Kerberos could almost always be found somewhere near the sea, unless he was dutifully patrolling the borders or helpfully offering secondary catches to the pack food caches. The thunderstorm that brewed in the distance made it measurably difficult for Kerberos to sleep, though it was an annoyance of the noise more so than an actual fear. Despite the fact that it was still not directly over them hardly mattered – it was distracting his attention from the lullaby of the sea. The salt waters that crashed against the umbra cloaked sands was his lifeblood. He enjoyed the delicacies the sea offered him, bathed in it's icy waters which meant his fur, the color of dry sand except for the cream on his underside and the saddle the color of damp sand was often frosted in dry salt with stray bits of seaweed tangled in his fur. In some aspects this did not entirely make him all that different from Lecter who wore blood in a similar manner to the way Kerberos wore salt water. Sleep seemed relatively unavoidable as sea-green eyes glimpsed dismissively at the night sky, watching the flashes of lightning in the distance.

A howl rose not too far off of Kerberos' own position on the beach within Horizon Ridge, accompanied by a strange scent the teased tantalizingly at his leathery, black nostrils which flared eagerly as he dissected the decadent aroma that tickled them. The howl not been for him, and though it was, and a small part, concern -- she could have been hurt in need of help (he was not aware that she was calling for her mate, Kerberos was still kind of a hermit) -- mostly, he did not exactly realize it, he was spurred into movement by her intoxicating scent. Despite that he had been sexually mature for almost a full year, he had never been around a female in heat before, and frankly, it wasn't anything he ever had the chance to discuss with Nutaaq. He found her not too long after, comparing the pallid of her coat to the beauty of Atka's -- The other woman before him was marked fascinatingly.

"Are you alright?" Kerberos asked her softly, but she looked relatively find him besides the aged wounds that were barely visible to him in the night.

Kerberos was met with a warning and though he was puzzled he obeyed, pausing at the place he had been when she had issued it, the water lapping eagerly at his toes and for once Kerberos did not turn his attention to the Sea. "Oh, uh, ok," Kerberos accepted her explanation and understood that by social dictation that was probably more or less his cue to take his leave. He didn't. Even the socially awkward Aok knew that he should be on his way, but something had cemented him to the earth that he stood upon, cold and soggy as it was; and she hasn't chased him away. If she truly wanted him gone she would have chased him away, right? Right. Kerberos was moderately surprised in himself, that he hadn't graciously accepted the invitation to leave. That was uncharacteristic of him, even considering that at Atka's decree he had pushed to shed off the "hermit" shell he had built around himself. He was a man, a man of Atka and the Sea but a man nevertheless. After a few moments of silence she broke it, inquiring for his name and offering hers and her rank as an incentive, Kerberos guessed. Pied. Her name was Pied and her rank was Gamma. "Kerberos," Kerberos' lips spliced to speak. "I am Kerberos."

A shape dissolved out of the shadows in the form of a male jumping in front of Pied like some gallant knight come to save the damsel from the dragon or something. It annoyed Kerberos slightly, when in all honesty: he'd done no wrong. He obeyed Pied's wishes - even if he didn't fully grasp why she wanted him to stay away, or why he felt compelled to stay, why there were embers smoldering to life in his stomach without any rhyme or reason. If wolves could have blushed, Kerberos would have been fire engine red when the male blatantly said that he wanted to be alone with his mate so he could fulfill his sexual urges with Pied who was sexually receptive. As it was, heat burned beneath the fur of Kerberos' cheeks and shame grasping him at the natural but uncalled for desires for Pied - this strangers mate - that he was feeling. Of course not, because other males meant potential competition. What in the hell? Kerberos couldn't believe the competitive tenor of his thoughts. That just wasn't Kerberos. He shied away from conflict. He was a obedient boy. "Ok, I was just making sure she wasn't hurt, I didn't realize she was in heat," It was his first time experiencing it - as in being near a female in heat - and he really hadn't known. It was time for Kerberos to depart, for real this time, so they could copulate with one another, but when he tried to make his paws move they refused. Atka give me strength to leave and get far enough away so I don't hear anything. It was a fair thing to ask of the Mother of Light but she refused, her rumbling refusal striking like ice in his heart. At the end of the day, he feared Atka more than he did anyone else. She wanted him here, though he failed to see why.

Rather abruptly it seemed that Kerberos' presence was entirely vanished as Pied fanned her scent around the male, albeit towards Kerberos as well. He blinked, toes digging forcibly into the sand as he fought every sugar primitive urge that drove into him like nails, urging him to do things that he would have never thought about in any other circumstance. Would it be easy to challenge the male, to fight for Pied as a mate and mother to future children as Jello had once fought Nutaaq? Would it be wrong to take what he wanted? Pupils narrowed within pools of sea green irises, hardened and sharpened like stones carved by the Sea. At this point, Kerberos half expected to hear Sos's voice whispering in his head but he only felt the Mother of Light's presence as always.

Kerberos resisted the temptatious urge to inch closer, to insinuate the challenge. Arrogance, Hadn't Nutaaq thought the same thing before Jello beat him and claimed Nuaja for his own? Kerberos had been a kid at the time but he had not forgotten that particular scandal. Shaking his head, Kerberos, mustering what ever motivational strength he had left within him, departed, trying to get as far away as he could before he did something inherently stupid.