The pups were nearly two weeks old and their eyes were starting to open. Peregrine grinned as visions of his children's little faces (and beady eyes) danced in his head. He yearned to turn around and go home, yet his paws kept carrying him swiftly forward. The caches were running a bit low for his tastes and he wanted to bring home something big and juicy for Fox.
Since he found no promising scent trails close to home, he ventured beyond the caldera's borders, heading toward Big Salmon Lake in the distance. He was hoping to find a herd of something or other by the watering hole and maybe, if he was lucky, there would be some newborn fawns or calves to hunt.
As he drew closer to the lake, he saw a small group of elk milling the shore. Peregrine counted them. There were seven of them. He slowed and stopped, keeping his distance while he observed. His brow furrowed. There were no calves among them. None of the seven appeared old or injured either. He would be a fool to go after a healthy elk by himself. Snorting, he lowered his head, his tail lashing as he deliberated what to do now.
Reluctantly, he began to turn away when something caught his eye. He froze, squinting at the wolfish shape on the other side of the lake as he tried to figure out whether or not he recognized the other canine.
Bindi once again came down from the mountain. She needed food to pay Crescondo, but she couldn't let her pack find out about her deal with him. She set off toward the lake where she met Nova, perhaps they would meet again. She wanted the lone female to join Silvertip, but she wouldn't force her. The midnight wolfess came across a scent, it was faint but, it was one that was familiar to her. It was like the one Fitz had when she first met him, and she quickly tracked down the source.
A pitch black male on the other side of the lake. The scent had to be coming from him, and she advanced toward him but kept a good distance between them. She wouldn't approach him until she felt like he wasn't going to attack, or at least until she found out if this male knew Fitz.
He knew many black wolves but this wasn't one of them. Peregrine's ears fell back as the stranger caught sight of him and began making her way in this direction. He wasn't really in the mood to chat with strangers. He needed to hunt, then get back to his mate and pups. He felt a thrill when he once more recollected their newly opening eyes. He needed to be around so they would learn to recognize him!
The swarthy wolf stood his ground as the she-wolf came closer. She was all black save for a small white patch on her chest. Her eyes were gold. She was pretty, which was perhaps the only reason Peregrine didn't turn around and stride home without a word. As far as women went, he really only had eyes for Fox, but like any typical dude, a pretty face could get his attention.
"Hi," he said rather lamely when she was within earshot. "Are you from that... from Kaname's pack?" he guessed. He couldn't recall the name, if he'd ever known it. He paused, then introduced himself as, "Peregrine, from the caldera."
She stood still and listened as the stranger spoke. She did not know of the wolf the stranger spoke of and shook her head no. He introduced himself as Peregrine, and that he was from some pack called the caldrea. "Nice to meet you Peregrine, I'm Bindi, beta of Silvertip Mountian, and I am afraid I do not know a Kaname" she said letting the male know that she was indeed not part of whatever pack this Kaname had.
She noticed the male seemed bored, and the midnight wolfess herslef wasn't exactly exited to be here either. She also noticed a herd of elk, and licked her chops, they would make for a nice payment to Crescendo, but she returned her focus back to the male infront of her.
It turned out she was from Silvertip Mountain. He didn't know of the pack, though the name seemed vaguely familiar. Peregrine mentally stalled for what was probably an awkwardly long time before replying, "Oh! Is that Duty's pack?" At least, he was pretty sure his former subordinate had mentioned the mountain on the day he'd left the caldera to found his own pack.
Once Bindi confirmed this, Peregrine's demeanor became slightly more open and welcoming. "How's everything going there?" he asked, genuinely interested despite his typical laissez-faire approach to other packs' business. He forgot entirely about the nearby elks, which was just as well, seeing as there was no chance he would hunt them.
Once he mentioned Fitz or what this wolf called Duty, she relaxed. So he indeed did know her alpha and so she would be a lot friendlier to this stranger than she was to others. "Yes, he's a great alpha" she said with a smile, proud to be a part of his pack. When Peregrine showed interest in what has happened so far, Bindi tried to think back to all the recent and most important events.
"Everything is going well, we have had a few wolves test our boarders, and we were threatened by some wolf like creatures, but for the most part we are doing great." So far nothing major had happened, but with the whole Spine wolves issue, things were sure to heat up soon.
According to Bindi, Duty was a great Alpha and the pack was flourishing. It probably wasn't his place to feel proud but he did anyway. He missed his loyal pack mate but there were no hard feelings, particularly because of how well FitzDutiful had handled his departure. Peregrine's tail waved and he smiled. He wondered if things were still going well with Raissa. Maybe the two of them were even planning a family right about now. It was certainly the perfect time of year for it.
"You're his Beta?" he asked, repeating what she'd already told him just to be sure. "That's cool. I used to be his Alpha at the plateau and then the caldera. You could say your pack's a spin-off of mine," he quipped. "Any pups on the horizon for you guys? We just had a batch ourselves. If you wouldn't mind passing that along, I bet Duty would like to hear about it."
The male seemed proud that Fitz was doing well, and she learned that this male was once Fitz alpha. She gave a nod when he asked if she was Fitz's Beta, and she smiled as she never imagined becoming a Beta. When he spoke of pups, her smile turned into a frown. She liked Fitz, she didn't like Raissa, and she hated the idea of them with pups together. However she gave a slight smile when she heard they had pups running around this Caldera of theirs.
