Grouse Thicket Whiskey please

Later that day Wraen would find out that Colt had passed away, but until that moment there were few hours ahead, while her life was normal and filled with the routine tasks of everyday. Her star-student Elfie had shown good progress in his training and she had promised him that next time they had their outings, he would have a chance to hunt something more interesting and challenging than frogs or small rodents. Grouse thicket therefore had seemed the obvious choice. 

The birds were big and worth the interest and effort. And, unless something had changed significantly, then usually, where you found one, you would find half a dozen more. Since her arrival at the thicket she worked diligently - tracked, made notes on the signs and the age of the prints, she even found, what seemed like an abandoned nest and managed to scare one of the species out of the shrubbery and up in a tree. It stayed there, regarding the predator accusingly. 

Wraen gave it a toothy grin and moved on. You just wait, pal... she promised and moved on. In a different part of thicket there were signs of not so many birds around than the wealth of bilberries. They were not a foodstuff she would consider wholesome and filling, but they did well as tasty treats. And this was, how she stumbled upon the resting wolf. She sat down, regarded him for a while and then said: "Please, tell me that you are alive?"