Adeline laid at the entrance of the den, much like she had every day since her attack. Her shoulder still hurt, though it was a little duller these days, and the torn flesh was beginning to mend itself. She groomed it often and was doing a mostly good job of keeping it clean. 

Until now, Adeline's life had been mostly sheltered and protected. She had never even had a hangnail, let alone any big injury. For the first week or so, the pup had mostly slept, finding it was the only way she got through the pain. Dad told her it would help her heal, too, if she didn't do a lot of moving around. 

While Adeline would follow his orders to rest and heal properly, her mind wandered. She had realized the attack hadn't saddened her. It angered her. She didn't feel much smaller than the rest of the pack, even though she seemed surrounded by large males, and so she felt like she should have been able to defend herself a little better than she had. She had grown a lot even in the past few weeks, and she knew she wanted more lessons from Ezekiel. 

The wind shifted, and a new scent caught Adeline's nose. She lifted her head from the ground as her ears perked, trying to listen for sounds. She wasn't aware of any new members, and the new scent had caught her off guard. With her healing injury, she was immediately on alert. 

Her hackles raised, but her instinct told her to remain quiet. She raised to a standing position, her nose tilted up in the air to try and find out just where the stranger might be. As quiet as she knew she needed to be, she couldn't hold back the growl that came forth from her throat.

A wolf appeared from the brush and Adeline's hackles raised to full mast. He came forward, and she bared her teeth, releasing a full on growl from her throat in warning. Knowing she was at a disadvantage with her injury, she shifted so that the injured shoulder was blocked from the stranger, but she didn't completely present her side to him. 

He claimed he was a new member and that her Dad, as she now called him, told the male about her. No one has said anything about you, she accused. Adeline hadn't come upon a stranger since she met Grayday, but she had been much more trusting back then. Because of her injury, and her brain development, she knew not to trust strangers. Knowing she couldn't fight off the much larger male, Adeline lifted her muzzle to the sky to call for help. 

Her muzzle lowered from her howl, and her gaze bore into him, not wavering, even as he sat down. What he said could have very well been true, but Adeline had no way of knowing whether it was or not. He asked what he could do, and Adeline thought for a moment. In her true stubbornness nature, she stuck to her guns. Yeah. You can wait for someone I do know to come and tell me that what you say is true. She would not give in on this, and hoped someone would come soon.

It had been a couple of months since Adeline had met anyone new, and so meeting strangers was not something she was accustomed to. Her generally positive and upbeat attitude had been replaced with aggression and unfriendliness at the first scent of him, and it would not soon depart unless one of her pack mates heeded her call.

Steady had not been far from the den site when Adeline's call rang in his ears. He immediately picked up his pace, hearing the urgency in her howl. He came out of the brush and entered the small clearing, his gaze first on Adeline, whose hackles were raised, and then shifted to Philos, who looked rather calm in the face of an aggressive wolf.

What's going on? he asked, making his way over to stand beside Adeline, as she would have his full support until he was convinced otherwise. Philos was a new wolf, and Steady wondered if he had upset Adeline. But, he would make sure to keep an open mind. His eyes shifted from one wolf to the other, waiting for a reason for the call.

Thankfully, Dad had come quickly at her call, as she was confident he would. She could always count on him to be her protector. She opened her maw to answer his question, but the stranger beat her to it. Her ears swiveled in agitation, but she remained silent as he explained. But, by the fact that Steady hadn't readily attacked the stranger, she had already surmised that he was, indeed, newly accepted. Steady need only confirm it with his words.

She wasn't really sure what made her distrust the male so. He hadn't done anything wrong, and had been respectful. Maybe it was her injury, and her feeling of helplessness. She would not be so ready to defend herself with her shoulder healing, and she simply hadn't wanted to take the chance that she would be on her own in a fight.

Philos explained the situation, that he was merely trying to introduce himself to Adeline. And, since his niece voiced no opposition to that, Steady assumed it was true. His gaze turned to Adeline. I'm sorry, word hasn't traveled yet, but he is a new member of the pack. And, as far as I can tell, a nice one at that. He hoped it would calm Adeline's distrust of the male.

He was glad Adeline took the initiative to call someone to confirm, rather than simply trust the male. While someone was most always on border patrol, and the chances of someone getting past them was minute, it was good to know that should someone get it, Adeline would sound the alarm instead of just assuming what they said was true.

