against the cliffs. Although Kemo's ultimately overshadowing her own, for his loss was the greatest, his pain the most deeply engraved and his sorrow the loudest heard.

On Jace's shoulders, Beth stirred, her animals instincts buried deeply inside, shying away from the two predators that cried for their lost heart, their missing pack-mate.

The rest of the journey commenced in agonizing silence, both lost in their thoughts and appearing so unapproachable that not even the pups dared ask their questions. When they reached the dens Jace laid Beth down in the communal den, her mouth lifting in a sad smile as she remembered Full Moon Rising and how they all used to pile in together; paws in faces, elbows in stomachs, tails stepped on. It had been a squeeze but everyone had been happy and more the better for the comfort. She lit a small fire to keep Beth warm and went to let Temo know that she was back. Their pups swarmed around her ankles glad to see mummy again and she smiled fondly and with all the love in the world at them, they grew more and more everyday now soon would be adults to go out and find their own places in the world, the thought made her sadder than she ever thought it would.

She went and knocked on Kemo's den and all but demanded he and the pups stay the night in the communal den with the rest of them. Only once everyone was seated and paying attention did use her pyrotechnic skills to light a fire in the middle of the den and began to speak,

"Gather ‘round, sit down, besides the fire my dears…I’ll tell it to you but you must be all ears"

"There was once long ago, before the mountains were named, a lone white wolf female. She was the first of her kind, and her fur shone like the moon over the ripples of a lake. There was also a human man, nothing the world had ever seen. He too, was the first of his kind. And he was feeble. He walked on two legs which slowed him down. He had no fur to keep him warm, and no teeth or claws with which to defend himself. The man had trouble hunting. He tried to catch the fish with his fingers, but they slipped through. He tried to hunt the deer but his skin was no match for their antlers. At night the moon was cold, and he had no way to keep warm. But one day he saw the wolf, and she could catch fish with her paws. She could hunt deer with her teeth. And at night, her fur kept her warm. So the human man watched the female wolf, She took pity on him, seeing his frail form; and when she hunted, she let him eat from her kills. But meals were hard to come by, since she was but one wolf. Many of her prey got away, her efforts wasted.

He longed to help her and repay her kindness. He saw that the wolfess could run over rocks, but if he were to follow, his feet would get bruised and bloody. He could not keep up, but he had an idea. the man made moccasins from the skin of the wolf‟s prey and wrapped them around his feet. Now he could run over rocks like the wolfess, but his skin got badly cut from the branches and bushes he ran through. The wolf‟s fur coat prevented her from getting cut, so he had another idea. He decided to make his own fur coat out of the pelt of the deer, Now he could run and hunt with the wolf. The wolfess was good when she hunted, and with the man‟s help, they could chase and corner prey easier. But when it came time for the killing blow, the wolfess alone had to take down the prey. More than once the prey escaped, so the man had an idea. He knew that the rocks cut his feet, so he took many stones and beat them together. The wolfess watched from a distance, thinking the man‟s mind had gone. The stones sparked hot light but soon the man made the stones pointed like the fangs of the wolfess. He tied them to the sticks that were strong enough to cut him but not break when he ran through. When next they hunted together, he used his spear to stab the deer, and they both killed equally. their odds improved, and they shared many meals.

One day when the sun was the hottest, a thunder storm broke the sky. The man and the wolfess took cover together in a cave. A flash lit the sky and a streak of hot fire touched the ground. The dry grass sparked into flame, and the blaze moved very quickly towards them. They did not know what to do, so they huddled together, very much afraid. But they need not have feared, for once the fire touched the stones of the cave it could go no further. And then the sky poured down water, which put out the flames. The wolfess and the man were spared, and from this moment on, they joined as one pack, and spent their nights together. The man and the white wolfess lived this way for many moons. At night, the man lay next to the wolf, and her fur helped to keep him warm. But then the weather grew colder. White powder fell from the sky. It made the ground chilly and stiff, and it would not stop falling until it covered everything in sight. The trees were so cold their leaves fell off. The lakes were so cold their waters froze hard. The man, even with his deer-hide coat and with sleeping next to the wolf, was so cold the powder that did touch his skin burned. The wolfess was chilly but her fur still kept her warm. her tail helped since She wrapped it around herself like a blanket. But the man had no tail. Hunting got a little easier since the prey left tracks in the snow with which to follow, but the man got weaker as he got colder. Soon he wasn‟t able to hunt. At night, her fur wasn‟t enough for him to keep warm and the man started to shiver.

