Porcupine Ridge Mama, come here, approach, appear

If asked in terms he understood what it was like to be effectively mute among peers, the wolf would've shrugged. He didn't know the difference, except for the understanding that wolves of these parts were more vocal than his birth family and seemed less connected with their natural figures. Otherwise, the beta understood them all quite well, just not their spoken language. He knew they were speaking it, but it was all gibberish to him.

Illea fell into stride with him, though he maintained a lead by virtue of his rank alone. They went along in silence for a short while, but then the wolf's eye caught on a flash of movement in the near distance. His gait rolled from brisk walk to canter and soon enough he was able to tell that his target was a blue grouse, and with a deep woof he began to pursue it, hopefully with Illea close behind.