Wolf RPG

Peregrine was running. No, he was flying! He was galloping around the caldera, his paws kicking up sparkling snow, his ears flat and his tail streaming. His mouth was wide open in a wolfish grin as he ran. His body felt light as air, particularly his heart. He was happy. His mate was surely pregnant, their pups would come by the end of winter, their ranks were stuffed and just take a look at his huge, magical kingdom!

Somnia was sitting higher up on the slope of the caldera. More specifically, she was daydreaming. More specifically, about Ashton. Her tail swayed in thought of the golden hippie; the one who shared her romantic feelings. All the possibilities now flew through her mind in a dizzy hurricane-like storm. That was until a black figure racing across the caldera, lower down on the slope, passed by.

He sure looked happy. Somnia wanted, no needed, to run around with him. The good mood was upon her, and she ran down, attempting to catch up to him until she found herself along his side, her tongue lolling as she ran.

When Somnia joined him, Peregrine barked a happy, welcoming note to her, though he did not slow. He halfway hoped that others would spring from the woodwork to run with them. The caldera had been kind to them all and he thought they ought to pay homage. He figured that's what this was: running around the caldera was his way of paying his respects to the place they called home.

He would not tire, not for a long time. Peregrine glanced sideways to see if his highest sub-leader felt the same. He thought he saw a glimmer in her eye and he wagged his tongue at her and just kept on running full speed ahead, now in the direction of Lake Rodney.

As they came closer to the shore of the gigantic lake just beyond the caldera, Peregrine finally dug his heels into the ground and began to slow to a trot. He still didn't say anything to Somnia, though he acknowledged her occasionally with a quick sideways glance. His tail remained lifted into the air, waving back and forth like a regal black banner.

They reached the water's edge. It was frozen and covered in a dusting of snow. The dark Alpha snuffled it away and then cracked the ice by stiffening his forelegs and bearing down on the frozen water. He punched a small hole and began to lap from it. There was enough room for his cohort to drink beside him if she liked.

When his thirst abated, Peregrine lifted his head and licked the last droplets from his muzzle. He then backpedaled and sat on the snowy shore, giving his ruff a good shake. He didn't have an agenda today. With Fox going out of season—which she had indicated by pushing him off her for the first time, like, ever—there was nothing ahead of him but a future full of puppies. Well, of course, there was work to be done and preparations to be made. But for the moment, he was just basking in the glory of it all.

"And why are you so frolicsome?" he asked Somnia when he could spare the breath, favoring her with a smile. There was clearly something good going on in her personal life too and he wondered, "Does it have to do with a certain silver-tongued, golden-haired, salt of the earth hippie dude?"

She confirmed, then began to prance around like she'd had too much sugar in her breakfast cereal. He watched her, silently amused, but forced his lips to press together in a thin line as he quirked a brow at her.

"Weeeeell?" he asked in a mock exasperated tone of voice. "I need deets here."

Somnia stopped in her prancing for a moment to answer Peregrine's question. Should she just do the simple, basic gist of it? But, he had asked for details. Long, detailed version it was! "Well, it started out that I was going to ask him to teach me how to fish. Elwood popped up, and then we raced to the lake on top of the caldera. I sorta fell in the lake -- but it was alright! Didn't turn out to be anything too serious. They rescued me, but I was starting to get hypothermia from the cold water, and I got delirious. They made me walk to Ashton's den-healer-place thing, and then Elwood left.

"Ashton got me food, as well as a bunch of prey pelts. Except I was delirious and afraid of the shadows, and told Ashton he had to protect me. Then I sort of fell asleep on top of him. In the morning, he licked my head and told me that I was indeed the one he had his eye on! I'm not too sure were we stand right now --maybe in the process of courting,-- but we had a tickle fight!" Nothing too romantic had happened, besides a few licks and nuzzles, but it had made Somnia happy all the same.

She needed no further prompting. She gushed like a geyser, spouting and spewing details. Peregrine decided not to hold back his smile. He indulged her as she indulged him. He enjoyed his pack mate's enthusiasm and was happy for her, even if deep down inside, he worried about what might happen should the two officially tie the knot and want to start a family. He was pretty sure Fox would never allow it and it would mean they would have to go out on their own. He didn't want his family at the caldera to splinter apart.

"I'm happy for you two, Som," the swarthy Alpha said, tail thumping the snow-packed ground. "Congrats on the tickle fight," he added with a chortle. How very rated "G" compared to the things he and Fox did for fun. But they'd known each other for ages and been mates for half a year. "So would you call him your boyfriend?" he wondered. Peregrine was too old for such terms—he had always called Lasher his lover, for instance—but he could see Ashton and Somnia utilizing these kinds of labels and he wouldn't judge them for it.

The answer to her unspoken question was: no, no, it didn't. "Wait... what?" he asked, head cocking. "If you're courting, doesn't that mean the same thing as being his girlfriend, so to speak? I mean, I guess some people don't like labels. But what's the difference?" he wanted to know. Kids these days, he thought with an affectionate inward eye roll.

"If you haven't already won each other, what's the point?" he continued after mulling on it a moment longer. "It sounds so... halfhearted. I mean, really, what's the difference between just being pals and being... whatever it is you are?" Oops, he thought almost immediately after asking, realizing he was probably bursting Somnia's bubble big time.

