King Elk Forest I look around but I can't find you.

It felt strangely gratifying to be among her people again. It had only been a few hours since her induction to the pack. Zephrine had made a point to hike some ways in to the territory and rest a bit, then hike out again, retracing her steps so that she could map the terrain a little bit. It was faster the second time. She could make out a few quick observations about the shapes of the trees, little landmarks recorded at a glance, things that would be useful to her for the first little while.

She knew she was hungry. That was something every wolf was keenly aware of; especially so when left to their own devices for long stretches of time. Her month post-flight of the fire had left her gutted, more or less. Her appetite had been sparse until the recent change in her circumstances. Zephrine nosed her way along to a pile of freshly churned dirt and deliberated over unearthing the contents of the cache.

Would be easy, she thought. Have a bite, sleep a little, be a new person by morning. It didn't sit right with her to do that though, much as she'd been tempted. Better to hunt for herself and prove her capability to these people - turning over a new leaf, and all that. This version of Zephrine did not need to be mocked and ridiculed, this version could feed itself.

She left the cache, and after a few beats of silence, plunged along another trail.