Cerulean Cape O sea that beats when wild hearts beat no more

He was about to formulate a plan to bring the prey back to Zaria and the pups when Steady left without a word, face dark, and Niita followed soon after, though going a different way than the beta. Astonished, Phocion watched them go, shaking his head slowly.

It was clear that Steady's fondness toward Niita had twisted his once-kind feelings for Phocion into something sullen and ugly. It was best just to back away from this situation. He respected Steady too much for something like this to go down. And Niita, while certainly kind and pretty, refused to return Phocion's flirtations, was shy and demure. She would make a wonderful friend, but pursuing her was not worth the trouble it had brought down already.

He looked down at his dead pelican with displeasure. The twenty-pound bird, while not terribly heavy, would still be quite a haul up the mountain, especially for a smaller wolf like Phocion. He was going to suggest to his pair of friends that they divide the pelican in pieces and take it up that way, but, alas, they had departed early. With a small grumble in his throat, he took the bird by its skinny neck and began to carry it away, trotting slowly toward the mountain, weighed down both by the weight of his kill and by the uneasiness between Steady, Niita, and him.