"I'm sorry, that's none of my goddamn business, is it? Sorry, Som. I'll just go back to congratulating you. I really am happy you're happy."

Tempest loped toward the two figures at the lakes edge. Om of them was Peregrine. She almost turned around right then, but notice Somnia and felt reassured. Speaking of Somnia, she had been really happy as of late. And it was no secret why. The two made a great couple. Tempest thought of Mikael. She didn't know if they qualified as a couple yet, but she hoped one day they would.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that she was close to the two. She heard them talking faintly, about courting? Somnia was speaking, and she slowed to listen for a moment before she slipped in besides Somnia. She had a faint feeling that Ashton might mean something to Somnia. Whatever it was, she wouldn't interfere.

"Hi Somnia!" she greeted the fae, tail wagging. "Hello Peregrine." she added. She was still a little scared of the Alpha. You never knew when he would go into hump mode.

Please listen to the following music. it is meant to be listened to while Peregrine edits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=S5PvBzDlZGs

Honestly, he wasn't sure, so he didn't answer. Somnia further explained herself and Peregrine was regretting having over-analyzed their relationship. He shouldn't have done that. He hated that the Gamma felt the need to explain and justify herself to him. Who was he to question their titles?

"You two go at whatever pace makes you happy and call yourselves whatever your little hearts delight," he said encouragingly. "I shouldn't have given you the third degree. I didn't mean it. And everybody's relationships are different. I wouldn't compare yours to mine or anyone else's." He bobbed his head sagely.

"I think I'm gonna run some more. Still wanna join me?" he asked, climbing onto his feet and giving his dark coat another shake. "It's too cold to sit still and I have plenty of run still left in my feets," Peregrine joked.

Before he could take off on another jaunt, a third wolf joined their company, making it a party. "Hi, Tempest," he greeted the Delta warmly. He had no shame whatsoever about their previous encounters. "We were just going to go on a run to celebrate Som's new relation—" He cut himself off there and shot the Gamma a glance. Was this public knowledge or had he just spilled her secret...?

Just in case, Peregrine tried to change the subject quickly. "The caldera really seems to be the place for love lately, eh, Tempest? Have you found yourself any suitable suitors?" he quipped, not expecting her to reply in the affirmative.

Tempest dipped her head as the Alpha greeted her, not mentioning their previous encounters. For that, she was grateful.

"The caldera really seems to be the place for love lately, eh, Tempest? Have you found yourself any suitable suitors?" he quipped

Tempest ducked her head, slightly embarrassed. "Perhaps" she said airily. "And yes, everyone seems to have caught the terrible "love virus" you seem to be blowing around. Pretty soon, every wolf in the Teekon wilds will be madly in love with each other! And it will be all your fault!" she gasped dramatically, feigning horror.

"Perhaps," she replied, surprising him. Before he could ask her who, she mentioned that it was his fault. Apparently, his romance was spreading around like some strange sexually transmitted infection. His lips twitched. Could that be true? Had his and Fox's pheromones literally infected their closest counterparts?

"Oh, yeah? Who's that? I only wanna know so we can make sure to avoid any love triangles," he said sagely, wiggling his eyebrows at both ladies. Somnia seemed a bit miffed by Tempest's presence; he wasn't oblivious to the one-sided tension. "We'll run in a minute, Som," he promised, favoring her with a friendly smile.

Tempest chuckled. Love triangles. In this love struck pack, love triangles would probably result in death. Or maiming. Or series injury. She was almost confident now that Somnia had someone special now.

Looking at the ground, she replied. " It's Mikael." she told them. "We spent some time together, and hit it off" She glanced at Somnia, who seemed a little hostile. She hadn't missed the earlier glare. "I won't tell anyone of your 'special someone', if there even is on. I will not even go near whoever he is if you don't want me to."

It was like Tempest could read minds. Maybe she was really good at deciphering body language. Peregrine's eyes shifted between the two females as she promised not to go near Ashton. Was that really necessary? The Alpha was almost sure Somnia wouldn't require something like that but just in case...

"No one will be forbidding anyone from going near anyone else. That isn't how this pack works. We're all family," he said firmly. "And who the hell is Mikael...?" he wanted to know. Had Finley or Elwood accepted him? Had they told him about it? Peregrine felt like they probably had and he had forgotten it somewhere in his sexual haze.

Tempest knew much more about the handsome male, but kept quiet. She had promised to him that he could trust her. "Yep, that just about sums him up" she responded. She hoped she wasn't letting on that she knew more then that.

"You talked about a run...?" she asked, her head tilted in curiosity. She could really go for a run, it might relieve her pent up energy.

Somnia helpfully described Mikael, providing a rather detailed list of attributes. He wondered how she felt about his resemblance to her lover (or whatever she wanted to call Ashton). Neither she-wolf brought it up, though, and though Peregrine could occasionally act the part of gossipy teenage girl, he remained silent save for a quiet, "Huh," to acknowledge the description.

Both she-wolves seemed eager, perhaps even impatient, to start their run. Peregrine glanced at them both, then broke suddenly into a gallop. They would have to give chase to catch up to him. He sprang away from the shore of Lake Rodney and began running toward the plateau on the caldera's "backside." It would be an uphill climb but that was perfect; he could burn off the last of his energy before heading home.