Grouse Thicket Schmoyoho, accent on the yo.

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She woke suddenly and with a snort, rolling over on a patch of stiff grass and sitting upright. Towhee rolled her shoulders and blinked at her vaguely familiar surroundings for a moment before she remembered she was near the bottom of the plateau. It all came back to her in a sudden rush: calling for Hydra; discovering her estrus had begun; seducing Hydra's lookalike; and then getting the hell out of dodge when he wanted to talk about feelings afterward. Towhee might have more thoughts about that entire situation, later.

Right now, she clicked back into that feral mindset brought on by her season. She trotted to a more open space in the trees and gave her body a mighty shake, tail waggling and wiggling, spreading her scent through the small forest. She then deliberated: should she stay here and summon some suitors to her, or should she go hunting for them? She was buzzing with a fresh burst of energy, so she decided, Why not both? Towhee sent up a call, advertising her availability, and then began to prowl purposely through the wintry thicket in search of a bone.

Kaertok wound his way around the mountains, along the coast, and eventually came down the other side. It was nearing a month since he had last met with Towhee about the two additional missing wolves. Alas, he had no news to give her, but he did not intend to break his promise and not show up. He was a Tartok wolf, after all, and he knew that he must keep the name in good standing by living up to the expectation of others.

She wasn't at the lake when he checked, so the large white wolf headed a bit downward, figuring he could find some small game in the forest he had spotted while at a higher elevation. Lumbering deeper into the woods, he caught the telltale scent. He had been too far away to hear the howl before, but the smell was enough to drive him toward her. Like all Tartok, he was an instinctual beast, fueled by nature rather than nurture.

As he approached her head-on, he paused, making eye contact. He hadn't expected it to be her, but he wasn't particularly surprised. Perhaps this was why she had asked to meet him again. (Yes, that was his ego talking; it's fine.) Kaertok had not settled down with any one woman, although he had settled down briefly with many women. His tail lifted and he took another step toward her.

It didn't take long for her to cross paths with a potential partner. This time, she actually recognized the wolf in question too. If Towhee was surprised to see Kaertok here, she didn't show it. She merely paused, scrutinized him for a moment, her eyebrows twitching when he lifted his tail. Her own arched over her back, not to display dominance but to advertise her condition.

She should've probably asked him if he'd found—man, Towhee couldn't even concentrate long enough to recall her name, not with Kaertok so close by. In any case, she didn't ask, nor did she tell him she'd found Sugar Glider. None of that mattered right now. There was only one thing on the mercenary's mind.

"Please tell me you're DTF," Towhee purled, striding closer, remembering her nameless partner and narrowing her eyes as she warned, "or GTFO."

He had always been a wolf of few words. Even as a child, he'd never talked much. Now, he only spoke to gain information to find his aokkatti and the two wolves that Towhee had tasked him with finding (or at least keeping an eye out for). She approached him and spoke, although the words were in one ear and out the other. As was his custom, Kaertok would not simply mount anything in season that he happened across. Even if he would never see them, even if none were born of this coupling, Kaertok wanted his children to be strong.

Besides, the best foreplay was fighting, right?

Kaertok lowered his front half, the rushed Towhee, hoping to catch her off balance. He wanted to see how well she could fight. He wanted to see if she was worthy. If she was, she would get what she desired.

When he didn't reply and instead came rushing at her unexpectedly, Towhee's lust-hazed thoughts cleared long enough for her inner voice to querulously shout, Really?! Ain't nobody got time for that! Then she felt the force of Kaertok colliding into her and the power behind that impact made her insides burst into metaphorical flame. She didn't consciously remember the time when Rye and Ailil had fought for her and how the scent of blood had driven her wild, though this single hit was enough to stoke her fire. She was impatient to fornicate, yet what woman didn't love a bit of rough foreplay?

Besides, feeling Kaertok's heat and strength pressed so forcefully against her body did all sorts of things to her. Towhee allowed the collision, bracing her legs to avoid being thrown off balance, then leered at him. She dropped, waving her rump (perhaps the scent would distract him, giving her the upper hand) before diving upward, aiming to grab him by the throat.

The two collided, and Kaertok felt her brace against him. Good. She wasn't a weakling, but that also didn't make her immediately worthy. Tartok blood was precious, or so his mother had taught him. It was customary to fight for the right to breed in his culture, and since there were no males immediately nearby, fighting her was the next-best thing. She dropped then, and Keartok pulled back, pausing just long enough that she managed to get a tuft of fur from his throat. This was a feisty one indeed.

