when you wake up on your own.

Summer didn't know what to make of Ferdie's disappearance and Amekaze's rise to leadership. In truth, he saw no better wolf to take the man's place than the dark she-wolf except for perhaps Jace. But still, the only alpha he had known at the Spire was Ferdie. But now he was gone, and the pack was left to deal with the choices he had made for them.

The boy had not yet met the one called Hawkeye yet, but already he felt terrible for her. She had come to them wearing her heart on her sleeve, only to be greeted with the news that their leader had abandoned them all. There was Erika and her children to think of as well. He had taken them in and claimed the pups as his own, but now he was just as absent as their true sire and so the kids were fatherless once more.

He wanted to be angry at Ferdie for leaving them, but couldn't find it in himself. Little Levi was a constant swirl of emotions, but anger was not one he typically felt. Not towards others, at least. Besides, he was rather used to important wolves in his life leaving. It was one of the reasons he was so reluctant to feel attached to any of his packmates beyond them just being friendly acquaintances, even though if he allowed himself he would see both Jace and Amekaze as something akin to his brother and sister, closer to him than anyone besides his father had ever been.

The dark wolf shook his head to get the thoughts away. It had been a long day of patrolling and marking their borders and he had no desire to succumb to his depression that day. Lowering his nose to the ground, he took a deep breath. He wasn't expecting to find anything of interest, as was typical of his patrolling. But this time was different. The recent scent of some sort of animal was thick upon the grass he had sniffed at.

Summer immediately felt his nerves begin to tingle as he lifted his head to gaze out into the woods. He breathed again, licking his lips to taste the air and spinning his ears upon his head to listen, trying to absorb any trace of the beast he could. It was a scent his father had made sure to teach him well, having had his own run-in with one of its kind that had changed his life forever. The boy turned to gaze back towards his packlands, the desire to run straight to Jace or Ame and tell them of the scent he had caught strong enough to cause his legs to ache. He stayed still, though, trying to force his brain to relax. Just because a cougar had been there recently did not mean that he needed to cause the pack to riot in panic.

Uncertain that he was making a wise choice, Summer lifted his paws and began to pad off towards the Vale, following the invisible path left by the predator. It was very rare that the Ostrega ever left his home, but a mission with a purpose in protecting that home was a good enough reason to leave it then.

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