Blacktail Deer Plateau The shadows stole the sun

Osprey Jr. was playing by herself just beyond the rendezvous site when the sky began to darken. Sensing something amiss, she glanced upward and sniffed the air. Was it really night already? She didn't even feel sleepy! Her family hadn't eaten dinner either. She blinked her two-toned eyes, suddenly perplexed.

When she spun on a black heel and ran to the clearing, nobody was there. Feeling uneasy, the pup dropped her nose to the ground and began sniffing, following her father's scent back into the woods. Tracking him with diligence that would've made him proud, she stopped short when she reached a grove of particularly deep shadows (the sky was nearly dark as nighttime now) and heard some strange grunting noises. The smells were strange too. Some inner instinct warned her not to proceed.

But since when had young Osprey ever heeded her better judgment? Craning her neck forward, she pressed her tapered muzzle between some shrubs and spotted her father and another, vaguely familiar wolf standing next to one another, albeit standing at strange angles. Her dad's leg was hiked in the air as if he was marking a tree. Was he urinating on the other wolf's head?! Nose wrinkling, the puppy stuck out her tongue and quickly withdrew from the screen of brush.

Backpedaling, the pup trotted away feeling more bewildered than ever. Much to her relief, she came across Blue Willow and strode up to the leader, the picture of submission as she snuggled up against her aunt and questioned, "Wha's goin' on?!" in a loud, whining whisper.