Blacktail Deer Plateau lord of wolves

please let @Minori post first, and then it is AW!

 

in that blackened pit of despair, shardik had nearly drowned in the choking darkness. his quarry had escaped, eluding his hungering talons -- and all he had left in his wake was the oncoming desolation of doom.

yet shardik could not be stilled so easily; for days he grappled against the prison of ledge and gloom, feeling his way along the blackened throats of each pathway, until at last he had shouldered through a feeble collapse in the walls and had risen from the tumbling earth like a revenant, gaunt and bellowing.

he had wanted to continue his search for the ghost that had escaped him, yet any scent mou might have left was undetectable -- and shardik, knowing now a meal was more pressing than ever, had soldiered on.

few souls were unfortunate enough to cross him in his search for sustenance; a mother fox had been caught and dispatched, but her bones were frail and her musculature lean -- she was hardly appropriate vittles to replenish his vigor.

onwards he went, until he came across the clear-marked boundaries of a pack. dogs, shardik knew, were cunning creatures -- and oft stored their spare kills underground.

with his massive nose flaring with each inhale and exhale, the monstrous beast entered the realm, slavering and slobbering as he went.

@Corvus @Grezig @Ruenna if you want!

Things had been uneventful lately except for the hunt that brought down the Caribou and the fact she had brought back Issun. Her daily routine was settled and she had a comfortable way of life. Despite being happy and comfortable she was bored out of her mind. Nothing ever disturbed the peace around here, nothing gave her a reason to show her fangs and fight. She sighed as she walked through the middle of the territory toward the cache. She was hungry and felt she could go for a meal before patrolling the eastern part of the territory. 

As she neared the Cache, the smell of their intruder hit her full on. She froze and felt her fur rise, the bear's scent setting her on edge. She slowly moved forward until she spotted the creature lumbering toward their food, on their land. Not moving in yet she took him in, he looked severely underweight as if food had been a massive problem for him lately. She immediately assumed he came to steal theirs and snarled, bringing attention to herself. This was no place for thieves, she wouldn't tolerate this beast eating the kill they had worked to take down. She howled quickly, a sharp cry of alarm for @Liri and @Kavik and everyone else who could aid before she circled quickly and lunged for the flank. If her fangs connected she tear and release, leaping out of range before the lumbersome creature could swipe with a paw.

roll for damage given if move is allowed (10 side die) : 8

Rue had sharp senses and nearly always had her guard up. Although the pack had recently taken down a caribou, Rue made sure that she never gorged to the point that her reflexes were affected. She had learned the hard way that you could never be sure when an attack could come or from whom, and even within pack territory you could still be vulnerable.

She was able to respond immediately to the warning bark-- it was clearly a packmate signaling danger. Rue quickly assessed her own physical condition as she sprinted toward the caller. She was well-fed and strong, and able-bodied enough to assist in border defense, if that was the need. 

Rue's honey eyes darted over the scene as she approached, quicking assessing the situation. It seemed the bear had been desperate enough to cross into pack territory, no doubt after what remained of the caribou carcass. It had become quite pungent recently. Rue's packmate was already attacking, which to Rue was either very brave or very stupid. It was quite trusting but also rather presumptuous of the dark woman to believe that others would hear her and respond, ready to jump into the fray beside her. Rue wished she had waited, so that they could have strategized together before simply barreling into what was sure to be a dangerous battle. 

With precious few other options, Rue darted forward. She knew her only course of action was to do what she could to protect her packmate while also keeping in mind her own self-preservation. She stopped two wolflengths away from the bear to acertain that she was out of range of any quick attack. Rue was on her toes, ready to respond. Her body was low, and her head and ears were tucked to protect her vulnerable areas. She barked and snarled loudly at the intruder, attempting to startle it or distract its attention so that her packmate might gain a precious moment to either attack or dodge. 

Can someone really quickly explain the dice system or link me to someplace where it's explained? I didn't want to have Rue attack yet without understanding how the rolls work or what's at stake for her.

From tabletop: even=hit; odd=miss, rolled 1d10=7 (miss)

The call to action from inside their territory caused unease to settle in the alpha's gut. He wasted no time heading in the direction of his packmember and whatever danger she had uncovered. As he ran, he pushed his leg muscles to go faster as he weaved through the trees in a blur of inky black. Reaching the scene, he skidded to stop and watched as the horror unfolded. The first thing Kavik's gaze found was a very large bear that could have easily stepped out of his nightmares to terrorize his pack in his waking life as well. He then saw that Minori had already jumped in the fight and saw their new member, Ruenna, attempting to aid in distracting the bear so that fearless female might be able to get out of the way of those massive paws equipped with enormous, scythe-like claws. 

