Arrow Lake Who said anything about fun?

Stark shouldn't have been so far from Easthollow with Valette fresh off her heat. Not that he worried he'd already proven himself and he had established his place in the pack and Valette's life. She'd made her choice and he'd ensured that Valette would get exactly what she wanted. Soon they would know for certain if the heat took but Stark had never had a reason to question his virility. He'd never wanted his virility either but then now things were different. He'd caught the scent of a bobcat not too far from the Wapun and had tracked it up to the lake. 

Now that he was doing the whole husband father perfection gig he needed to actually put up or shut up and Stark had never been very good at keeping quiet. So, the dark male had stalked forward with the low grumble of a growl on his lips as he focused on the blob ahead that he thought was the bobcat but he wasn't close enough to be certain.

she had come back down to the lake after arriving back home.  she'd intended to come back at night to see if this lake had the same reflective qualities as the one she'd shared with mato, but the days had been so nasty and overcast that she doubted she'd get to find out one way or another.  

it was easy to get lost in her thoughts as she traced the edge of the lake before working herself deeper into the territory.  motherhood had been so foriegn to her just weeks before, close but out of her reach.  and now?  she had a little family that would be on the way!

it made her warm and fuzzy inside.  she did not notice the stranger until she heard him growl, and her ears immediately slid back against the delicate forms of her crown.  dont, was all she could plead, her tail and one of her forelimbs moving to shield the children that had just started to take hold in her womb.  fear pulsed quick through her veins as she chewed the inside of her cheek.  terance might actually strangle her if she got into more trouble.

 

His tail was stiff behind him giving a couple of awkward twitches like a prowling cat. The closer that he got to his prey the more certain that he was that he was going to eradicate the threat to his family. Well. At least until the damn thing said don't and it was clearly not a cat but another wolf. The large male pulled up short, blue eyes widening as he saw a woman where a few moments ago he'd been sure that cat was. "Did - did you see a bobcat around here? I tracked it up from my pack." He said quickly, offering an explanation to hopefully soothe her a bit and promise that he wasn't some monster.

Still, the scent trail was fresh enough that even if she hadn't seen it they'd probably do better together than apart. He didn't want to just leave her and have the thing circle back and take advantage of him giving up, after all. "I'm Stark of Easthollow." He offered quickly, wanting to be transparent with her - maybe she'd be happier with the name of the pack and where he'd come from as a safeguard. 

quickly, he made to assuage her fears and she felt herself melt beneath the pressure.  even if this man was nice, she would be making a mental note to not be leaving the territory again any time soon.  no i haven't, but to be fair i haven't.. really been paying much attention, she chuckled, flicking her ears to help her nerves.  

seabreeze, of sunspire, she told him, flicking her tail back towards the mountain.  i can help you track it, if you'd like?  she wouldn't tell him yet that she couldn't help him eradicate it; he was still strange enough she didn't want to alert him of her pregnancy.

 

Stark felt weird about the fact she hadn't noticed the bobcat - it smelled fresh enough that he didn't think he'd crossed an old track and maybe. Ugh, he was going crazy already. babyproofing way too early and all that. What next, did he take out all the stones from the circle itself? It would only get worse he imagined and Valette wasn't even sure yet and that meant that he wasn't even sure yet. "Sure - if you're up for it." Stark said with a nod as she offered to track with him. That would be good enough and maybe it'd do something good for both their packs. "I haven't heard of the Sunspire. You guys new?" Stark assumed - since they hadn't been there when the Keep was, but, it seemed like for the most part everything was fairly churned up and different now. 

"We've been settled at the Stone Circle for a couple years now." He said conversationally, allowing her to take a scent in if she wanted to - maybe feel more relaxed in his presence if she had the reassurance he wasn't just some crazy liar weaving weird stories. "We're out that way, across the meadow. It's gorgeous in spring if you haven't seen it bloom yet."

the more time she spent with him the more silly it felt to think he'd been a liar.  but still, so much had happened lately that she'd had to remain on high alert.  she gave a roll of her shoulders, her flews quirking up in a smile.  i don't mind at all.  it'd be good to stretch her legs with some company.  we were actually northstar vale, at one point last year.  but our alpha was attacked by some wolves at blackfeather.  we recently regrouped.  i think about a month ago?  maybe longer.  time had been going by quick.

the leather of her nostrils did work in his direction, but she was no longer on edge.  i've never been out that way, actually.  i washed up from the ocean and pretty much found my way to the vale.  been on the other side of the mountains plenty, but never over here.  i'll have to come see.

 

Stark didn't like hearing that they'd been attacked but if he remembered correctly the Vale had been occupied by Warbone's band when he'd disbanded the Keep. "My pack was set up in the Hushed Willows - a different claim was there, unless you guys ever called yourselves Duskvale." But it wasn't a familiar name to him so he doubted it. to be quite honestly she seemed young and she might have been much younger when Duskvale had been set there. He  wasn't sure and he didn't particularly care - she wasn't Warbone, and he didn't give a rats ass about the abandoned Keep, so it was all good. 

"Ah, I haven't spent too much time near the ocean in eons." Not since he'd run into Lasher out on the plateau - he just didn't have business up that high. And then he was too far now to make the journey casually. He was stuck, and happily, in Easthollow. "It's unlike anything I've found on the Teekon, if I'm honest." Stark admitted with a grin. It was just so pretty when the flowers got big and bright. He lowered his snout again, tail twitching behind him, as he sought the scent of the cat again. He nodded towards the trail and started off on it. "I'm hoping this one is just passing through. My mate and I are trying for kids, can't have anything like this just hoping to find a little fluff monster lurking around." Stark said with a sigh. 

she shook her head.  no, we were just called northstar vale.  she offered a friendly, self-deprecating chuckle.  very innovative, i know.  the sunspire at sunspire, northstar vale at northstar vale.  oh well.  she rather liked their merry band of misfits, the pack's name wasn't important.  i don't think any of us are old enough to have been around during your pack's time.  i think rannoch is barley over two.

she followed after him, her nose to the ground as well.  man, how could she not have smelled this thing?  at the mention of children she perked almost visibly, and she couldn't help the way her tail wagged.  that's so exciting!  i believe i might be carrying some, too.  but i'm not quite certain yet, it's still early.  she wondered how long he'd been in the stone circle, and if he had any children of his own.  he seemed old enough to have fathered before, but it wasn't her place to pry.  congratulations.