The wolfess had an idea. She gathered many rocks in her mouth and placed them besides the man in a circle, and left one stone at its center. She dug underneath the snow to find dead grass and leaves. She put these inside the circle. then took a single rock and dropped it repeatedly onto the center stone. Just when she was about to give up, the rocks sparked hot light and the grass and leaves ignited with flame. And so, the man grew warm again, and they could hunt together by day and be warm and close by night. little by little the man got to know the wolf, and she him. Many days and nights passed spent in the den they made from the cave, until the sun started to bathe the land again, the powder melted from the ground and trees, the coldness turned to warmth, and the valley blossomed with color anew, Although they grew to love each other very much, there were no pups to comfort them nor fill their
home. They were two different species. Other animals had mates which mimicked their likeness, but not the man and the wolf.

They soon became very sad, watching each other grow older. They often sat in the darkness, staring up at the moon and wondering what to do. The moon looked down on them, but said nothing. During the time when leaves change colors, a great hunger hit the land. No matter how long they searched and tracked, they could not find even a single hare. Just when they were about to loose hope and leave their home, the two found a great heard of bison that stretched as far as they could see across the valley. One old bull stood alone from the rest, with one horn broken. The wolf and the man were very hungry, so they saw this as a great blessing, and their last chance at a meal.

They tried to chase the bull, but he would not budge. They tried to bite onto him, but he stood his ground. Then, the man leapt atop his back while the wolf tried to grab his tender snout. The great old bull whirled around and bucked; he kicked and he hurdled the white wolf aside. When she got to her feet again, she saw the man being tossed around the old bull‟s single horn. Both crashed onto the ground and the bull gave a horrible bellow. The wolfess rushed to the two lifeless forms, and when the dust settled she saw the collapsed old bull, a spearhead in his throat, and her mate crumbled beneath his hooves. The man was still alive, but he was badly hurt. His breathing was raspy and labored, and the wolfess could sense that death was near. She licked his face and laid beside him, hunger the furthest thought from her mind. The night fell and a full golden moon rose up over the horizon. In her sorrow, the wolfess called out to the moon, her voice long and sad, giving birth to the first howl ever heard by the Earth. It carried over the trees, echoed over the valley, and ascended beyond the mountaintops.

The Moon Goddess, Ilunyana, heard the wolf‟s cry and had sympathy for her. She had long watched the human and the wolf as they hunted together, slept together, and fell in love together. She saw that they were unable to bear offspring out of that love, so she had an idea. The Moon Goddess decided to give them the cure. Suddenly the stars began to sway. They grouped together and created the shapes of a wolf and a man. As they danced in the darkness, swirling around each other, the moon also began to shift. It appeared as if the Moon Goddess was reaching out towards the two likenesses, and then pulled them together into herself. The stars merged with the moon and took on the likeness of the man and the wolf combined amid a golden halo of light. It appeared as if the moon was falling towards the couple, like a shooting star heading their way.

The wolfess was afraid, but she could not leave her mate behind. The comet of moonlight spilled around her and made her fur glow. She quickly bit into the arm of the man and pulled him free of the bison‟s weight, not stopping until she dragged him all the way back to the den. Despite the long journey, and regardless of his wounds, the man survived. The wolfess brought back some meat from the bison kill and lay beside him during the 3 nights of the full moon, and on the last night something astonishing happened. The man completely healed; but not only that. He went on all fours and his limbs contorted. His skin sprouted fur like fresh grass blades breaking through soft soil. His ears and nose lengthened out, and a tail grew.

His eyes were golden, like the moon." Jace paused for dramatic effects. "He was a wolf."

Not long after, the Moon Goddess heard a gala of song. She looked down upon the wolf couple from the evening sky and saw many smaller wolf forms alongside them, yipping and howling up towards her. They gave thanks to the great moon mother, and lived out the rest of their days populating the Earth."

When the howl was finished, it left behind it an echoing silence, which lasted all the way through the trip home. The pups didn't even make a noise, knowing that sound was wrong with their father. Upon returning to the dens, Kemo did not stop but instead went straight into his den to be alone for a while, taking the pups with him. He flopped down on the bed, just laying there and listening to the goings on outside. "She's gone..." He whispered to the ceiling. At that moment Aleu jumped up onto the bed, shortly followed by all the other pups. "What's wrong Daddy? I'm sure Momma will be home soon." He stared at her, tears in his eyes. Of course she wouldn't understand. She was only a pup, not knowing the tragedy or impact of loss. Her world centered around playing with her brothers and sisters and going to bed when she was told, staying out of trouble to avoid Kemo's disappointed gaze.

