Snowforest Taiga hochzeitsstuck

midway between the bypass and the maplewood: @Sunny @Aviana @Aliac @Desdemona

mahler's tongue lolled; in the valley along the land he had claimed, his breath rose in a pale plume. autumn had been kind to him, enriching his body with a bulk that rolled impressively beneath the charcoal pelt thickened for winter. he knew himself to be an asset to packwolves, and that was why he had refused to join.
the ailing group too near to him was faltering, led by a too-young male and a matriarch. he had gleaned this from their scents, and now he had come to take what was rightfully unguarded. it was not their land he wanted, but their numbers.
alongside him, half the carcass of a young elk. he had wrested it from behind the broad hindquarters of a bear, carrying as much of the kill away as he could carry without being too slowed and therefore endangered. followed for only a half-mile, the hoarse bellow of the ursine fading, mahler had prided himself quietly and set off with the offering.
presently, a long and baleful howl poured from his throat. i am stronger than your leaders; i have brought you meat. he was enough of a distance away that he would see them coming, note the arrangement of their bodies and would know if he must flee or stand his ground. it was not yet a coup, but an invitation, and his lilac eyes burned to see what they would make of it.