in a fortnight or perhaps shorter, blue willow would be delivered of their children and lasher found himself wrought with nervousness. he had done what he could for the densite; lending himself to patrols and pacing, taltos had gotten a sort of schedule developed for the days leading up to the birth of the children.

in the snowy dawnlight, lasher padded through the soft powder, mind present only upon the eternal quest for prey. the resources of the pack would be largesse where blue willow and the pups were concerned; in his mind, they would be the future of the plateau, and so worthy of such coddling.

presently, a summons rose above the grey treeline; taltos turned his steps immediately toward it, hackles rippling in rich ecru upon his withers. murkwater eyes appraised the fire-flame of one eye, and the cold blue of the other, and he was silent, though his firm stance was a clear query for the stranger's presence upon their borders.

Soon enough, the foreign scent of a male arrived at his senses and he rose to his paws fluidly and set his stance strongly, even as his head bowed down in a slightly submissive posture as he felt the commanding presence of the other male. A beta, he presumed and he examined the earthy wolf closely, noting the steely nature of his murky blue eyes that were trained solely on him with the intensity of a shrewd wolf.

The demanding presence and strong stance indicated the stoic wolf was asking after the reasons for his sudden appearance and summons at the border and Dimka was not one to deny a pack wolf, especially slightly injured as he was. A lone wolf often had no chance against a pack wolf, who were better fed and had strong back up.

"Sorry for any inconvenience I have caused. I am Dimka Evergreen-Krushinic, a wolf from the high northern plains. I have come to find a place in your pack, if there is room and you are willing. I'm an apprentice healer, if that's any consolation for you and of use to you."

the man's voice was soft, belying his size; lasher scrutinized him carefully. blue willow was an apt healer, but she would very soon be devoted to the rearing of their whelps, and the plateau might have need of her. such skills as herbalism were not to be taken lightly. dimka, he murmured, committing the name to memory. i am lasher, beta male here.

why did you leave your old pack? he inquired, wondering what sort of tale the pale beast would have for him. no matter; taltos warmed to stories.

Dimka nodded to the beta male, glad that he had already shown submission to the pack member and skipped the risk of offending the larger wolf. "Well met Lasher." He had hopes for this pack now, for the first member he had met was strong and decisive, which reflected much about the leadership in the pack. If the beta was decisive, the alpha would be strong and equally, if not more decisive.

He thought carefully of his words now, trying to avoid the pain of delving into the dark depths of his past but it was unavoidable. "I was born the runt and unfortunately, my pack didn't believe that runts should survive. So they left me there but strangely, a coyote pack brought me into their folds with eager joy. The head female of the coyote pack had just lost her pups, so she might have replaced me. I left when I was arriving into my adulthood, wandering and hunting as a lone wolf. I met my mate then. We were happy, for a time, with pups on the way. Until her past caught up with her. They attempted to kill me and by the time I was awake and my wound had healed a little, she was long gone and the small bodies of our pups lay on the snow, long dead. That's why I am here. I want to find out what happened to her and if she died."

Sure, his tale was a little long but it had to be done.

the stranger proffered a long-winded tale, but it was one that bit at taltos' heart and immediate empathy welled to fill the wound. however, he could not fill the plateau's ranks on basis of sadness, and so he straightened, granting a nod to dimka's woeful yarn.

i cannot grant you entry if you are merely chasing the possibility of ghosts. my pack is strong, yes, but winter is upon us and we need able-bodied and devoted individuals among us.

he eyed dimka for a silent moment. what do you think? they passed into oblivion, the spoken words, and dimka was soon to leave the plateau behind him.