His blood rushed in is ears as the adrenaline continued to course through his veins and with no further hesitation, he sprang into action, running full speed at the beast. He leaped up to try and connect his jaws with the bear's shoulder, but found himself attempting to dodge those same weaponized paws instead. He ducked and rolled, his momentum causing him to slide through the dirt and moss before stopping a few feet from the action. He instantly got back on his feet and whipped around, ready to jump back in when the moment was right.

Slight PP with Shardik on Kavik's failed attack. Let me know if I need to change it! :)

rolled for even=success, and even=injury

Her head jerked up sharply, the urgent call alerting the sylph that something was amiss in her forest. Breaking into a run, the Alpha abandoned her task. Her heart beating in her throat, she raced through the dark forest and slid to a halt as she reached the caches. 

The bear was larger than life, larger than the nightmares about her sister that she'd had occasionally since losing Ameta, with Minori dangerously close. Liri had faced a bear once and lost something precious, and she vowed not to let it happen again.

Recklessly, the fae charged the bear with a snarl - racing to Minori's aid as she launched herself at him. She clung to his arm, her teeth burying themselves into the bear's flesh savagely but leaving her open for attack.

-crashes in- I'm ready to get this boy Fucked Up. Rolled odd for fail, so off to a good start! Lmfao.

Corvus' favored tree hollow was close by to the commotion. Minori's alarm howl roused him from slumber, causing his eyes to shoot open. He leapt to his feet and was off in a flash, easily identifying the hulking behemoth of a bear from a good ways away. Though underweight, he was still a lethal, formidable beast―larger than any he'd ever seen before. Minori was already going at it (of course), and other pack members had gathered to aid her. Corvus never slowed in taking in these observations, circling around the bear with a wide berth. He had limited experience with bears and was used to having more numbers to work with against one, but the golden rule that would forever stick with him was to always keep behind it.

The mercenary lunged for the beast's ankle with the desire to damage his foot, but as the bear turned to subdue another attacker, those scythes got far too close for comfort. Corvus backed off, continuing to stay out of the danger zone where those trunk-like arms flew while he waited for another opportunity to strike. Through the adrenaline and chaos, he kept his head, burning eyes not full of rage but intense focus. Even when he caught sight of the pale alphess clinging onto the bear's forelimb, he did not panic, though it immensely alarmed him, as she had made herself a huge target. As much as he wished to aid her, he had few options. Still, he had to do something; he could not allow anyone he swore to protect to die at the merciless jaws of a bear.

Never again.

After racking his mind for ideas for a few heartbeats, Corvus released a piercing but calculated snarl to ideally draw attention to himself. The bear surely knew his weak spots, and the nosferatu was currently occupying one of them. Tauntingly, he made several false lunges, inching in closer with his fangs bared as if intending to strike but never making contact before he'd draw back again. Come and get me, you monster, He murmured in his neglected mother tongue.

-Edits this more just a lil' bit as I remember Corvus' mother was killed by a bear- :'^)

Rolled for evens=success, got evens.

Grezig was late. Grezig was never late. She had a lot of catching up to do. Fuck. Why was there a bear here? They could not afford a bear in their territory right now—or ever, for that matter. There were many wolves already here and Grezig, despite herself, felt a twinge of damaged pride as she realized she was one of the last to show up. Goddamn it. Where had her mind been when Minori had called? As Beta, she could not be the last to show up to help in times of need. She, like the Alphas, needed to be at the head of the line.

She paid no attention to what the others were doing. At this point, all she could think of was the bear and the damage it could cause to their small pack. She lunged for a massive leg, biting down and shaking. She was too afraid—for good reason—to face its head and teeth. It could probably bite her in half if given the chance.

rolled for evens=success and got an odd

not one day had passed and there was already action. a distress call rang through the woods and issun was quick on his feet. he raced through the trees, going as fast as his legs could carry him. it wasn’t fast enough apparently, cause everyone was already launching themselves at a large bear. probably wasn’t the best time for the new guy to be showing up late, but no matter, he was here now.

black lips pealed back to reveal his ivory fangs. he prowled around in a circle to spot any weak points before lunging for the beast’s backside.

so much to keep track of!! let me know if i missed anything. i cant get rolls to work in tabletop *flips table* so... i rolled in discord!  check it out for your hit/miss.

