Swiftcurrent Creek can u spare some beans

She'd come over the mountain range but feared it might be the wrong one. She'd been up and down the taiga and the valley, and there had never been a pack that smelled like this before.

Easy herself smelled likelike a loner - Morningside's proud colors had washed away from her entirely, and her pelt was dirty and unkempt from tired days on the road. She'd begun to lose weight as well, but had retained enough thus far that she still looked strong and robust.

But she was weakening, and she knew it. The only thing to do was find company while she got her bearings, and that meant joining a pack. So she approached the borders with care and respect as she had seen her father do at Drageda, and after a deep breath, she tilted back her head and called for company.

@Constantine and/or @Durnehviir

Wylla didn't entirely notice when her head lifted and her hackles prickled to the sound of a stranger's howl. She never really thought about it as she picked her way across their idyllic territory, winding around trees and missing the roar of the ocean for the hundredth time. The snarl of the river was no consolation; it was a purr in the sea wolf's ears. Still, she'd been taken unawares by the sheer depth of the creek in places and her tread was careful as she passed over one of its many branches.
It wasn't until she reached the borders and saw the mottled hybrid standing there that Wylla thought, shit, I'm not the leader anymore. Had never been the leader here, for that matter. For an awkward beat, she merely stared across the wooded borders at the grey-streaked wolf, who was larger than her by a few hands, and then swished her tail uncertaintly. "Can we help you?" she grunted out, only because it was probably better than just turning around and leaving upon realizing that she was overstepping.
And, truth be told, Wylla was way too down in the dumps to be her usual rude-as-hell self.

100% skippable once a leader arrives!

It wasn't long before a pretty silver-cream girl came trotting out of the woodwork - and she was likely older than Easy by some years, but Easy was bigger, and that made her feel... not older, but on more even ground to be sure. "Hello," said Easy with a friendly wag of her tail, not quite sure what to expect from the encounter.

Because the girl looked mean. And maybe a little angry. But mostly she seemed downtrodden to the mottled girl, who had seen the look many times upon her dumb brother-in-law's face. She definitely wasn't going to ask, but that doesn't mean she didn't wonder what was going on, and whether the girl needed a friend as much as Easy did.

"I wanna join this pack," Easy said simply. And then, because she sorta felt like she sounded really stupid, "... I'm a good hunter and all. So if you guys have the space I would really be grateful."

Their days had been busy – what had once been a small band of four wolves had multiplied, so much to the extent that Constantine was unfamiliar with most of the wolves within their ranks now. It left him frazzled, almost, though he had only confided this to his mate.
 
When the call sounded from the border, the stocky shadowrunner shifted his direction, having previously been marking more of their borders – wanting to ensure their claim was not mistaken. He stalked forward, a dark girl coming to view, and, he noted, with a darkening frown, Wylla.
 
Durnehviir had extended the wispy she-wolf an olive branch, despite the sea wolf’s raid on their previous home just as they had decided to leave it behind. His jaw clenched lightly, but the Mayfair shook his thick pelt to ease his tension, his form drawing up beside that of his pack mate’s, where he remained politely amicable enough – his shoulder brushing against hers with tentative reassurance and an attempt to bridge his own mistrust of her. It was something Deirdre would have done.
 
His eyes skimmed over the she-wolf, his ears cupping forward at her request. He remained silent for a stolen moment, considering the brisk words spoken – she was young, almost too young for dispersal, so he wondered why she was on her own. “I’m Constantine,” he greeted, his tail arcing upward in a proud flag. “Alpha of this pack.” He paused then, his muzzle tipping further upward as he scrutinized their potential joiner. “We just arrived here, so I presume we're simply the first pack you've come across in your travels.” It was a statement; one he did not follow with a question, though his gaze bore in to her, waiting to see how she would respond.