Steady confirmed that what the male was saying was true, and Adeline began to regard him with more curiosity and less hostility. However, it didn't come easily. But, he was a pack mate, and there was no reason to distrust him right off the bat, especially if Steady had seen fit to accept him in the first place.

Her gaze turned to Steady. Thanks, Dad, she said softly, using the title for the second time to him. She had never stopped to consider how he might feel about it, as she didn't think it was anything negative. It was how she felt, and she expressed that. Her gaze turned back to Philos. I am Adeline, she confirmed, remembering that he had guessed who she was. 

It seemed things were settled, and Adeline was happy. Enough, anyways. He gave her a quick nudge, and moved to the edge of the clearing to lay down. He was far enough away that the two could have a little privacy to interact, but close enough that if either needed him, he was there. He was still very protective over Adeline, and would act in an instinct to protect him. 

He laid down on his stomach, and rested his head on his forelegs, his eyes wandering around until they eventually closed. He snoozed, but remained aware of his surroundings.

Her ears perked when he said he was from Alaska. It wasn't a place she had ever heard of before. Rightly so, since she was pretty sheltered here. Where is Alaska? she asked as he shook his coat out. Her gaze went to her own, which was short and coarse compared to his own. His looked lush and soft. On impulse, she rose and went to him, no longer fearing him, especially since Stead still nearby. She took the liberty of extending her nose out in an attempt to brush it across his fur to see if felt like it looked. Mine keeps me pretty cool, she commented, almost needing to point out a plus to her own coat, since his looked nicer.

She nodded to his next question. Yeah, I was born on the mountain, she answered. She was unaware of the weirdness of her and her Dad's relationship. It was familiar to her, since she lived it, and had never wondered how it looked to outsiders. Why did you leave Alaska? she asked.

Her head turned in the direction of north west, as if she'd be able to see Alaska. It was a tall mountain, but not that tall. Even if it was, Alaska would still be too far away for her to see. 

He didn't seem to mind that she took liberties with him and invaded his personal space, and it made her like him more. He commented on his coat again, though it was against it. She supposed she could understand, but in her eyes, the grass was greener on the other side. It looks nice, though, she said. 

It seemed he didn't have any reason to leave his home. Adeline glanced at Steady before her eyes turned back to Philos. Do you miss your family? she asked. Adeline loved her family, loved her home, but there were moments where she wished she could go explore more, see more. A ping of guilt that came any time she thought that was almost painful. She wondered sometimes just how much it hurt that her sister had left, but she had never got the courage to ask.

They were close, with Adeline standing to his side, facing him. He was a large wolf, much more than she, but his head was lower. Something in Adeline, somewhere deep, rumbled with acknowledgement. A dominant side of her that had laid dormant, up until now. It was in her blood, through both her father and mother, as both were leaders; her mother more so a tough one that demanded submission. Adeline had never thought she'd feel like that; didn't really know it existed until this moment. But, now that she felt it, she craved more of it. Her eyes were on him, gauging his reaction as her body began to stiffen, her tail making its way upward, testing the boundaries. She wasn't aggressive, but she was curious about this new-found feeling inside her. 

Her shoulder tinged with pain and her head turned towards it, breaking the sort of trance she was in. Her tail dropped, and she was forced to relax, or else suffer more. She plopped her butt down on the ground as her the feelings dissipated. But, they didn't completely disappear. She would explore them later.

Her head tilted a bit as he confessed that he he missed his family, but had left on good terms with them. Is being a loner hard? she asked. One might delve deep into her questions, and maybe a part of Adeline really want to experience life outside the pack. But, she simply didn't have the guts to leave right now.

As quickly as her experimented started, it ended with the pain in her shoulder. Philos was unresponsive to it, anyways, and so Adeline's brain quickly moved on from what happened. Her shoulder, however, would ache for a little while, reminding her that it was still healing.

He confessed that being a loner could be hard, but he hadn't been one for long before joining Silvertip Mountain. She caught the pause when he mentioned her father, and her gaze moved to Steady momentarily before shifting back to Philos. She wasn't shy about herself or her past, and she gathered he was curious. Technically, he's my Uncle, but I feel like he's my Dad... My other one died just after I was born, and then my Mom not very long after, she explained openly. She did leave out the sordid details, as she didn't like to think about them much, even if she did understand.