Sun Mote Copse A concatenation of locusts

"Don't you dare, Bronco. Don't you dare leave too."

They'd spent a few nights searching the borders for any signs of his sister, but had found nothing. She'd been quiet, didstant- and Bronco felt now that he hadn't tried to reach out to her or to see if she was alright. Their Mom was so busy with pack stuff- spending all her time hunting and patrolling, and whatever spare time she had she complained about being the one in charge of those things and having so few others to help her. It was a thorn in Bronco's side, as he too was trying to do those things as well. He was able to catch small prey, and buried them in marked caches, as he was told to. He patrolled the borders and reinforced the markings as he was told to. He was being more obedient now than he ever had- but he felt he was getting no recognition for it, especially from his own Mom. So he decided that he wanted some more space, a place of his own- and had found an old den that apparently his Mom had used for a while, and had declared that that would be his new home. He marked the area, claiming it as his, and set off to find something to eat. 

Naturally, he ended up meandering along the borders, deciding to kill two birds with one stone- do a bit of hunting if he found the trail of something, and to reinforce the borders as he was told to do. His Mom didn't like the fact that he'd moved out and into his own den- but she seemed to understand his need for space...And as long as he wasn't going to go off and leave for real- like Nellie had- she seemed at least somewhat willing to let him go and make his own home in a den not too far from the rendezvous area. He felt more mature now, but it was a hollow win. At the end of the day, he still had a bitchy mom, a dead dad, and a sister who had seemingly disappeared into thin air.