"Fitz and Raissa are hoping for pups in the near future, and congrats on your pups" she said, but wasn't entirely sure if the pups were even his. She was glad Fitz would be happy with youngsters, but Bindi wanted to strangle Riassa and never wanted to see the tri-colored wolfess smile or show signs of happiness ever again.
He wasn't the most observant or intuitive of wolves, yet Bindi's frown was rather unmistakable. She told him that Duty and Raissa were indeed looking forward to a litter and then congratulated him on his own. Peregrine acknowledged her words with a bob of his snout, though he found the unhappy look on her face rather intriguing.
"Why do you look like some shat right under your nose? Pups not your thing?" he guessed.
She gave a groan when he asked her if she didn't like pups. "No, I like pups, I don't like Raissa though and I don't want to see her be granted motherhood, becuase that would bring her joy." Bindi didnt care what Peregrine thought of her comment, Raissa had been a total jerk to her for no reason. Bindi would get her revenge, she was just waiting for the perfect opportunity, and if Raissa did have pups, they would be the beginning to Bindi's evil plan.
Her candid response took him by surprise. His brow furrowed slightly. He tried to recollect what he knew about Duty's mate. All he could really remember about her was that Fox had considered her cute. Peregrine couldn't come up with a single complaint against her and wondered what on earth Bindi disliked so much about her that she would confess to a stranger that she didn't think Raissa deserved the joy of motherhood.
"That's kind of fucked up," he told her frankly, although his expression bore no judgment. "Did something happen between the two of you?" Well, duh, of course something had to have happened. What he really wanted to know was: what?
His response did not shock Bindi at all, in fact she expected it. She was sure that her jealously was a main reason she didn't like Riassa but also because of their fight. "I'll admit I was a jerk to Raissa, but we basically agreed that we would try and work out our differences" she explained calmly.
"I avoided her to simply get along with her, and then one day she shows up asking me if I need my ass kicked or if I'm just being a bitch" she explained and took a deep breath. "The part I don't understand is how I can be a bitch of I never even talked to her after our first encounter." By now Bindi had been reminded of the very reason she hated the tri-colored wolfess, and all she wanted to do was go back to Silvertip and kick Raissa out.
Peregrine listened, though he had difficulty understanding some of it. Girls... he thought, then shook off that largely sexist thought. But the entire thing sounded needlessly dramatic on both sides.
He was no Counselor, yet Peregrine said, "Maybe she interpreted your avoidance as bitchiness. It doesn't excuse her behavior. But the two of you should really work shit out if you're Alpha and Beta," he recommended, incorrectly assuming that Duty's mate shared his rank.
She didn't want to listen to his suggestion but did and agreed with him. "Maybe, that's why, but I have a feeling it's something else" she said but wasn't sure exactly what that feeling was. She wanted to laugh when he said that Raissa was an alpha, no, she was not, she was not worth, but Bindi didn't say that out loud.
"She's not an alpha, Fitz is the only alpha at the moment" she said and wondered why Raissa wasn't an alpha, but Bindi didn't care, she was glad the tri-colored wolfess wasn't a leader.
He didn't know what to say in response to her ambiguous comment. Maybe it was something else but how would he know? He wouldn't. So he wasn't going to speculate further. That was FitzDutiful's problem.
Bindi quickly corrected him about Raissa's rank. Peregrine met this information with a slow blink. She seemed rather pleased to inform him of this. She seemed to quietly scoff at the idea too. Well, that was no surprise at this point.
"Why not?" he couldn't help but wonder. Surely Bindi wouldn't hesitate to tell him exactly why Raissa wasn't suited for the role. Why wouldn't Duty place Raissa beside him if the position was open, though? Peregrine just found it curious.
Bindi thought about his question long and hard, but couldn't find a reason why Fitz wouldn't make Raissa an alpha. "I'm not sure, you'll have to ask him that youself" she said and shrugged her shoulders while doing so. Bindi wasn't going to argue with Fitz's choice to not let Raissa be an alpha, after all Bindi liked having Raissa in a lower rank than her.
She had become bored with talking about Silvertip and since this male had asked questions about her home, she only saw it fair to ask questions about his. "How are things with your pack" she asked curious if they had any drama in their lives.
"Duly noted," he replied when she told him he would have to ask FitzDutiful. For the moment, he had no plans to seek out his old subordinate, though that would change within the next couple of hours. He then let the subject drop, as there was no use pursuing it further with Bindi.
She asked about the caldera pack but if she was hoping for some juicy gossip, she was in for a disappointment. While she freely offered up her interpersonal drama, he was not one to do the same. He had plenty of it himself (Dove and Magpie came to mind), though it was definitely not something he'd go telling some stranger.
"We're great, with the pups and all. Speaking of which, though... I'm out here to hunt, so I'd better get back to the trails. Take care, Bindi," Peregrine said, dipping his snout, taking one last glance at her pretty dark face, and then departing to resume his hunting and tracking.
The male didn't seem very interested in sharing some gossip, oh well. She gave a nod to his goodbye and set off back toward the mountain. She looked over at the elk herd, which suprisingly didn't seem bothered by the two wolves. The midnight wolfess would be traveling a lot, as the mountain was becoming boring.
Perhaps she could find some new recruits or cause a but of drama for someone. With a new goal set in mind, Bindi happily trotted home for a nap, before heading out to cause trouble.