Whitefish River the raven unfolded its wings and turned daylight into dark

Skwol trusted his nose before his eyes. If it was not for that he would have been on her already, tearing at her hide and wanting her dead. It was so uncharacteristic for the white wolf. He was much as a hunter as the next predator but he never enjoyed the act of killing, and never did so without inarguable reason. She would understand if she knew what he had been through, what he had saw, and what he had lost; if she knew the story that was narrated over the baying and snarling of hounds.

She whined at him and he understood that she implored him to let her to the river. He responded by licking his nose and snorting like a mad bull. His feathers were still ruffled and he was not done trying to make sense of what he was seeing and smelling. He trusted his nose but was so dog-like in her appearance that he refused to let his guard down so readily. It was not her that he felt threatened by — he was still expecting more, and the darting of his eyes around their surroundings and the careening of his ears as they strained to listen farther betrayed that.

But there was nothing more. Long tense moments passed with him holding his ground and searing her with the burning hurt and firey rage in his wild stare and still there was nothing more. The white wolf broke his frozen stance at last as he shook his coat vigorously. He sniffed at the air and then the ground in front of him, as if checking the calibration of his nose. The snow still smelled like snow, his tracks smelled like him, and she still smelled like a wolf, but he strode forward seeking further confirmation.

There was an element of dominance to his determined approach. Something else that was uncharacteristic of him, even more so out here in no wolf's land. He demanded with a raised tail and head that she yield to him, but he did so without any aggression. He told her with long, unwavering steps and a focused gaze that allowing him near were the terms of the uneasy truce that was between them now. And he told her as he drew closer, by extending his snout forward, that he wanted only to acquaint himself with her.

This is a bit on the long side for me - just enjoying exploring Skwol in this scenario! :D