Phoenix Maplewood I'm getting Jiggy with a Rifle

Artyom didn't know what it was that made him concentrate on the Southernmost outskirts of his territory, yet he lingered there anyway. Heavy, wearied paws carried him along the edge of the maplewood, brown eyes peering between the proud trees in search of something - anything. 

A whiff of little Alsek, perhaps? No, that was probably a trick of his mind. The boy remained in his thoughts, kept him up at night and during the intervals of sleep that did find him, plagued his dreams. There was no way, surely, that he could be alive after all this time in the wilds alone.

The golden Alpha setitled himself between the roots of a proud tree trunk and pressed his shoulder to it, allowing himself the opportunity to breathe. Eyes closed over, he inhaled deep the fresh Spring air and, again, felt some sort of... familiarity. That smell... could it be?

Could it really be?

"Aphrodite?" Artyom murmured to himself, suddenly alert. He gathered to his feet and stepped forward, nose working and ears pressed forward, and felt butterflies take flight in his gut at the sight of familiar earthen pelts between the foliage. "Surya!?"

His tail swung to attention at once, waving excitedly at his rear as he took off down the slope to greet his pack-mates with cheerful barking. Artyom thrust himself between them and reached first for the she-wolf, nipping affectionately at her cheek then delivering a number of enthusiastic nudges to Surya's neck. "Where were you?" Artyom yipped, leaving no room to answer as he carried on: "what happened? Are you alright!?" Oh, friends, how I missed you!