 

he had little peace before dogs came. one scurried about him like a cockroach, howling. he whirled about her with a savage snarl, decay and viscera matting his muzzle as he rose from the dirt-ridden cache and lunged towards her. already the dog had alighted upon his flank with a sting of teeth; shardik swung a massive paw towards her and flung her from him.

his defenses were soon overrun by dogs; with a squeal he trounced in circles around them, hateful eyes fastened as they barked and darted to and from him. next his gaze fell on ruenna and he staggered towards her with a snarl, his paws missing as he swiped for her --

no matter, there would be other dogs --

and there were; next came kavik, barreling towards him all teeth and snarls. shardik rose with a bellow but the dog had pulled away and put enough distance between them that the leviathan had to lurch forward and scythe the air with a forepaw, aiming to send him flying alongside the first dog to assail him.

he might have snickered his pleasure to see the dog catapult in the air, were it not for the sharp sting of pain that lanced his forearms; liri, resolute and full of teeth, had sunk her fangs into him. shardik shrieked and wheeled back, wringing his hands out in front of him with berserk energy to escape her. guttural as his snarls were, his onslaught came fiercer; with another earth-shattering roar the beast stumbled and raked his claws deliberately down her spine - hoping to repay her in kind for the torment she had dealt him.

his victory was shortlived; a dog snapped at his heels in feints, and stupidly the bear followed them. with each snap the dog darted back further, and shardik lunged but missed corvus entirely, for another dog had attached itself to his weakened hind-leg and shook with a fervor that sent shardik rattling.

he rose upright in a scream and whirled upon grezig, a clawed mitt sent searing towards her face -- narrowly missing her with a hairs-breadth that sent shardik to grave disappointment. seeking some object in which to redirect his failure shardik came across issun and lunged towards him, aiming another belligerent smack the dog's way as if swatting a fly from his flank.

yet these were no flies: they had sharp fangs, and quick wits -- shardik already felt his strength ebbing and the blood coursing freely from him. with a wearied bellow he snorted and started to blindly trudge a retreat, a hellish squeal escaping his muzzle as he began to bulldoze towards the borders.

I checked with Lauren and confirmed no posting order.

Grezig’s chest hurt when she saw Kavik fly backwards like that. The breath left her body, but her adrenaline kicked in immediately, and she focused again on the task at hand. And not a moment too soon! It reared up and sent a massive paw towards her head, and she stumbled backwards in a panic, feeling the claws rent the air a hair’s breadth from her face. Air whooshed over her. She was stunned for a moment, terror overcoming her senses. Even stoic Grezig was rightly horrified at the sight of a bear. The pack was in disarray, some injured, some lucky like her. Lucky for now. 

Perhaps lucky for longer than she had thought. The bear was retreating! Grezig did not feel the need to go after it if it was running away; she was far more concerned with the safety and health of the wolves who had been injured by it. She breathed heavily, looking around at everyone, assessing the damage. She wondered if anyone else would be foolhardy enough to go after it. She hoped not.

Her focus was on the bear - namely injuring the bear - but her eyes had automatically squeezed shut during the onslaught to block out the dizzying swirl of the world around her. 

Liri didn't see the paw falling towards her, didn't see the gleam of Shardik's claws as they flashed through the air. The pain was so unexpected that it didn't register - the searing, surgical split of her flesh - her eyes flying open at the intense burn that followed. The wounds were shallow - the claws hadn't gored deeply enough to destroy her spine or threaten her life - on account of the bear's confusion. The slashes were long however, spanning the length of her spine, and painful. It was as if a streak of fire had been ignited along her backbone. 

She was dropped when the bear turned, rolling away from it clumsily as it lumbered away. She had no desire to follow, determined that the beast wouldn't be returning any time soon.

Her confused gaze searched over her pack mates - some injured as she was - until it lighted upon her mate where he had been knocked aside so casually by the bear. 

The healer limped to his side - moving stiffly on account of her wounds - to hunker down in the dirt beside his sprawled inky form. She sniffed him for injuries, nudging him gently in an attempt to rouse him. 

"Kavik?" Her whisper was meant for him alone, the one shaky word betraying her fear. 

