Her ears prick forward once she hears the howl, distracting herself from the task at hand. A few wolves had come to their borders for refuge, some for other motives, and keep her mountain marked and strong had quickly become a priority. Goliath had proven to be a good asset to the pack, making himself useful right away in storing their caches and keeping their borders protected.

Thuringwethil closes the distance between the loner and herself, lifting her head over her square shoulders and arching her tail. Her scent came in different directions as if she’d been nervously moving back and forth, leaving her own mess behind. The dark wolf’s fur bristles along the back of her neck, quietly growling a warning should the other have ill-intentions at her borders.

"What do you want?"

The wolf drops her head before she speaks and Thuringwethil settles back, easing the urge to chase the loner away. They were doing well with the members they had but she was used to a much bigger populous that extended beyond one single pack’s territory. Her grey eyes narrow as she takes a step forward as the other speaks what she may or may not be good for. With their claim official, she didn’t offer easiness an option.

“Show me.”

Winter is upon them, making prey harder to find. The wolf isn’t much to look at but, perhaps, she’d be proven wrong. Her tracking skills would be put to the test. “Don’t go south of the river,” she warns. The wolf might not be of her own yet but she isn’t going to risk a run-in with their neighbors over some straggling loner.

The wolf doesn’t offer an objections, instead taking the option and turning tail into the valley. Thuringwethil watches her disappear and waits for a while longer, not exactly expecting her back immediately. She moves along the borders, remarking and covering up the traces of the lone wolf, while she waits for her return. When the howl rings, Thuringwethil diverts her attention back the way she’d come and met the loner in the first place. The agouti female stands out in the distance, the valley between them, and she nods her head for the other to return in approach.

The wolf struggles to bring back the elk, leaving her winded and panting across the way. A trail of blood and muck is left in her wake and Thuringwethil examines it illness, for any reason a single wolf would bring it down on their own, but nothing smells abnormal and the damage done can’t be deciphered between before the female had gotten a hold of creature. The herd they’d hunted over a week ago could have still been around, the remains in their cache depleting. Heda takes a step forward and tears the belly of the elk, eating her fill of the tender organs of the dead animal. She hadn’t been particularly hungry but a fresh kill presented by a new subordinate wouldn’t go to waste.

“You will start at Iota,” Heda tells the wolf. The bottom of their ranks. “I am Thuringwethil, you may call me Heda. Gyda is your other leader.”

The dark wolf licks at her lips, washing away any excess blood left behind from tearing into the kill. The warmth her belly gives her eases some of the tension in her shoulders but she doesn’t give herself the time to relax.

“Let’s get this to the caches. What is your name?”

Belle takes a moment to enjoy the acceptance but made little move to help bring the elk back to the cache. She barks the female to attention, lowers her head, and gets a big grip of the kill to begin the trek into the territory. They move it into the caches, securing the kill for anyone else that would be hungry, she begins to show the new wolf around.