Blacktail Deer Plateau It ain't like midnight and cigarette smoke

Dante joked and his light-hearted and joyous manner about discussing the arrangement reached Osprey and for the first time in a very long time she smiled for real, her eyes lit up and her tail swayed few times, as she memorized his conditions. She could not imagine, what could be the worst thing Dante could possibly say during his sleep, but everyone had their own measures of, what was appropriate and what was not. Therefore she nodded - her lips would be sealed. It was not that she socialized with the rest of the pack at the moment anyway.

"Ok," she said and then realized that she might have kept the leader from his duties a little too long. She imagined that he must have had a very busy schedule, therefore just before going to her spot, she said: "I will wait for you then."

***

It had been a busy day for Osprey too, for she had worked hard on making the place by the fallen tree, which she referred to as "The spot", more den-like. Instincts that had lied dormant all this time had finally kicked in and she found strength and determination to dig the soft earth in order to make a shelter, where to hide. The end result was a very muddy and tired wolf and a pit big enough for her alone to climb in and curl up in a ball. There was a lot of place for improvement, which she would do over the next days, but it was good enough for today.

She was lying on her belly, enjoying the last warm rays of the setting sun, while licking her forepaws clean and occasionally lifting one of them to rub the equally dirty muzzle. Now and then she would pause and raise her head to look around and listen, in case someone was coming.