Great Bear Wilderness Close your eyes and count to ten

Much had changed.
she was different, now. weeks of scheming,  surviving, shame and guilt and betrayal having molded her into something new. months of a pack of peaceful happiness, finding friends and a mate and live and all such foolish things swept away by a sequence of events and her own stupidity. 

shame had kept her from the wilds, but now the will to survive dragged her back in. the woman needed a pack for when winter released its fury on the land, knew that as a lone wolf she would quite simply not survive. foolish notions of love, of openness and adventure were swept away, replaced by a very different creature.

she moved through a forest barren, it seemed, of much activity or foliage, the faint scent of rotting leaves rising up around her as the tiny rust-coloured girl wandered without direction.

In the wake of Scimitar's den, Shrike felt the need to push forward and pull more than just his own weight. There weren't enough wolves in the pack, he felt, so the duties were spread heavily among the thinned numbers. They'd lost two important pack members in one fell swoop, which more or less made it necessary that both Kaskara and Kjalarr step up into the leader positions. He was comfortable with Kaskara taking over leadership- Scimitar had been her brother, and since Allure was mourning and unfit to lead while she took care of herself, he supposed Kaskara was the next in line to be an alpha. Kjalarr, however, had stepped up as well, though he'd been in the pack not much longer than Shrike, as far as he knew- he hadn't even been ranked until Scimitar died. He hoped the two would do well in their positions though, and both seemed capable of fending off intruders and defending the pack and that was what mattered in the long run. 

He tracked a rabbit out of the pack lands and into the Great Bear Wilderness, though eventually its path was overtaken by the scent trail of a fox. He abandoned the hunt knowing that even if the fox didn't catch the rabbit, it would have been startled and therefore harder to track and hunt down while its senses were sharp from adrenaline. He then decided to do a quick search for any sign of Lucy or Rannoch, and set off at a trot, his usual tracking pace that covered ground well while allowing him to scan the area for scents.

her wandering slowed as the nearby presence of another soon became apparent, and her slim body slowed, for the crunching of leaves would make her position all too apparent. Thus she stalked forward near silently, peering at the form of the other with inquisitive eyes, still among the trees as she waited, for him to eithe notice her or for him to pass and she to continue on her meandering path.

Distracted by scouting the ground for signs of scent, Shrike hadn't immediately noticed the female in the distance until her scent drifted to him. He shied sideways in surprised as he jerked his head up, coming to an abrupt halt as he laid eyes on the young, thin timber wolf. She looked as though she hadn't eaten in quite some time and he frowned slightly. She had likely had a rough time hunting for herself- and it wasn't an encouraging time. A wolf who could not hunt for themselves might have to rely too heavily upon others for support. Still, though, he nodded his head in greeting to her, eyes cold and indifferent though his tail swayed gently at his ankles. 

"Hullo." Shrike greeted, with a bob of his head. There was an honest, hopeful look about her, despite her poor condition. "I'm Shrike." He said.