Since founding his pack on the ridge, the black wolf had not left it. Their borders had been busy with hopeful recruits and trespassers, and when he had not been tired to them he had taken his large paws across as many surfaces of the ridge as he could. Much of his domain had he memorized now, although there were many details yet to be cataloged.

He would not leave while the pack established itself, but now it had. Their numbers had grown, they had hunted successfully and opened caches, and their borders were well guarded. He could afford a brief absence, and so he let @Capriccio know he was headed east for a quick scout.

No one had been around the mountain when he had selected the ridge, but the handful of scents, a couple in particular consistently present, now seemed to suggest that they had neighbors. Neighbors he did not appreciate, for it looked as though their preferred territory was literally outside his borders, on some stormy, barren rock he was not inclined to walk over, let alone live on.

It was with some level of irritation that he continued his stroll around the edge that overlooked the vale, contemplating the situation.

Due to the fortune it had given her, Saghani had—for the while—selected the snowcapped mountain of goats as her base. @Tryphon stayed here with her, and for whatever measure of time they separated they always knew to reunite at this place, or else always found one another wherever they roamed. Saghani had felled the beasts by chance and by luck; she doubted, before her, many had been around this place that gave cause for the creatures surprise and shock. No doubt they could have taken her had they been aware, but they had not. And so she was rewarded with not one but two meals; it would last her enough time to explore and decide where she would remain for the duration of winter and perhaps her life.

This place meant nothing to her; she would leave it, when the meat was finished. So it was with an unassuming stride that she herself walked on a jutting ledge that acted as a pathway. Saghani only paused when she caught wind of another presence, one she vaguely recalled but did not recognize (having only had the barest whiff of it). What she knew for certain was that this was not her fellow silent companion.

Her bright yellow eyes scouted for the one she smelled, ears acting like radars while they swiveled atop her proud crown. There was no pretense of dominance in the way she held herself, and yet by looking at her there was no denying her savage pedigree.

He would not allow another pack to forbid the passage of himself and his wolves along the rim of the vale. Though he was traditionally territorial within his own boundaries only, this trailway he would also defend. It was necessary, should a need ever arise for himself or his wolves to reach the eastern section of the range, or the sprawling taiga beyond.

Still, even this would not quite satisfy him. Packs too near one another were conflict waiting to happen, especially if one pack found themselves in want of food. He was confident it would not be his wolves; the ridge was bountiful, but that barren rock of thunder was another story. Perhaps it held some resources yet unknown to him. Either way, his unease would persist.

He was distracted from his deliberations; another black figure emerged ahead of him, and his paws came to rest atop a bare expanse of stone where gusting winds had drifted the snow to the side. His ears were pressed forward with marked interest, his tail was a pendulum of fur. Perhaps this was one of the wolves that were living here; he could not catch her scent to know for sure.

Her eyes scoured the land, at not a moment before the other noticed her did she notice him. Her ears swept forward as she watched him from above, noting his lax attitude and his strong physique both. These things bought him Saghani's own interest, which could be a good or else uninteresting thing, depending. Saghani sniffed the air again, but there were no notes of Tryphon on the air around her. Or, rather, there were, simply none that meant his immediate presence. Saghani did not doubt she would see him sooner if not later, and allowed her attention to fall solely upon the other at last.

She lowered her head so that it was set squarely between her shoulders, hunching shoulders bracing her weight as Saghani began to descend some to see how he would react. Her movements were self-assured and confident; this particular mountainside was her typical haunt when going up (or down) to investigate the behaviors of the ram here. All the while she remained mindful of him, watching his body language. Saghani never moved too near, and still remained at a point where she could watch him from above when she ceased her movements altogether. Her stare was not unlike that of a scavenging vulture that wondered what it might find, though the gleam in her eyes lacked any measure of malice. Her own tail loosely moved behind her in quite the same manner as his own.

He was irritated by the prospect of neighbors, but it did not show. Even has the black female descended from her perch, his shoulders and spine were relaxed, his tail continued to sway and his ears twitched idly. His eyes were neither cold nor warm, inquisitive however. He was not a hasty sort, and certainly not aggressive outside of specific situations. If given the chance he would take a moment to speak to the would-be residents, and see if arrangements could be made.

But she was not one of the ones he sought, or he did not think her to be. Her scent swept toward him and did not match the two most prevalent ones, though this did not mean she was associated. "Are you living near here?" he ventured.

His voice broke the perfect world she had created, and her ears leaned forward to catch the words, interpret the meaning. Saghani herself gave no acknowledgment that she understood. She simply looked past him for a moment, sniffing heartily, before her eyes returned to his figure. Saghani did not move nearer now, though remained benevolent. That was not to say she was warm toward him, either; Saghani was perfectly neutral, her eyes retaining their curiosity despite his words. His question, in any case, meant nothing in his neutral voice. It sounded as if he did not care that she might call this place home. 