Just as he was about to tell her the truth about her mother, Jace pounded on the door, all but demanding that he and the pups sleep out in the communal den. He didn't want to be near anyone else right now, merely wanted to be alone to grieve for his lost mate, but the pups went crazy at the idea and so he reluctantly got out of bed, if not for himself then for them. Heading out to the large den to watch over the human female and listen to Jace's story. It was a good one, though he was only able to listen to parts of it. His mind was just too distracted to listen. Between thoughts of the lost Shantsa, the possibility that she could be either dead or alive, and the immense awe he felt that this human had saved his pups, he had little room for much else.

As the story finished, he clapped politely, though his eyes were glazed over with a far away look, staring at the human in deep thought.

Greeting Jace with a hug when she returned and went with her out to the communal den. Glancing over at Beth with mild curiosity and settling down on the floor with the pups for story time.

Watching and listening to Jace tell her story with quiet attention. Quietly clapping at the end as he thinks about the story and it's message. Glancing over and seeing Kemo's eyes glazed over, wonders what Kemo is thinking about.

It was a very slim wolfess that padded along the boundaries for the pack. She was unsure, her golden eyes glittering warily in the darkness before she sank to her haunches. Ink black fur covered her body and she whined lightly. She rose onto her paws within heartbeats and strode along the boundaries she could almost feel. It was a decisive move that made her trespass on the packlands without first announcing her arrival.

The black pelt helped her to slink along, her ears perked as she listened for sounds of approaching paws or an attack. Once she was far enough in the territory she threw her head back and howled, calling aloud for any around to come see her. She wasn't a commanding wolf, nor was she a submissive wolf to roll over at the sight of another. She curled up in a patch of shadow, coiling her slender body as she closed her eyes a slit waiting to see whether any attended her.

A withdrawn look took over the once vibrant and bright eyes of the young father, now a single parent amidst the trio and pups that remained of the once mighty Blood Moon Clan. No longer was he sure if he would ever get over the loss of his beloved Shantsa, that small spark of hope still dancing within his mind regardless. He refused to believe she was simply gone. It would take more than the simple Missing marker he had placed by her name in his mind to tell him she would never return, the feeling in his heart and mind of her alive somewhere a powerful weight placed upon him. He looked around at the laughing pups, his sister's smiling face, his brother's ever passive and surveying eyes, and all at once a cold jealousy raged inside him. Pain on an unspeakable level attacked his heart, a small tear falling unnoticed from the corner of his eye.

What could this mean for his future? He certainly couldn't answer that question. The pups depended on him, that was for sure, that was the constant. Were it not for them he would simply leave this place, unable to deal with the painful flares he received every time he witnessed his brother and sister's love for each other, the small smiles, the puppy love in their eyes, the loving hugs, he simply couldn't stand it. He remembered a time way back in the past, seemingly ages ago, when he and Shantsa had first shared with them the love they had for each other. The small smiles, the puppy love in their eyes, the looks only mates could share. The memory pained him too much and with an aggravated snarl he left the den, seeking refuge in the only place he could sit and think.

Within minutes he reached the pond, sitting on the rock that he had claimed as his own long ago, just a stone's throw from the first place he had met the human, had raided her backpack, and started this long chain of events. No longer would he shift into any other form, only staying as a normal wolf. No longer would he use any of his powers unless it was absolutely needed. He would do that for her...that much was the least he could do. He thought about the pups, how they were growing steadily despite the long absence of their mother. Soon they would be old enough to fend for themselves, then he would be able to live out the rest of his days in quiet grieving, ironically forgetting that he was no longer mortal. He looked up at the moon, seeing within the sky a peculiar constellation that looked like her. "How could I have been so careless? How could I have let this happen to you?" He looked down into the water, staring at his reflection before swiping at it angrily with his paw, watching the swirling colors that had once held the image of a proud and black furred Alpha. "What a perfect image for what I feel inside."

Suddenly a howl ripped through the air, causing Kemo to jump up almost instantly, eyes scanning the trees for any sign of movement. He jumped from the rock, landing on the beach for only a split second before his paws dug into the sand and propelled him in the direction of the howl. What could it mean? Has a newcomer arrived in the pack lands? Or is that the signal for an attack? Questions rang through his head as he ran towards the source of the howl, his thoughts temporarily forgotten with this new distraction presenting itself.

Her head lifted and she withdrew deeper into the shadows, her fierce golden eyes partly closing to hide the fact that she was around. Her howl may have helped whoever was coming to pinpoint her location, but she wasn't about to make it easy on anyone to hurt her. Her teeth bared briefly in a vicious smile before she pulled back, taking her nose under a paw as she watched for whoever it was coming to her. Male or female, larger than her or smaller...she didn't care, she would defend herself.