Having been sleeping soundly at the base of a shrubby spruce which was proving to be an excellent den for one, Clock's ears pricked toward the sound of the newcomers howl, the slight movement waking him. He yawned and pulled himself up and out of the tangle of soft pine branches, shaking twigs and needles from his light grey fur as he came. His curiousity was piqued, and so he headed toward the border where the howl had come from. When he arrived, it was to see his two pack mates (one he did not know, and the alpha, Constantine, whom he only knew from appearance) facing a dark, soft-eyed female. Hanging back quite a ways from the group, Clock lowered himself respectfully to his belly and sternum. He intended only to observe and was prepared to lower his chin all the way to the ground if the alpha so much as glanced his way.

He's only observing. Feel free to skip me in post order. :)

Easy's eyes were sharp and bright as two more wolves appeared, one after the other. The first introduced himself as Constantine - alpha. Her pack didn't really have one of those, but she knew the concept well enough. "Pleased to meet you!" she chirped, ducking her head and shoulders in a short but sweeping bow. "I'm Ishara Corten," she added.

His next question threw her. He wasn't exactly wrong, but he wasn't right, either. "Well, sorta. I've been travelling for a few weeks, but the last pack I tried wasn't interested in having me. But they were all family, sir. There's nothing wrong with me." She hoped not, anyway! This youthful selfconsciousness probably showed quite clearly across her face.

"That's nice," Wylla snorted in the brief space between finding Easy and Constantine's arrival, "but it isn't my call. Dunno how many good hunters we already have, anyway." She wasn't prepared to intentionally overstep her bounds here, not yet. She wanted to ask Easy something ridiculous and hard to answer like she had on Grimnismal's borders, but it wasn't her place and so she fell silent instead. There might one day come a time when Wylla regained her spirit and returned to her ways, but that wasn't now. It wouldn't be for a very long time, if it even happened at all.

Luckily, Constantine arrived not long after, sparing the silverclad Luschyon from having to converse with a perfect stranger rather than interrogating them. It wasn't that Wylla wasn't open to being nice to other wolves—once upon a time she had been passably nice, if sarcastic and manipulative—but she just wasn't in the right headspace. She didn't feel great lately, no doubt a result of all the recent stress in her life, and she was isolated and alone to boot.

Wylla badly needed a friend, which Easy had picked up on, but the gates were tightly closed for now and she glanced away as the exchange occurred between lone wolf and Alpha wolf. At some point she drifted away from their conversation and headed back toward the river, craving a swim in one of the gentler bends.

She was a chipper young thing, and the swarthy wolf felt bemused as Wylla quietly made her exit – sullen in her demeanor. The Mayfair normally would have extended his worry to a pack mate, but given their rocky start, he pushed it aside, waiting to see if she would even prove herself an asset to them. At the very least, she was assisting in border patrol.
 
One ear tipped as the sound of another came from behind them, and canting his muzzle slightly, his eyes flickered quickly over a silver male – another one of the recruits Durnehviir had brought in to their home.
 
At the statement there wasn’t anything wrong with her, Constantine felt amusement quirk at his lips, and he studied her thoughtfully. “Very well. Welcome to Swiftcurrent Creek. Do you have any questions for me?”

Easy shook her head - she wondered about where to sleep and if there were any special rules and whether it would be okay to get a snack before she started trying to add to the caches, but she didn't want to push her luck. She would just be extra careful, and hopefully that would do Constantine proud.

"There's nothing I can't learn as I go," she said a bit nervously, but with a sincere grin and a self-assured wag of her tail. "But please - call me if you have any extra duties or tasks. I'm used to being busy." That much was true, at least. If she wasn't hunting, she was off with Daddy, being his eyes and ears. Was he getting along okay without her? Easy worried for him, but she knew he was in good care. Lavender was still there, and Catori - Catori who would have already given birth to her baby brothers and sisters, by now.

"Thank you for giving me a chance," she added, remembering how hard and often Daddy had tried to instill manners in her. Not as necessary back home, but probably required in this new pack.