Blacktail Deer Plateau Stairway To Heaven

He nodded his head at Peregrine's words that he and Hawkeye had only been together a month. We was not familiar with the amount of time it would take for two wolves to become mates, but this did explain why Hawkeye still seemed to be the one in charge out of the two. Fury was mostly traditional, except in the sense where he thought a woman should lead — if they were like his mother. Or like the Alpha he had just met.

A toothy smile showed on Fury's face. "Yes, these I agree with. Exploring territory can be done on own time. You are Alpha, what would you like to do?" The grey male was still unfamiliar with being around other wolves in a friendly way. It had always been him and his mother against the world. Sometimes they would trade things with gypsy-like packs, but he did none of the talking or negotiations; he simply guarded and observed.

Fury readily agreed with him and that softened Peregrine a little bit. It really wasn't that he disliked the giant, though, he just didn't trust strangers the very instant he met them... especially not hulking males with strange customs and difficult accents.

"Well... we could start your Warden training. I guess we could begin with a patrol. It'll be boring but it'll give you a feel for the borders, which will be important if you're guarding them."

Fury did not pull away from the fact that Peregrine assumed him to be a Warden figure, but he did not know exactly what one was. "What is Warden?" And after a beat, he added: "I do well to protect mate, if you like. My whole life, I protect mother. It is what I do." Fury had not known any other way of life. He would never admit it, but he was lonely now. His purpose had been to protect his mother; he had not been made to, but did so on his own accord.

"It's the same thing as a guardian," Peregrine replied, beginning to walk along the borders. His ears slicked back at the offer, disliking it instinctively, though he knew Fury meant well. "That won't be necessary, Fury. I may be not be as big as you but I protect and defend my mate with my life." As he said this, his eyes met Fury's and seemed to flash with a warning.

Then he turned to face forward and, when he spoke again, it was mildly. "There's no need to protect any one person. A Warden is responsible for guarding and patrolling the borders and keeping threats away from them. Sometimes, you might be able to help an individual but... for the most part, your efforts will go toward the pack as a whole. Do you understand?"

He saw the flash in Peregine's eyes, filing away the fact that he would be a possible hindrance with anything that would involve Hawkeye. Fury took a hidden oath that his main worry would be to protect his Alphess. Whether he was infatuated with the female, or he was shifting his duties from his mother to Hawkeye, Fury was not aware. He needed an individual to protect, no a pack as a whole.

"Yes, I understand what you say. I will protect pack." Fury wasn't necessarily pretentious in his abilities, but he was sure of them. It was like the fact that the sun rose in the west and set in the east; evidence that supported itself. He never bragged or boasted, nor did he deny any compliments (not that they came often since it was mostly just him and his mother, but the whispers he heard made him positive that he was doing his job correctly — not that he needed approval from others).

Fury said he understood, so Peregrine said nothing more. He led the male around the borders for a few minutes before it occurred to him and he stopped. "You know what? I don't think you need an escort for this. I know now you're smarter than you look," he quipped with a bit of a smirk, "so I trust you can find your own way. Besides, doing a patrol will give you a good idea of the territory's dimensions and terrain. You don't really me to stick around, do you?"

Fury simply shook his head, but then decided speaking a "no" would be more respectful, so he did. The word rumbled in his throat a moment before escaping. His own voice was familiar yet foreign, since he spoke so little to others.

Peregrine mentioned that he was smarter than he looked, which Fury didn't really care about; he wanted others to underestimate him, and obviously the Alpha had. The grey and cream-colored male did not ask where the borders ended, for it had to be that the whole plateau was theirs, whatever size it was. Fury always had a way of figuring things out on his own, and he would do this as well. Whether it took a few days or weeks, he would memorize the terrain and the weak and strong points of the plateau. This would be his battleground.

Fury agreed that he didn't need an escort. Despite his misgivings, he still appreciated the male's simplistic, straightforward demeanor. He would be a formidable addition to the pack.

"Well, I'll see you around then," the Alpha said simply, giving his tail a single wave before turning and loping away. He considered going after Hawkeye but decided to go hunting instead.

The Alpha took his leave, and Fury nodded at his back. The male waited until Peregrine was out of sight and then looked around at his surroundings. Snow was almost completely melted now, but the forest floor was still chilly underfoot. The trees would soon begin growing leaves again, but now they reached their branches out again the bright, cloudy sky.

For what seemed like the first time in his life, Fury let out a sigh. He wondered if his mother would be proud that he was now a part of a pack and had taken a silent oath to protect its Alphess. Deciding that, yes, she would be, Fury set out in a quick trot to survey the lands of his new home.