The she-wolf remained on all fours, and now her gaze returned to him. Her head cocked, revealing to him her disarming curiosity.

She said nothing. He was reminded immediately of his agouti subordinate, and wondered if she, like him, never ever said a word and didn't understand them, or if she was one of the sorts that just preferred not to talk. Her reaction suggested that maybe she understood, but he was not certain. He shifted his jaw, his ear giving a twitch. He wanted information, to confirm that others sought to live here, that was all, but how to draw it out?

He remembered how he tested Farstep, and sought to do the same with her. "You're a good-looking girl," he drawled, flashing a comically overstated, flirtatious grin. "How about you come over here for a round of fast, rough, and oh so satisfying sex."

If she understood words, he'd surely know soon enough.

As he spoke again, Saghani's ears moved like saucers, cupped toward him and receptive. Again, it took a moment for her to interpret. Her natal language was not English, but she had been taught to understand this, too. His grin was not missed by Saghani, the flirtatious expression one she was familiar with—like it or not—and she proffered him one in turn, the expression seedy and perhaps even malignant, now. Not for understanding his words, but understanding the look; it was not the first time, it would not be the last. The malignant tone could have been an illusion, given there was no fearsome shift she made bar the perhaps resentful look in her eye. 

But there was a sudden receptiveness to her. Saghani moved downward, a flirtatious flourish of her plume given as she descended to become level to him. And then a suggestive leer. There was no anger toward the words, which were nothing to her. But the expression he had made... well, that was something else to her, something peculiar, and something which deserved some sort of response. Her head again tilted, but there was nothing coquettish in the movement. What?

If she understood his words, he expected outrage, perhaps even some aggression that he would be so bold and crass; but that's not what he got. She was even more an enigma than previously thought; she returned his flirtatious grin and even advanced toward him, her tail animated in a sultry swish and her eyes... Hmm. Did she understand him, or did his expression give away his proposal? Damn, perhaps he should have kept a straight face. Or maybe she knew perfectly well what he said and was open to the idea. Either way, his suave confidence gave way to several confounded blinks.

But then there was a shift in his countenance; his eyes narrowed and his comical grin became slim, devilish. Let's play this game. He moved toward her, his tail swaying slowly, his ears twisting and turning, alert to any sound, as much as his focused stare was perceptive to any movement.

Saghani watched as he responded to her, and her reaction was perfectly ritualized. Saghani herself had noted the expression of confoundedness, perceptive to the perpetually literal language of the body... but when he gained his repose and came toward her, Saghani advanced to see what his intent here was. She idly thought of Tryphon, but then neatly put a placeholder on the opened page of their book to return to later. 

If he was courting her, she would suss that out swiftly. Her tail lifted in a picture, now, of dominance; not of this place, but of this situation, of what would transpire between them, and should anything at all transpire, it not be short-lived. She stared at him with the mettle of a Queen, and paused only just before him—kiss or kill distance, she recognized—and lingered there, eyes watchful, body rigid beneath its soft looking shell. 

Queen me, Saghani implied, knocking aside the other pawns with a swiftness befitting her character. Her breathing was easy, but there was not an inch of her that was not prepared to act and react as the moment demanded.

He was dominant and controlling in most aspects of his life; it was his nature, but it was bred within his gender to be at least somewhat subservient to females. For anyone else, a display of dominance and control out here would have been met with forward offense, or total disregard depending on his mood and on the circumstance. But the lift of her tail commanded his to droop from its neutral height to one more deferring. Even his regal head dipped below the level of her own as she neared, his ears turning back and down. His teeth and his tongue reached for the strong curve of her jaw, sultry but submissive.

He may have wondered what he was getting himself into, if he had bothered to think on the matter at all. But he was lost in this game.

Saghani watched as he responded, and was all the more receptive toward him for it. She was everything short of yielding; Saghani was not yet in season, but her time had yet to come, and Spring would arrive soon enough. But this had been the point of dispersing, had it not? To find a suitable counterpart? And here he could very well be, stalwart and strong in appearance; she thought nothing of his personal life, yet. Only that she would immerse herself in it accordingly, if she decided to accept him in turn. 

His own submissive action she rewarded with a small measure of affection as she stepped toward him and moved to press her damp nostrils against his temple, exposing her throat perfectly to be ripped from its place there. But this was courting, and she had accepted his advances, and returned them. Saghani had no idea if he was interested in creating something with her. He smelled of pack, and of she-wolves. Saghani would dispose of any that came in the trajectory of her ambition, she knew... 

