Everyone welcome, although preferably someone Kesan hasn't met.
Kesan had quickly rose through the ranks. However, that wasn't due to proving herself with physical skill, but rather being the only female besides Capri. The masculine scent was almost like a thick blanket over the land that strengthened as the pack stayed here. At least there was a peppering of feminine scents among it, generously supplied by Capri and herself. Having so many males wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It definitely provided many options. However, testosterone seemed to have a say in how they acted at times, not that Kesan had witnessed it with these wolves yet.
Today Kesan was strengthening the borders. It was quite boring, and not a duty she typically enjoyed. But, if she was to live up to the responsibility of her position, she should probably do something that was a bit more useful in others' eyes than observing the local flora and fauna. So far, it was meeting her expectations of boring. While joining, Kesan had never expected responsibility in this pack to be put upon her so quickly. Quite frankly, she was still mentally unprepared for being a responsible Beta, but she would have to try.
As the sun disappeared behind a shroud of clouds and a light snow began its slow descent over the mountain range, the tawny wolf struck out from the forest, where he'd been napping. The temperature was beginning to drop and the wind was picking up, but this didn't deter the Gamma, whose thick winter coat kept him safe from the elements. He was of a mind to explore the valley sprawling out from the ridge's base, and that was where he headed, parallel to the borders until he could find a safe location to descend.
The ridge was craggy and dangerous this close to the valley, and so Farstep never found a safe place to pick his way down, for on his way he came across Kesan. He had yet to meet the Beta female of the pack, but her scent was unmistakeable. As the only other female, her scent was nearly as distinct as Capriccio's, although the Alpha female's was definitely stronger by virtue of both longevity and diligence. He couldn't have mistaken her for a trespasser if he tried.
So he approached deferentially, but with less vigour than he would've shown had it been Capriccio or Taggarik. They were the lead male and female, after all. The Betas were more like advisors, and so Farstep pushed his ears to the sides and slightly back and lowered his head, but his tail did not fully droop. It curled upward at the tip in spite of its full-bodied wag and was not pressed fully against his backside. He approached cautiously, unsure of her personality, but his submission was less severe than would've been expected had Kesan been the Alpha female. An acknowledgement of their ranks respective to one another was what he aimed for, and Kesan was not so high above him that he needed to pull his tail against his hindquarters or fully lay back his ears.
Nevertheless, he whined a submissive greeting and licked at the air between them.
The appearance of an unfamiliar wolf made the job a little less boring. The scent was definitely had a sense of familiarity, indicating he was one of her pack-mates. He came forward with a submissive approach, and Kesan found her ears and tail raising a bit in response, as well as fixing her posture so that she stood a bit taller. It wasn't too empathized, but it was enough to simply acknowledge her place above him in the hierarchy.
It was a new experience, being near the top, and it brought a strange feeling that was a mixture of joy from being above most pack-mates, and a bit of unease do to the newness of the situation. The later would surely disappear with time as Kesan adjusted. For now, she took a step back and let her features fall into a neutral position, signaling an end to the formalities. She preferred not to gloat her dominance over others unless she felt threatened or irritable. They knew where they stood for now, and it didn't seem to need reinforcing.
Kesan stepped back forward to sniff the male. She tried to commit his scent to memory, for it would be best to memorize all of her pack-mates scents as soon as she could. Once finished, she stayed close by, allowing him the chance to reciprocate the action. "I'm Kesan." She said, unaware of his muteness.
Kesan accepted her place above him with a dominant stance, thankfully one that wasn't overstated. She didn't seem offended that his submission was not as severe as it could've been, and was seemingly content with his posturing, for she soon relaxed. Farstep followed suit. It seemed prudent now to become acquainted, something that Kesan sought to do with words and Farstep sought to do in the old way.
He stepped nearer, ever-cautious of her behaviour, until he was parallel with her, his head level with her hips. Assuming she didn't move, he would aim his snout for her rear and attempt to sniff the glands there, though he would do so gingerly and poised to run if needed. His own rear end was proffered in return. Farstep didn't know much about the more civilized wolves except that some of them didn't seem to understand body language. To him, who knew only body language and didn't comprehend even the concept of spoken words, such wolves were mental. But he could never be too careful; just because Taggarik and Capriccio had deemed Kesan worthy of living at the ridge, presumably because she was not mental, didn't mean she wouldn't take offense to his bold investigation of her most intimate of scent glands.
Of course, he was as polite as could be about it—some of the more dominant wolves of his homeland had no problem jamming their noses right up in there—but nevertheless, attempting to smell Kesan's butt might not go over so well. She was dominant and had every right to discipline him for trying, but his intent to introduce himself and get to know her was good, as evidenced by the hopeful wiggle of his tail.
It was a bit unexpected when the male went to sniff her butt, and her posture stiffened for a moment with surprise as he did so. A second later Kesan relaxed, even going as far as to sweep her tail out of the way to encourage him. She was not known for modesty where she came from, and it didn't look like that would change anytime soon. Kesan couldn't remember the last time her butt had been sniffed. It was definitely a practice that seemed to be decreasing in these areas. It was a funny feeling, someone's breath on your rear end. Quite interestingly, it sort of tickled.
Kesan took the opportunity to sniff Farstep's rump, trying to maintain the same gentleness as he had but not quite managing it. She continued to sniff and take in his scent, waiting for him to back off first. Butt sniffing was not a practice everyone enjoyed, and being quite a flirty creature at times, why wouldn't she make the most of the opportunity to thoroughly examine someone's butt?
Luckily for the inquisitive Farstep, Kesan didn't seem to take much offense to his rather primitive means of introduction, and seemed to even enjoy it in a way. Still, he didn't take it as an opportunity to become raucous, and backed off momentarily, satisfied with what he'd learned. She was obviously a female, not yet mature, and seemed to be in high spirits. Learning this about her did make him somewhat apprehensive—it was Farstep's creed never to submit to a wolf not yet mature—but because she was a female and therefore not so much a threat to his own rank, he was content enough to let it alone.
He took the opportunity to nip gently at her hip, then pounced away with a waving tail. His tongue lolled out of his mouth as he made a half-turn, inviting her to chase him, if she was so inclined to play.