Red was patrolling the Sunspire that morning. With nothing better to do, she figured she might as well get the job done. She knew there were probably others within the pack who had done it already, but there was no harm in double-checking. And she was glad she did, as not halfway through her patrol did she hear a wolf howling directly on the borders of her pack territory. Growling angrily, she flung herself down the mountain to meet the intruder head-on. Though she didn’t talk usually, and therefore couldn’t ask the wolf what the hell she was doing here, the coywolf was sure she could get her point across. Little did she know the poor female was only looking for a place to call home, much the same way Red had a short time ago.

She saw the sleek black pelt of the she-wolf and skidded to a halt not but a few feet before her. She crouched low to the ground and let out a growling bark, which was her way of saying, “What are you doing here, intruder?” If push came to shove, she would defend her pack’s borders with her life. She may have been smaller than her purebred cousins, but she had the heart and courage of them. She would fight and die to protect those she loved.

Red noticed immediately the female’s sudden change in body language — the way she laid her ears flat on her head and lowered her body to the ground. The classic signs of submission. The coywolf of the Mountain calmed down a little after that. It was made obvious that whoever this female was, she wasn’t here to harm anyone. So what did she want? Red moved forward to greet her as all wolves do. She stuck her nose into the other’s fur and sniffed, moving along her body to pick up the subtleties of the other’s scent, which would tell her things like whether she was fully-grown, in heat, or sick. Plus, it was a sign of domination. Normally, Red wasn’t a dominant wolf, but she had to be in the scenario, as she was — for once — in a higher position than the female before her.

“What are you doing here?” Red snuffled, as she continued her sniffing. “What do you want?”

Perhaps the female was here to join the pack? That seemed the most logical option. Red could tell she wasn’t sick or pregnant, so why else would she come? Maybe she was hungry? But she should know better than to beg food off of a pack. They were more likely to kill her than to share. The coywolf still wasn’t used to the idea of packs taking in members that were not blood-related to them. Before coming to the Teekon Wilds, she had never heard of this. However, she knew Ferdie would probably enjoy another member among them, so she was not going to turn the female away. She’d find out what she was doing here first.

Red finished with her inspection of the female wolf and sat back on her haunches, allowing the other to get up if she so chose. Now that she was not deemed a threat, the coywolf had no problems with her being here. Especially not after she told her that she was only looking for acceptance into the pack. However, Red knew that it was not her place to either accept or decline members. Those were jobs for her higher-ups.

She tilted her head back and howled for @Jace, the pack’s Beta and second-in-command. He would make the final decision. While she waited for him to show up, she wagged her tail at the female to show she meant her no harm. She let out a bark to ask, “What’s your name?” She was trying to make it a point to get to know all members of her pack, and that included those who were new, like her. She was also trying to make sure the female understood that she wasn’t in trouble. She knew she’d come off as a little overbearing, but that was natural. All wolves were that way when there was a stranger on their border.

Red gave the female a smile, encouraging her to speak up.

Red looked over at Jace as he stopped before them. Her tail wagged in greeting and she allowed her tongue to loll out of her mouth in happiness. “Jace,” she barked. “Suka.” She looked to the black female, and looked back at Jace, trying to figure out how to explain things without talking, as that was difficult for her. In the end, she couldn’t think of how to explain. So she just looked at Suka with begging eyes, hoping she would be able to tell Jace that she wanted to become a member of the pack.

Sometimes Red felt stupid for having difficulty talking. But there was nothing she could do about it. She supposed she should practice, but she didn’t see the point, as most others had no trouble understanding her. Kodokuna was quite good at it. And Ferdie had seemed to understand perfectly, as well. She couldn’t understand why Jace had such a problem with it. Was he not a wolf? Had he been born with some kind of mental deficiency? It was wolf instinct to understand body language, after all.

Red shook herself. These were thoughts for another time. Right now, she needed to stay focused on her duties as a Warden-to-be.

Red listened as Jace and Suka took up the conversation that she could not be a part of because she did not speak. She sighed inwardly, knowing that she was going to have to learn to use her voice more often if she ever wanted to be a part of anything. But the thought of doing so made her cringe. She hated talking. It was so unnatural. She shook away these thoughts. They were impeding her ability to listen.

As Suka told Jace about having had a litter of her own, the coywolf cocked her head to one side, looking her over. She seemed a little young to have had a litter before. Wolves didn’t sexually mature until around two years of age, and Suka looked to be barely that. She wondered if her pups had been healthy because of this.

Because she could not truly be part of the conversation, and because her part in being a Warden of the pack was over (as Suka had been deemed nonthreatening), she took it upon herself to sit back and think. Would she ever have a litter of her own? Probably. Instinctually, she knew that coywolves were, in fact, fertile. Many other offspring of separate species were not (like ligers, who have only ever been bred in captivity). This got her thinking about who her future mate could possibly be. There were only two males that she knew of to choose from: Jace and Ferdie. It went against instinct to choose a mate outside of the pack.

She grinned to herself. So she would be going after the Beta and/or Alpha of the pack. That was certainly ambitious. Not that finding a mate so soon really mattered all that much. She was only a yearling, and therefore not old enough to bear pups. But it was something to be kept in the back of her mind for all future encounters with the two males…