The raven woman shifted, so that she might nuzzle into him, her tongue slipping between her teeth to press warmly against his skin.

She was not in season, he knew, but he would not turn down a chance at pleasure, especially pleasure so random and unexpected. He was not habitually as unchaste as some males, but there was an undeniable allure here in this spontaneous meeting, and in the strength and pride with which she conducted herself. He was bewitched, and let's face it, lead on by his little head.

She pressed her nose to his temple, and his own spread the furs along her throat, breathing of her scent. He caught a hint of another male, and his ears flicked forward briefly, with interest and with sudden possessiveness. That trace scent spoke to his dominant nature. It challenged him almost, and he responded with a lascivious growl as her tongue touched his skin.

His movements lost their tentativeness, but he held his posture in check. She still reigned, even as his motions became more purposeful. He nudged her and plied his teeth lightly to her shoulder, a half-step taken to start his slow trail toward her hindquarters.

Saghani was observant to his every movement, his every twitch. She herself was unaggressive toward him, and in devouring the many scents that clung to him Saghani felt her own degree of possessiveness. Her own resistance to what was to occur was futile; she was a physical being, and as his muzzle dragged against her in its caress, Saghani did not move against it. In fact, growling throatily to spur him onward. Saghani relented to him, revealing herself to this perfect stranger. Saghani had been looking for someone with his audacity and his purpose; it meant he had the makings of a leader, it meant that he, like she, knew how to take what he wanted and make it his own. Was that not what they were doing? Was that not the purpose of those who had ambition? Saghani stepped backward, her consent clear. Another growl, hungry, summoning: take.

She urged him onward, spurred him with a growl, with a look, with the backward step she took. He did not need to be told twice. His teeth skirted her spine and ribs in earnest as he moved toward his goal, and his own crooning growl wound with hers. The last touch of his teeth was against her flank, firm and possessing, the tone of his growl deepening. She bid him to take and he took; he rose above her, his strong forelimbs trapping her waist. He met her, claimed her thus and it was as he suggested it be: his rhythm was acquisitive and without tenderness, and his fangs seized her scruff with another growl.

She had reigned in the moments prior; but now it was his turn.

(he thought so at least - score!)

Saghani yielded to him, and gave herself away; for all of her inexperience in this domain, today it did not matter! Although it took a moment for her to adjust to his weight, she managed. And then he was within. It was painful, undeniably so, at first; she turned her neck and lashed at him with a yowling snarl high in pitch. But not once did she seek to remove him, and she dealt with the rest of it accordingly, willingly, and responded as best as she could. In time it even began to feel good, their rough cadence in line with the wild beat of her heart. 

She, too, felt victorious whilst he dominated her, albeit in a different way. Through this coupling, Saghani had completed her search: she had a mate, and would return with him to the pack. If he did not lead then, he would. In the rocking of his hips against her, she felt a kings strength, the only strength she would ever give herself to, til death would they part!

He knew nothing of the she-wolf's ambitions and intentions. He, like any male blindly taking guidance from his little head, expected nothing to come of this wild, random sex. Despite not being a wolf that looked too far into the future, he had formed a picture in his mind of Capriccio flourishing in her role and bearing his children; because she was his alpha female now, and he acted on the facts of the present. She said she would step down if he took a mate; meanwhile he was determined that his mate would be the alpha female, and that right now was the silver-and-black female of the ridge. Not this strange she-wolf.

He dismounted her and hiked a briefly leg to clean himself. Forgotten was the purpose that started all this, and that may have corrupted the erstwhile fate of his future.

 

With their coupling completed, Saghani too lapped at herself gingerly for a brief moment. The area was tender, and she was met with a rather interesting feeling as she looked to the male. For a moment she lay there, panting, but after some minutes passed them by Saghani felt those primal urges return to her again, and rose to all fours, wondering if the man before her had another round left in him. It would not matter if that wasn't the case—Saghani was sure she could focus these energies toward her next pursuit, which was, of course, the matters of the soon to be their pack; the woman felt it was as good as her own, but had already envisioned a woman who might come against her, a woman who vied for what she already achieved. It would not do well to undermine them or their ability... but, nor would it be wise for them to look toward her and underestimate what they were up against. 

If it was not clear to him her intent in this moment, when he went homeward bound with her in tow, it would certainly be unquestionable then. Saghani was no enigma when it came to her ambition.

Of course he had another round in him, and he gladly and willingly took her again in the same feral fashion as before. He was no where near as primal as she, though he was a wolf that in many ways straddled the line, with a paw in each 'world', so to speak. She thought them mated; he thought himself merely lucky, to stumble upon casual pleasure on what had been a business trip. He turned to leave, expecting to return to the ridge alone.