The Heartwood my irregular heartbeat is starting to correct itself

Yeah, they met before Chusi became alpha. I'm having to keep things vague since my thread with Chusi is still in progress.

To his question about her being from the caldera, Raven nodded to the affirmative, and she smiled at his general agreement regarding Chusi. Not that Raven was a big fan of going on trips away from home (that hadn't exactly worked out so well for her the last few times she'd tried it), but some part of her thought it might be nice to visit the Vale sometime. Redhawk Caldera was a generally friendly pack, more or less, and if the Vale were much the same, it couldn't hurt to pay a visit there and make some connections. There could be benefits for both packs -- perhaps, for example, were she able to offer her medical skills and knowledge to them, they might be willing to share some plants and herbs that were exclusive to their area, or share some food with the hungry wolves of the caldera. She made a mental note to bring up the subject with Aunt Flea and Uncle El later.

Mouse's comment on the scent -- which was unmistakably raccoon -- brought her back to the task at hand, and she nodded her agreement with him. She wasn't picky at all. The thought of warm meat of any kind made her mouth water, and if the way she licked her lips didn't make it clear enough: "At this point, I'd be happy with a half-eaten, three-day-old dead squirrel. Let's do this." She grinned boldly at him, her tail waving behind her, and began to follow the scent trail.