The weather was warming up nicely, and Adeline was taking advantage of it by soaking up the sun as she laid on the ground, her back pressed up against one of the pillars that made up the stone circle. The sun was shining today, and she had dug away some of the snow that remained on the ground. She made herself just enough area to stretch out in.
She had been spending her nights with Day and his children, and found that it was easy to assimilate herself into a part of their family. She hoped to make up for the time lost, and for making Day worry about her. She assumed Steady had worried just as much, if not more, about her, but he hadn't said a word about it. He simply welcomed her back home, as if he knew she would return eventually.
Her body still showed the effects of being out on her own for the month. Her ribs still jutted out where meat should cover them, and her hip bones still protruded. She had eaten since she came back, but she was careful to ration her portions. She knew she needed to gain the weight back, but she refused to take more than she absolutely needed, since the entire pack needed the caches to survive if they didn't find fresh meat.
The pack had grown even since she had been back, and she couldn't even keep track of how many had joined. She figured she would meet them all in due time.
A fat, red fox swung jauntily from the beta's mouth, its pelt bright and gleaming like burnished metal. Though it'd been dead for almost a full day, he'd been careful to keep it in mint condition, and away from the curious jaws of his children. He'd given them the tail of a different fox to play with, and he'd taken them to eat from one of the many carcasses that still littered the land. They would soon decay beyond use in the warmer weather, but for now, it was important to gain what nutrients they could from the fallen beasts.
This, though, was just for Adeline. Day knew it was a silly gesture, and that she could get more and better meat from other places, but his masculine pride prompted him to present all manner of gifts to his new roommate.
He spotted her at the Stone Circle and immediately altered his path to trot toward her, chuffing past the limp body of the fox to catch her attention. "I brought you something," he said with a wag of his tail, having dropped the carcass in front of the younger wolf. His ears twisted back uncertainly against his head as he waited for her reaction, hoping that it would make her laugh, or at least that it would not make her upset.
She wasn't aware of anyone approaching, until the chuff reached her ears, and then Day's voice, muffled. She opened her eyes to find him, and when she realized what was in his jaws, she instantly scrambled to her feet, her hackles raising as she eyed the fox. It was dead, yes, but Adeline had, in her mind, a rational fear of the creatures since she had been attacked by one as a pup.
Day dropped it at her feet and she scramble back, growling at the carcass, as if it might suddenly wake up and attack her. She circled wide around the unmoving fox to come to Day's side. I don't like foxes, she said, fear lacing her voice. Even dead, she still feared them. She had been lucky enough to not come across many since her attack, and the few she seen had been at a distance, which she made sure to increase with haste. She may have been bigger and stronger than them, but her fear didn't allow her to realize that the tables had turned since she was a pup.
Her reaction was immediate and clear - and it was just as Day had feared. "I know," he blurted, ears falling back. "I mean, I know, but I thought you might like a dead one," he clarified. That didn't sound any better. There didn't seem to be a good way to fix this, and Day was eager to remove the offensive object from her vicinty. "I'll get this out of here," he said quickly, snatching up the fox and pulling it away from her. He glanced back at her one last time before trotting quickly away, intending to deposit the fox in one of their caches - the one furthest from where they slept.
As he walked, he mused over his decision to bring the fox to Adeline. Had her reaction been over the top, or had this simply been a bad idea? Day was leaning toward the latter, but he supposed it might be somewhere in the middle. Distantly, he wondered whether Szymon had suffered the same problems with Doe - but she'd been fond enough of him when they'd spoken. Perhaps the deerskin had been to her liking. Probably, Doe had never been attacked by a fawn.
"Just a bad idea, then," he said to the fox carcass, having deposited it into the cache. He looked at it a moment longer, thinking about how dull Adeline's fur had looked next to the vivid orange of the carcass. In his head, he always thought of her as red, but now... Day was beginning to realize he hadn't seen the girl clearly for some time. When he tried to picture her - really picture her - all he could see was a brownish blur.
Knowing he should give her some time to calm down, Day didn't return to the stone circle once his deposit was done. He wanted to check on her to make sure she was alright, but Adeline was a big girl. He'd seek her out if she didn't return to the den that night, but hopefully, that wouldn't be necessary.