Horizon Ridge pride comes before the fall

Akhlut's chest ached and it took him a bit to realize that it was anxiousness, worry, and guilt building up within his ribcage. He'd hardly had cause to worry so much for another wolf in his life; Echo Cove had been relatively peaceful thanks to the leadership of his mothers, and Horizon Ridge had been pleasant enough until now. He'd had few enough close connections to truly be concerned for anybody before. The realization was a disconcerting one. He resolved to do better, to be better, so that this feeling would not make itself at home in his breast and so that Pied and the rest might know the stability and the security that he had grown up with.

"Akhlut, is that you? Come in..." Pied's voice was thready but unmistakeable, and so Akhlut hesitantly entered her den, leaving his offering of food outside in the snow. The dark Alpha's ears flattened back in a way that had nothing to do with having to duck into the den beneath the gnarl of tree limbs that marked their homestead. He couldn't see all that much of Pied's dappled form in the dim light, but the female's face looked dwindled and diminished and tired. Akhlut sighed heavily. "Pied, what happened?" His voice was low with concern, and a deep frown wrinkled his forehead.