Phoenix Maplewood Forward, the Light Brigade!

Whoops I'm good at knowing what day it is. Next round ends Feb. 15th! I will also put up a sign-up in our members only forum for those who want to go. I will likely make the thread where they "storm" the Emberwood before the meeting is finished and/or archive, but will let you all know!

The majority of the pack seemed to agree with the alpha female, who felt her chest lift with pride. Though there was no telling if she was pregnant or not, she couldn't discount the probability of it, and she wasn't willing to operate on the assumption that she wasn't. They would need every bit of meat coming in from the west, and allowing a pack to set up right along their prey route would be bad, whether or not there was decent hunting in the sound. That was their back-up plan, after all.

"I only encountered the one," Saena answered, her eyes seeking Tavi in the crowd. "But he may have gathered more by now. We will need a few to remain here, just in case, but I think we would be safe sending the majority to be safe. We don't want this guy getting any bright ideas." It was Esaro who made her pause, but if the wolf, who was being fairly reasonable, thought that his appeal would get through to the rather unreasonable Saena, he was unfortunately mistaken.

"I gave him the opportunity to leave peacefully," Saena stressed. "He refused the opportunity. What comes to him is on his head." Phoenix Maplewood wasn't known for being a very peaceful pack. There was nothing inherently about it that said it wasn't peaceful, but they had taken action in the past when they felt justified and would do so in the future. "Our neighbours to the north and to the south have never bothered us and we have never bothered them, and they are all reasonable wolves whom I believe would do the same in our position. They have no reason to become involved, nor do I think they would disagree with our actions." There was the possibility that the wolf setting up in the Emberwood would be vengeful and try to take his anger out on them, but Phoenix Maplewood had the advantage of superiority. They knew their surroundings. Taking a fight to them would be a fool's errand, so Saena believed.

"I'm sorry," she told the male, whom she didn't know, "you can remain here if you don't want to be involved, but we can't afford to sit and wait and see what happens. We can't afford to assume they won't become a problem for us. Come spring we may have puppies to tend to." She let that hang a moment, then said, "I won't see even one prey animal driven away from them and from us by strangers settling on our route. We have no choice but to act now, before they become too large for us to deal with. We must drive them out while we have the chance.

I myself will be going in a week and a half," she announced. She said this matter-of-factly, knowing full well that her mate would likely protest her involvement in the event the pregnancy had taken, and she would likely insist upon it, stubborn to a fault. "Any who wish to come with me, step forward. Any who would like to remain to guard the pack lands, step back." She would see for herself how large a force Phoenix Maplewood would send to Aaron's door.