Kavik may have missed actually sinking his teeth into the bear's flesh, but his attempted attack was enough to warrant a counter from the beast. Before he could react, the bears's giant claws were in his chest. The alpha was lifted from the ground and thrown back as if his massive form actually weighed nothing. It was a strange feeling flying through the air like that, but it was over soon as he hit the ground with a thud, his head falling back on a rock and his world turning black.

Sounds were the first things he could register. The sounds of his packmates fighting with the bear and then the sound of the monster crashing through trees away from them. He scented his mate near, felt her nudges, and heard her call is name, but still everything remained black. Finally, the scent of her blood pulled him from his daze and his eyes flicked open. He attempted to sit up, but everything was spinning and he slid back down, closing his eyes and swallowing hard in an attempt to quell the sudden nausea that squeezed his stomach. Still, why was Liri bleeding? He opened his eyes again, attempting to find his mate through the spinning. Liri, he manged to get out. You're injured, he said, attempting to get up again so he could investigate. It was useless, though. He fell back down and was forced to close his eyes against the intense dizziness. Are you okay? he asked, his muzzle seeking out some part of her for reassurance that she was here and okay since he couldn't get up to check for himself just yet. He had only vaguely started to feel the aching in his chest from a wound he didn't quite remember how he had gotten yet, but all he cared about right now was Liri. Then, he needed to make sure the rest of his pack was okay. He had so many others he needed to worry about, and he couldn't get his ass up. It was incredibly frustrating for the alpha, but he could do nothing about it just yet.

The rest of the pack was not far behind Rue. Her distraction technique did the trick-- the bear took the bait, lunging after Rue, and the girl's packmates took the opportunity to swarm in and sting like angry bees. Rue was quick on her feet and sidestepped the attack easily, rounding to join in the fight anew. 

Rue watched in horror as wolves were flung from the brawl, as easily a pup might fling a sticks around while playing. The bear was swatting furiously, twisting wildly... Rue darted forward and stopped short several times, struggling to find a window through which she could join in the fray. 

A strangled yelp tore out of Rue's throat as she watched the bear's claws come down upon Liri, sounding almost as if Rue had been clawed herself. She rushed forward to the alphess, no longer paying any mind to the deadly, swinging bear paws. Luckily for her the bear chose that moment to retreat, but Rue was more concerned with tending to her bleeding friend. "Liri!"

She was undefeated in her fights against others, never having lost though she had gained some nasty wounds. This was different however, this wasn't a wolf but a massive lumbering beast with heavy paws bigger than her head that had claws that could kill. This time she was defeated immediately, flung aside and into a tree. Her head slammed against the trunk and she slammed to the ground like a ragdoll, vision exploding in bright lights as the  world around her swam. Blood dribbled from her skull as she struggled to piece together a coherent thought, instead finding that her vision was darkening and she couldn't stay awake. The last she saw was the pack closing in and going for the bear, defending one another and their land. 

she's just unconscious with a bloody, wide but shallow head wound. She'll be aight.

issun was not one to be easily distracted when in combat. he always had one goal in mind and kept to that till the end. today was different. all of his rhythm was lost when the beast swiped minori off its pelt like a fly. time stood still as he helplessly watched his friend fly in the air and slam against a tree. it was disturbing to witness. he began to run to her aid, but was halted by massive claws. the warrior was swept off his feet and tumbled into a tree. the details around him were a mere blur and try as he might, he wasn’t able to get up until the bear went barreling out of their forest.

once it was gone, issun was able to lift himself up. he grunted as a searing pain blossomed in his side. the thing had left gashes, but that was the least of his concern. he stumbled to minori, who seemed to have received the most damage out of all of them “please wake up,” he whispered. fear started to grow in his chest. was she dead? no, she couldn’t be, he wouldn’t let that happen. he couldn’t loose her that easily. his head whipped around and he barked, “someone help!”

"I'm fine," she murmured, ears pinned with fear as she watched Kavik struggle to rise, "lie still. You might have hurt your spine." Gently, she nudged him back into a resting position. 

Rue's call drew the healer's panicked eyes, flinching in response. 

Pain. Fear.

Teeth in her neck, blood flowing down her nape to overflow where it pooled between her shoulder blades.

Issun's plea snapped her from the past, reminding her that now was not the time to lose her grip on sanity.

She departed Kavik's side with buried reluctance - for her instinct was to stay by her injured mate and protect him - but Minori's injuries were severe. 

