Morningside Cuesta Romeo & Juliet

Heartha had woken Howl as early as she could in the morning, and heeded that they head out. She led him to her pack. The scent of her heat was mild, she could only hope that they would believe her in saying that nothing happened. By the border, she stopped. "@Howl, can you wait here?" she asked, this was where she would want him to wait, at least until things were sorted enough. 

She then sent out a howl for @Grayday, and Sunspot as she was meant to be caring for her, so no doubt she would want an explanation as well. And Khoe, she had given birth so Heartha made no call for her as she no doubt would be with her children.

Howl had woken up that morning happy to see that Heartha was still there. Part of him expected that she would have left like the times before. They had washed off in a lake near where they were staying and heading to the border of her pack. The scent of eachother mostly washed off their pelts, but their was nothing that could stop the scent of her heat. As they got to the border Heartha's made Howl wait just outside of it. He sat down as she called for who he assumed were the leaders of the pack. "No problem." he replied and waiting for whom ever she called to to appear.

Grayday was a bit giddy, to be honest. His life finally seemed to be in order, even though there were still things he would change. But he could deal with Sunny's distance - it wasn't as though he couldn't visit. And he could deal with the animosity between Sunny and Dawn. It wasn't ideal, but they were young, and they would (hopefully) have years yet to deal with the hurt between them. Lately, he'd gotten really good at focusing on the good things in his life, just like Khoe had said all those months ago.

Lately, he'd found that there was a lot to be happy about.

When Heartha called for him that day, he simply dropped down kisses on the heads of his babies and smushed his nose into @Khoe's cheek before heading off to see what was needed of him. His tail was waving in the air as he bounded toward Heartha, only to stand straight out as he caught a familiar scent on the breeze.

"Where's Spot?" he asked at once, circling around behind the woman and urging her further into the territory. "And what are you doing out here? I don't want rovers catchin' your scent, comin' to cause trouble on the borders..." His words were gruff and worried, but not unkind as he attempted to shepherd her back toward the safety of the Copse. He worried, briefly, that someone in the pack might try to mate with her - but Kieran was too young, and the rest of the pack were either women or infants.

Heartha stood still as she caught Grayday's scent coming her way. She felt her heart thudding in her chest, she was not sure how he would take this, not at all. 

"I-I was just going out for a walk. I don't know where Spot it, and I meant no harm by it, I swear...though I did meet someone." She paused for a moment, thinking that she perhaps should have waited before saying that. She had to be careful by how she went about this. "Just someone who is interested in joining is all." She gestured back the way she came for where Howl was waiting.

Howl stood up and waited patiently. He could sort of hear voices in the distance but not what they were saying. He wondered what the attitude of the leader would be about him being at the borders. What would his opinion of him be. A male showing up at their borders looking to join their pack, following a female in heat. He may judge his character. Howl would have to prove himself to build his character. He stood up straight ready to be presented to their alpha.

Grayday doesn't know that they mated, but he thinks he does.

At Heartha's words, the male felt a sinking feeling in his chest. He'd told her no, but what had she done? She'd gone and mated with some rover, and just like he'd worried, that rover was now at their borders. Grayday let out a heavy sigh and leveled Heartha with a searching, disappointed stare.

How was he supposed to respond to this? Did Heartha expect him to just welcome them both with open arms, and the litter she was sure to bear as well? Is that what he was going to do? He didn't know what to say or how to feel, so he simply gazed at the woman, waiting for some kind of sign or cue or further explanation.

As soon as she heard that sigh, and saw the disappointment in his eyes, she sighed. The jig was up. "It got the better of me" was her best explanation. She did not want to say to Grayday it was all her idea, right from the start. "But he can pull his weight, I am sure of it! He's young enough to be capable of hunting." She gave him a pleading look. "Please...It's his only chance."

Not much to say

---

Howl continues to wait.

She hurried on with her excuses, but they fell on deaf ears. It didn't matter how it'd happened, or who the father was - it'd happened, and that was enough.

"It's already July, Heartha," said Grayday. "Never mind Khoe's litter - even eithout worrying about that, let's think about this. This place is gonna be a wasteland come winter, and by the time you give birth, it's gonna be autumn. By the time your pups are ready to travel, it'll already be December or January. What if we have another winter like last time? Are my pups gonna march through that snow? Are yours?"

