A patrol never ended along the skirts of one’s borders. True protection of it extended beyond to ensure the lands surrounding were safe and secure as well. However unmarred, they were attached to the grounds marked under responsibility, and as with her own land, the Gamma took care to scrutinize it. No scent was left untouched by leathered nostrils. No sight unseen by wide, bi-colored eyes. Her pace was purposeful, steady yet brisk to ensure the land felt beneath was sturdy and familiar.
She traced the familiar paths from the sloping mountains, rising upward until she thread along the width of its face. Occasionally she paused by a brush to nose through its nearly barren branches. A billy had walked by, and was perhaps still in the area. She would see fortune in her favor that day if she could bring its hide back to the fold. She nodded to herself but left the trail alone, fixated instead on the path ahead to the overlook.
Below bubbled the sounds of a tranquil stream undoubtedly channeling south to fill the basin of the hidden lake. She was careful upon the moistened earth, letting no paw linger too long as she bound for another hold. An inhale would catch the musk of another, yet her eyes did not veer to them only the slippery path ahead. A curious glance at so crucial a moment could bring about injury. Or worse… the loss of her fortune. |