The aspiring medic approached the Masuyo's side, examining the head wound. It was large, freely bleeding, but not so deep as to affect the skull or brain. Liri glanced over it with a critical eye - noting the dark she-wolf's even breaths  with relief - but she was certain that the wound was worse than it looked. Blows to the head often bled more than those on other areas of the body. 

She turned, her mahogany eyes flicking over her pack mates though not really seeing them, before realizing none of them had any medical training. Even if she sent one of them to the cairns to gather her medicine, it was unlikely they would be able to recognize the herbs she would need.

"I need medicine," she whispered, eyes lifting to Issun briefly. She whirled on her paws, ignoring the pain that ripped up her back as she broke into a gallop - stumbling as she raced through the dark confines of their forest. 

She was shaking as she pawed the stones out of the way, breath trembling as she clawed out the proper herbs. Wrapping the supplies in bundles of cobweb, the healer raced back to her injured pack mates.

As she stumbled into the clearing - crimson rivulets flowing from her open wounds - she dropped the bundle near Minori. 

"Anyone who was injured, take these," she murmured hoarsely, nudging dandelion leaves and chervile root towards the group. "Help each other bind your wounds," she added, pushing a wad of cobwebs towards the pile of herbs. 

The healer's attention was taken by Minori as she rushed to her side, chewing bitter comfrey in her jaws to a gelatinous pulp. She spit the mix right into the wound, pressing the edges of it together gently. 

"Help me," she pleaded of Issun, lifting Minori's dark crown with her peppered muzzle. "Hold her head," she commanded not unkindly, too focused on aiding her friend to remember her manners. Carefully she bound the wound with cobwebs. 

"She will awaken in time, when she does she will need a friend to watch over her," her gaze lifted to Issun's - uncertain how close their newest recruit was to the woman. Liri touched her muzzle gently to his shoulder, thanking him for his assistance silently and offering comfort to her distraught pack mate. She left some herbs with the pair - for Minori when she woke up.

If any of her other wolves needed her care, Liri stopped to tend to them before returning to Kavik's side. 

"How are you feeling?" She murmured, eyes glazed with shock.

a month ago, the great leviathan might have taken advantage of the fact no dogs plagued his exit: yet today, beleaguered by the sting of fangs and the sharp, unremitting ever-presence of starvation, shardik did not ready himself to face them again. he might have had brute strength on his side, but they were a unit - a barricade of tooth and claw in which he would find no peace. eventually, his strength would ebb -- and eventually, one of the dogs might best him.

he planned to visit death another day.

determined despite the hobble in his step, the beast slunk through the pinewood and quickly was well beyond blacktail's realm.

There's a lot going on here, let me know if I got anything wrong and I can edit.

Everything was happening so quickly. In Rue's concern for Liri and Kavik, she hadn't even noticed Minori slumped on the ground until Issun called for help. Liri was at Minori's side instantly, still pouring blood herself. She murmurred something, and Rue moved forward in concern. Rue opened her mouth to ask Liri to repeat herself, but before Rue could find the words the ivory alphess had fled into the forest. Rue blinked a couple times, frozen in confusion and panic. Why would their healer have run away in the middle of a bear attack?!

Rue whirled around, terrified gaze sweeping the scene in search of the bear. It seemed that the bear had taken its window of opportunity and vanished as well. Rue's eyes shifted over her packmates, surveying the carnage. It had all happened so fast. Since Issun was caring for Minori, Rue stepped toward Kavik. It was then that Liri reappeared with supplies. 

Rue was, perhaps, not as untrained as Liri imagined. As soon as Liri moved off to examine Minori, Rue leapt forward to gather her own supplies from the pile. She drew up to Kavik's side. "Kavik? Hold still. I'm going to patch up your chest." Watching what Liri was doing out of the corner of her vision, she began chewing one of the herbs-- a rather bitter one-- into pulp as she saw the healer doing. If Kavik allowed her, Rue would apply the medicine and then roll the cobwebs over the wound. "Eat this, it's from Liri," she suggested, offering some of the herbs that Liri had brought. 

By the time she finished, Liri had returned to Kavik's side. Rue backed away, knowing Kavik was in much more capable paws with Liri tending to him. "Liri, will you let me bind your wound?" Rue offered gently. She picked up the cobweb roll and tilted her head to the side questioningly. Rue's eyes flicked toward Issun and Minori, but she was too afraid to ask if the woman was going to be okay. Minori looked so small slumped on the ground like that, and so still....

