Boartusk Heights Vignette

I went with the suggested joining prompt because it sounded fun :)

his wounds have healed externally, but the foreleg that bears the worst of the injuries aches. Alder is too stubborn to reduce the distance he travels each day , and that does not help the pain, nor does his lack of nutrition. Hunger consumes his awareness more relentlessly than does the throbbing in his bones, providing another reason for the wolf to resist taking rest.

darkness has fallen.  the terrain grows soft underfoot, the scent of moist grass thick upon the night breeze. his footsteps are silent and he is glad for this because he has made a decision that under almost any other circumstance he would never have made. he has crossed the borders of a pack’s territory.

it takes him a short time to find the source of the meat-scent : a cache , no doubt made by the pack which claims this marsh. Choosing  a haunch of deer from the pile and setting it aside, he pauses and uses his senses to survey his surroundings. detecting nothing, he begins to gobble right from the cache, eating faster than he has ever before. This way, he can get something in his stomach while he remains undetected, saving the haunch he set aside for later.

at first glance, the queen is enraged.

¡hijo de puta! estas robando la comida de mis hijitos! but halts once she is close enough she realizes the opportunity that came crawling to her. whether it would last, however, would prove itself eventually.
not another step. i would hate to kill on such a beautiful night. not when my children are out playing. they're too young to know of violence.

A sense of wellbeing begins to settle  as his belly and brain acknowledge the presence of nourishment. He is nearly drunk with relief until a sharp voice sobers him, making him freeze. His head remains lowered as he swallows, cobalt gaze regards the feminine wraith. in that instant he is disarmed by her beauty, and by the authority which her voice and blood red eyes share. though her physique is lighter than his, he doesn’t doubt the likelihood that the she-wolf holds some level of power in this pack. There could be countless other canines with loyalty to her nearby and at her beck and call. 

One poor choice has brought him straight to death’s door. He should have taken the haunch and ran. 

Her words give him hope, however. As fortune has it this she-wolf is a mother with hesitance to shed blood near her offspring. 

Alder lowers his tail. i understand. comes a silky murmur. suppose , then, I leave now with nothing but my sincerest apologies. here he refers to the deer haunch, which he is ready to leave behind in exchange for his life and freedom. and you never see me here again.

i did not say you couldn't have it. but, you'll have to become part of my kingdom. i will provide you food, and a roof over your head. i only ask for your loyalty. reyna wastes little time — motherhood has taught her the value of time.

if not, then my guards will chase you out. and i don't know if you will be able to make it past the strath. then, the wraith gives her crooked smile. that is why i offer you shelter. she'll have to punish him for making it so far past her borders, however.

you will have to work for it, however. whether as servant or guard, she'll let @Paloma deal with him.

he cants his head after she replies. his birth pack never allowed outsiders to join - not that he can remember. trespassers were chased out, as she claims her guards will do to him, or killed. the crooked smile on the pale beauty's lips makes him wary as he considers the two options she has given, falling silent for almost a full minute. 

he is weak, his body probably unlikely to withstand running for his life. what the she-wolf has offered - food and shelter - are what he needs to survive. in exchange he will provide the work she has asked for, and work has never really bothered him. 

alder nods. then, you have my loyalty... his voice sounds rather flat, as it almost always is. he may be lying, but that will depend on what happens once he has spent time here. his next words, however, are true.

and my thanks. his tail sways between his lithe hind limbs.

i'm alder.

she nods in acknowledgement; she didn't believe it one bit of course. that would be proven by his work, and how long he remains with her. many faces have come and left. the queen still had yet to learn how to cope with this, but her smile never dwindled.

and i am reyna. welcome alder. paloma will show you to where you will stay. if you ever have any questions, you are free to ask her or myself if i am not busy. the queen ushers in the maid to pick up where she left on, and the pale woman is quick to trot to her cave — only she understood that chaos was certainly unfurling the moment neither woman was checking on the troublesome cubs.