His voice was firm and cold, but anyone could tell that most of all - before anger or disappointment - he was worried. "I wish you would've listened to me, Heartha. Or if you couldn't do that, I wish you would've talked to me. I wish you would've had the respect to - " He cut himself off, shaking his head. When he spoke again, his voice was gentler. "What's done is done. Call him over."

Heartha felt weak at the knees. She slowly lowered her body, her belly to the ground as Grayday continued to speak. She never expected him to be like this, but he was a father, and an alpha. She should have thought about this, she should have spoke of it to him. She had been stupid, she was seeing that now. Grayday was the voice of reason that she did not listen to. He was worried, not just for Khoe and his own, but for Heartha's.

After a short pause, wondering if she should, she stood herself straight again then turned her head and barked, then put her head low. At least Day finished with a gentler voice.

I am assuming the bark is a call and an ok for him to cross their borders.

---

He was beginning to get nervious. What were they talking about? Was Heartha in trouble? Had she told her alpha and now we being punished. He stood and thought about it, before he heard the sound of a bark for him. He took his first steps over the border and trotted over to where he thought he heard the bark. 

He came upon Heartha and a male, who Howl assumed as the alpha. Heart ha seemed stressed, but Howl couldn't tell what about. He only glanced at her a moment, his attention was on this male. A part of Howl that Heartha didn't know about was that he behaved as a soldier to those in authority. Standing at what would be attention, he looked at this male, lowered his head to look at the ground and address him as "Sir."

He was not angry anymore; What was the use in being angry? It would not undo Heartha's actions or minimize the consequences, and more than that, he was simply too tired to keep it up. Still, when the male traipsed onto the scene, Grayday couldn't help the flare of irritation at the sight of him. As soon as he drew near, Grayday lunged, aiming the grab the darker male's muzzle in his own.

Usually, he didn't bother with such petty displays of dominance, but he was highly displeased with this man. Besides, it was important to see how the male reacted - one wrong move would earn him a one-way ticket out of Grayday's sight.  If he could stand the slight discomfort and well-deserved chastening, Day might begin to consider Heartha's request.

Heartha watched as Howl came onto the scene, and dared to give a small smile in his direction. Only to quickly backup as everything went by so quickly. Grayday had moved so fast in her eyes, and she could only watch silently, begging Howl in her mind for Howl to do nothing stupid. All she could manage was a little whimper.

Howl was looking down when Grayday made his move to muzzle grab Howl. At the sound of rushed movement Howl looked up and saw Grayday rushing towards him. At first Howl took a defensive stance, not one of affence but defence orientated. If he was going to be attacked he wanted to be able to defend himself. But as he saw where Graydays aim was he allowed him to grab his muzzle and he relaxed his stance. He lowered himself and tucked his ears back and lowered his tail. Howl was on Grayday's territory and exibiting dominance now would be seen as an attack on him and all within the territory. Howl saw no need to be agressive at this time unless his life was at risk. So he stayed in this stance waiting to see what would happen next.

Though the male reacted appropriately, Day still felt the shimmer of agitation over his mind. It took him a moment to pinpoint the source of his anxiety, and when he did, he gave an irritable snort and swung his head toward Heartha, releasing the male's muzzle as he did.

"Go home. Find Spot. Keep out of Khoe's way," he snapped, turning his back on the woman as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He gestured for the male to come with him and began walking quickly away from the scene. "And don't leave her side until I find you again," he called over his shoulder, not pausing in his retreat. When he was away from the scent of her heat, he'd be able to think more clearly on what he needed to say to her. She was a part of his family, and that called for more patience and delicacy than Grayday currently possessed. Dealing with the rover, however, would be a simpler matter.

Heartha averted her gaze from Grayday, feeling ashamed more than ever. She flinched when he snapped, then looked to Howl carefully once grayday began to storm off. "Sorry" she said, then slowly slinked away to find Spot, who she was meant to stick with since the beginning. She felt like the young girl she once was, having been ridiculed. She found no irony in the fact she was older than Grayday. And she made no promise that she would see Howl again soon, as she remained silent until whenever that moment was.

