Phoenix Maplewood O lei, o lai, o lei, o lord,,

Taikon was not recovering well.
Though the male had not known Aphrodite for terribly long, he had never become accustomed in any way to death. Her loss felt as though the rug had been pulled from under him. It was surely a cruel joke by her Greek gods that they robbed him of her as soon as he had felt anything more than friendship toward her. None of it seemed fair. Moving on was the only reasonable next course, for Donovan's band of freaks surely would become problematic for his new pack. What business had Taikon in all this?
The greatest tie he now felt to the Whitebarks was Juniper. Her, coupled with the group loss of Aphrodite and several others before her left a dark cloud over them. Under this cloud, Taikon felt the need to stand with his new family. Regardless of his prior politics, he would not abandon them now.
As he often did, he'd felt the need to maintain movement, and so had taken off to the nearby forest if only to not languish in the afternoon. Trotting through the woods helped to clear his head, and for a time there were only few and sporadic thoughts of Aphrodite instead of a constant barrage. It was not long, however, before he came across one of the new recruits.
She was standing beside a maple tree. Under it, her colour was quite charming to behold. Taikon narrowed his eyes. He had heard that three siblings had sought shelter at the Stream, fleeing their homeland. He had never trusted new people. With the current events, a worry over these three bubbled within him. He moved quickly toward her, deciding that today was the day to decide if she, and by extension her siblings, could be trusted.
You're new in Whitebark, right? he asked, already knowing the answer. I'm Taikon. It was a simple greeting. He bowed his head, as he nearly always did with respect. The white wolf then looked over her, sizing her up rather rudely in contrast.