Farstep rose, muddy and panting, from the hole he'd dug. Before leaving the plateau, the tawny male had caught a skinny hare rooting about one of the abandoned wolf dens, and he'd immediately sought out a safe place to store it when he crossed his pack's borders. The base of a willow overlooking a small pond seemed perfect. It was here that he emerged, shook his coat free of loose dirt and brown snow, and began to pack down the earth around his meager kill.
He was not the only one that had been hunting small game. He picked up his subordinate's trail, and caught a whiff of hare upon it. The black wolf had managed to surprise a partridge, and devoured it on the spot, leaving not but a scattering of feathers to tell he was ever there. Blood, hardly noticeable against his dark fur, was fresh upon his muzzle.
He spotted Farstep packing earth and woofed to him, encouraging him to come toward him with a waving tail and a bowed posture, rather than moving in on the wolf's cache.
He scooped several smatterings of dirt over the dead hare, but wasn't able to complete the task before Taggarik caught his attention with a low beckoning noise. The Gamma straightened, abandoned his task in order to prioritize his leader, and moved toward the Alpha male with short choppy strides. As he neared, his tail and ears went down and he reached out with his snout in an effort to bump the leader's chin. All the while, he curled his body slightly, approaching at a mild crabwalk, as if to somehow indicate there was something interesting for the Alpha's nose on his withers, though the behaviour was also somewhat submissive.
His subordinate was a true guardian of order. He appreciated everytime the immediate and full deference that he was shown. This time, it manifested in quick nips and nudges to the male's head and shoulders, playful and welcoming, like two buddies at the dog park meeting up. He did not recognize that Farstep presented his withers for him to partake of the scents on him, but he did nonetheless catch them, and paused in his companionable behavior to nose the furs there. Pine, and other muted smells.
He had only been there once, but his mind was like a trap for such things. He remembered the plateau well, remembered the faint traces of scent that were left behind when the wolves moved out. He even remembered his very brief encounter with a white male, but his scent was not upon his Gamma, and it seemed no one had come back there. He was pleased to know, and woofed softly and wagged his tail.
As Taggarik nosed through his coarse guard hairs, Farstep fell prey to a light shiver down his spine. He held still only until the Alpha pulled away, and then promptly shook his coat to rid himself of the crawling sensation. He couldn't tell whether Taggarik smelled the faint hint of other wolves, stale and long gone, but he assumed the Alpha male had got the point from his voice and the wag of his tail. Farstep's own wagged in tandem as he dipped his front half toward the ground and slapped the snow with his forepaws. He had a job to complete in the form of the cache, but he wouldn't forget it even if he took a moment to engage Taggarik.
The black wolf was quick to mirror the bow of the other wolf, throwing his own front quarters downward, and allowing his backside and tail to sway. He held this for all but a moment before he rushed forward in the first move, his teeth gently seeking to tug an ear. He needed this play from time to time; it was a stress release and more important to helped forged the bonds between himself and his packmates.
Farstep had almost no warning when Taggarik rushed him, a testament to the black wolf's potential as a fighter and defender. The tawny wolf managed to lift his opened snout just in time; he went for the Alpha male's muzzle in an effort to deflect his blow, throwing snow up as he rearranged his paws for better balance.
Farstep was no slug; the brown wolf was quick and parried Taggarik's snout with his own, preventing him from nabbing an ear. The black wolf sprang off to the side with a grin and a woof, and this time he held his place and dared the other to come to him with a drum of his broad paws.
Taggarik responded to Farstep's counter with a quick spring of his own, opening a space between the two wolves. Farstep yipped and took the bait, closing the distance with a few short bounds, and took a leaf out of his Alpha's book: he went right for the other male's ear. He anticipated being blocked in the same way he had managed to block Taggarik before, but that was really all the fun of it for Farstep. He didn't need to win or even gain ground in order to enjoy himself.
He accepted the dare, springing at Taggarik in a similar fashion to how he had sprang at him. The black wolf did not intend to mirror a counter; he let Farstep grab an ear, so that he could close his teeth on some neck fur in a series of light nips as he growled and woofed his amusement. His forepaw lifted to to perch on the other wolf's shoulder as he swung his snout up, teeth now seeking to close on the other wolf's muzzle or perhaps initiate some jaw sparring.
He caught the Alpha's ear and momentarily allowed himself to revel in the victory before realizing that Taggarik had allowed it to happen. It gave the male time to chomp at his subordinate's neck fur. Farstep growled playfully and gave the Alpha's ear a little tug, but he wasn't able to hold on much longer, for he felt the weight of his leader's paw on his shoulder and then his jaw was caught up in a nip.
Farstep released Taggarik's ear and, with his jaws wide open, began to jaw spar with the Alpha male.
He jaw-sparred with his packmate with a hum of low growls and soft, short barks. His teeth would graze Farstep's muzzle as each shifted and pushed against one another, but never was a drop of blood drawn, nor even an indent in flesh made. After a few moments, the black wolf jerked his head back to disengage, so that he, in a surprise move (maybe?) could duck down and nip at his subordinate's toes.
Their spar was short and effective. Though they buffered their blows in such a way that neither contender was harmed, the effort of keeping his jaws up and opened wore on him, such that he drew back willingly when Taggarik called off the game. Only Farstep hadn't anticipated a sneak attack, and ack! just like that his paw was at the alpha wolf's mercy. He tried to draw back his feet, and ended up tumbling over onto one hip in his haste.
His move was indeed a surprise, and as he landed a nip on Farstep's toes the brown wolf drew back his paws and tumbled onto his hip. Taggarik rushed forward a few paces but then he stopped, restraining himself from the instinct to roll the smaller wolf over and pin him. No, he checked his dominant nature and left it had that, chuckling warmly at his companion instead as he settled down onto his haunches and signalled that he had given up the game. His tail sifted through the snow with merriment.
Their play too a swift turn from innocent time-wasting to dominance tussle, and it was a game that Farstep was willing to lose. The tumble of his hip gave way to his shoulder and he slumped to the ground, expecting Taggarik's paws to fall on either side of his neck, but the alpha male reined himself back. Confused, the gamma folded back his ears and rolled a questioning eye toward the lead male, but with a chuff the man seated himself in the churned snow, an end to his posturing. Reluctant to move too quickly in the event the alpha was just testing him, Farstep rolled back to his feet, and only when he had put several paces between them did he allow himself the satisfaction of shaking dirt from himself.
Tail waving, the tawny beast half-turned to regard Taggarik with a curious tilt of his jaw. If dismissed, he would merrily return to the cache he'd been digging, but Farstep needed to be absolutely sure that he was able to leave before doing so.
The black wolf woofed to his wordless companion, rolling over onto his side and batting a paw in the air before he wormed around in the snow. It was a brief display of carefreeness, meant to ease his subordinate's uncertainty. Taggarik then gathered his paws and shook his coat, waving his tail before he trotted off to leave Farstep to do whatever it was he wanted to do.