Grayday released his hold on Howl's muzzle and scolded Heartha, telling her to find someone named Spot and stay with her. It seemed as though Heartha hadn't had the last of Grayday's wrath. For now she apologozed to one of the two of them, Howl wasn't sure which. Though he chose not to respond to her or look at her. It wasn't his intention to be rude to her, but he thought it was the best for both him and her. Showing interest in her now would only further antagonize Grayday, Howl thought. He followed Grayday keeping a non threatening stance, whonder what it is would happen next for him.

Grayday skirted the territory, never quite exiting it, but remaining in the furthest reaches of the land, where they were least likely to run into others. As soon as he could breathe without Heartha's scent tickling his nose, he slowed his pace.

"A few weeks ago, Heartha told me she was seeing things. She's afraid her mind is going," he said calmly, feeling a bit guilty for possibly spilling Heartha's secret to her beau, but he felt it had to be done. "Did you know that?"

Howl followed behind Greyday, keeping a good pace that wasn't too far away and that wasn't right on his heals. He ajusted his pace as Grayday did and listened to what he had to say. He talked about Heartha and how she had been seeing things and asked if Howl knew anything about that. It had been brought up before between the two, but no real details were involves. Howl though to say what he knew though so he didn't look dumb or ignorant. "She informed me that she had felt weird and that she thought it was brought on by stess..." he didn't know if he should add this next part in but did it anyway "She also told me that my pressence made those feelings go away... Sir" he finished still wanting to be formal and respectful to this alpha he didn't know.

"Grayday," the male corrected at once, grimacing at the honorific. He wasn't 'sir' to anybody, least of all this roving male. ("All wolves are servants," his father would say.) He turned to face the other male, giving his physique a quick once-over before his gaze settled on the other's face, searching for signs of antipathy. It seemed he could find none, because his next question was: "Well, what are your plans, now?"

The stranger looked healthy and strong. If he were the sticking around type, Grayday wouldn't mind having him. Especially since Heartha didn't contribute much to the pack, pregnant or otherwise; perhaps Howl would make up for some of her deadweight.

It seemed as though Grayday didn't like to be called "sir". Howl hadn't known his name and was trying to be respect, but he could understand if others didn't want that high of formality. Howl had been raised in a pack that was always at war, and the military aspect was always high. When times were peaceful he would adress his father as "dad" or "father", but for the most part it was "sir". He could see that Grayday was looking him over and Howl stood still. He then asked what his plans were. 

Howl had plans to join a pack before even meeting Heartha and had his own separate reasons then. He thought that these were the reasons that Grayday was looking for and so he stated. "I would like to join the rankings of your pack. I have scouting and previous mercenary skills that I can offer to your pack. I am also not opposed to looking into other skills if they would suit your pack better." Howl would most likely be best at scouting and mercenary work, but having some basic knowledge of other skills wouldn't hurt him.

Grayday deliberated, weighing the pros and cons with agonizing care. He knew that allowing Heartha and her male to stay, he'd be inviting yet another argument with Khoe - but he had children to think about, and another set of teeth in the pack was another that would put food into their mouths.

Besides, he could always change his mind later.

"Alright. What's your name?" asked Grayday, buying a bit of time while he worked through some of the last details in his mind.

Grayday seemed to be thingking it over. It might have been different if Howl hadn't come back with Heartha. She probably already told him with how he acted towards her. Howl hadn't thought at the beginning that this would be an issue of any kind. Maybe it was because he was thinking or himself, or maybe it was as simple as the fact that Heartha didn't say it would be. Either way, it seemed as though from what Howl could tell that it was an issue. While Grayday was thinking he asked Howl's name. Howl gave his first and last name. "My name is Howl. Howl Pendragon."

"Well, Howl, I'm not going to pretend I'm not annoyed by this situation. I told Heartha she'd have to wait until next year to whelp, but, considering her state of mind... I'm not if I should be angrier at Heartha or the one I asked to look after her," he explained. "Did Heartha tell you she wasn't allowed to breed?"

Howl didn't want to out Heartha, but he also didn't want to lie. She hadn't told him, but how much more trouble could she really get in for not telling Howl. "She spoke of needing to get back to your pack, but never said she wasn't allowed to breed." Howl was unsure as to what would happen next. It was true Howl didn't know much about the situation and he was rather lost in the situation. He played a key roll but he was definatly out of the main loop.