Too dizzy and disoriented to really do much else, Kavik did as his mate instructed and lied back down on the ground. By this point, his head and chest were both throbbing and flashes of memory were assaulting him--the bear dragging it claws across Liri's back before doing the same to his chest. The way it had flung him and Minori so easily. He winced as pain shot through him once more and it was then that he realized Liri had left to tend to the others. Good; they were more important. 

He wasn't alone for long before he scented Ruenna near and then heard her words. He nodded slightly, regretting the movement as it caused a spike of nausea. Swallowing hard against the tightening in his throat, he remained still while the silver female placed something on his wound; he hadn't been able to open his eyes yet, afraid the dizziness would cause him to vomit, so he was unsure what exactly was being placed on his wounds, but he trusted his packmate. When she urged him to eat something, he hesitated. I'm--not sure I can eat anything just yet, he replied quietly, risking a slight peak through his eyelids at the female. The world wasn't spinning quite as much, and he managed to prop himself into a more sternal position. His head throbbed more than anything and it felt so heavy, so he placed it on his front paws, closing his eyes once more. Thank you, Ruenna, he murmured sleepily. 

Kavik heard Liri's approach, and his eyes opened to find her, blinking slowly. I'm okay. Ruenna took care of the wound on my chest, he replied. Don't worry about me, though, let Ruenna help you with your injuries--please, he urged her, concern filling his tired voice.

Grezig was overwhelmed by the amount of things going on around her. Her heart ached for Kavik more than the others, which confused her, so she ignored the feeling. He was being seen to anyways. Liri’s injury looked sickening—the bright red against the stark white of her fur. Grezig stepped forward to help her, but realized she had no idea what to do. She wasn’t injured herself which put her in a position to help those who were, but she was no healer. Silently cursing herself, she went to check on Minori, but Issun got there first. Feeling useless, she sat down where he was and stayed the hell out of the way of everyone else.

Her gaze lifted to Rue, as if just realizing she was there, her eyes were glassy with concern and shock - her responses sluggish on account of the pain burning along her spine. 

"Thank you, Ruenna," she murmured with genuine gratitude, for taking care of her mate and for offering to aid the healer with her own wounds. 

The sylph moved closer, her spine hunching painfully in order to allow the silver to bind her wounds with cobwebs. When it was done the fae turned to the bird, swallowing heavily with concern. 

"Were you hurt?" There was so much blood in the air that she could not identify if any of it was Ruenna's. 

Kavik turned down the offer of herbs, which Rue could understand. "That's okay," she murmurred reassurringly. She was just glad he was able to remain conscious and upright. That certainly made wrapping his wound easier. 

She also took care of Liri's wound after receiving permission. Her bindings were not as professional-looking as Liri's, but they would get the job done for the moment. 

"No, I.. I'm fine," she replied to Liri, "It was all so fast.." Because Rue had hesitated, choosing to distract the bear and calculate her attack instead of leaping immediately into the fray, she was one of the few who remained unscathed. She was not sure how to feel about this.. had she been smart, or had she been cowardly?  At least she was able to assist her packmates now, she supposed. She would have been very little help as just another broken, bleeding body on the ground. 

Rue's gaze swept over the scene and landed on Grezig, who seemed perhaps a little distant, but uninjured. Maybe she just needed a small prompt to come to herself. "Grezig, are you hurt? ..If you feel up to organizing a watch, I can assist however you need." Likely Liri would wish to move the injured wolves to a safe space to heal, but anyone who was still able-bodied would need to be stationed on the border tonight, hopefully under Grezig's expert direction. The last thing they needed was for the bear to make a surprise return visit in the night.

He was relieved to see that Grezig was unharmed and after a sluggish scan around to ensure all the wounded had been tended to, Kavik lowered is head to rest on his paws, the conversations around him all drowning together as his brain grew fuzzy again. He was so tired; all he wanted to do was go to his den and sleep, but the thought of getting up and moving made his stomach turn and he had to swallow the bile that rose in his throat. Fine, he would just sleep right here; it seemed like sound logic to his momentarily jumbled mind. He looked around once more before letting his eyelids fall. Sleep sounded good, and he didn't want to fight its pull any longer.

He was woken within minutes by his mate and urged to get up so that they could recover in their den. He heard her encourage the others to do the same. The danger appeared to be gone for now.