If he had to wager, he'd say that he was only a bit heavier than her (maybe the same now that he'd been on his own the past month), but she certainly had a couple of inches on him height-wise. All-in-all, they were approximately equally matched. Kaertok's ears slicked back as he went in again, this time aiming his teeth at her shoulder. He didn't have any intention of breaking the skin, but he wouldn't hold back if that's what it took.

She wouldn't have sunk her teeth in had she landed her hit, though the hypothetical didn't matter much when she missed. Towhee spat out the tuft of fur that stuck to her tongue even as she whirled to field his bid to bite her shoulder. For a split second, she was tempted to let him. "I want you to do that again. Bite me." But that would come later. Right now, she opted to open her own jaws so that they clashed, just like two rutting stags locking antlers.

It hurt, the impact rattling all her teeth down to their roots and the points of his fangs piercing her gums and lips in several places. With a savage snarl, she leaped backward, disengaging, but only for a moment. She sprang right back in again. Towhee feinted toward his right forepaw, though at the last second, she intended to surge upward and go right back in for his throat again.

Shorter 'cause I don't wanna PP too much!

This time, instead of bodies, their teeth collided. Kaertok could taste the blood in his mouth where his gums were now bleeding, and it only served to fuel the fire that was clearly brewing between the two of them. Having spent his years learning to spar, he saw the feint coming from miles away. As she dove up toward his throat, Keartok jerked to the left and then dove down, intending to push himself under her armpit and flip her like a pancake (yum).

You're welcome to PP! :D

He anticipated her feint, which made Towhee's stomach flip in the best possible way. Then more of her was flipping: her entire body, in fact. By the time she registered what was happening, it was too late to avoid the inevitable. Instead, Towhee braced for impact as Kaertok bulldozed her up and over, partially pinning her when his weight landed on her lower half.

Swiftly, Towhee seized the single advantage of this position: she kicked out both hind legs. She only gave a single stroke (she didn't want to nail the family jewels, as that would be rather counterproductive) before flipping herself with the prowess of a jungle fat and shooting back onto her feet, slithering out from beneath him.

In a normal fight, she would've bolted out of reach and whirled to commence another round of attacks. Instead, Towhee halted and actually backpedaled, literally aiming to ram her smelly hindquarters into Kaertok's face.

He succeeded in flipping her over, and for a split second, he stayed there, triumphant over her. Her back legs thrashed at his rib cage, and Kaertok relented, jumping to the side and panting heavily as he faced her. She had proven herself to be a worthy opponent, which was good enough for him. Wasting no more time, Kaertok did the thing. You know... THE THING.

Sorry, my wolf erotica days are over. 乁(ᴗ ͜ʖ ᴗ)ㄏ

It worked. Towhee simultaneously panted and smirked when Kaertok attacked her backside in a whole new sense. Especially with the extra adrenaline sizzling in her veins, this particular coupling took Towhee to new heights. Ailil had been the best lover last year, by far. The way Kaertok made sweet fuck to her pretty much wiped out all memories of him, Rye, that other guy, that other other guy...

Afterward, they collapsed in a sweaty (kidding, wolves don't sweat!) heap. Towhee's mind was blissfully blank for a long time. When she resurfaced, she was able to pull away from Kaertok, though she didn't go very far. She padded a few feet to the side to take a leak to prevent UTIs, then moved closer to him again, hovering and reaching out to nip his ear.

"Hey, did you ever find your—shit, I hope she's not your girlfriend."

It went well. As well as these things usually did, anyway. The nip on his ear was unexpected, but not unpleasant, and he blinked at Towhee. He wasn't smitten, exactly, but he did think she would rear good pups. Her scent was mingled with many others, which meant her children would grow up with plenty of support. Little did he know Towhee was unable to produce children, so it was all a moot point. He wouldn't be around to see the lack of pups anyway.

Aokkatti, he corrected, not girlfriend. More like... chosen family. Tartok culture didn't really leave room for boyfriends and girlfriends, although he was aware of the concept. Judging by Towhee's lack of inhibition when it came to offering herself up to somebody outside her pack, he guessed her culture was even more lax on the matter. He could feel sleep starting to creep up, but he fought it off in order to live up to his promise.

I did not hear any information about Sugar Glider or Isi, he said, pausing for a moment. Nothing on Raleska or Rusalka either, besides what I already know. They had abandoned the coast, the coast was ruined, and they were nowhere to be found.

She felt relieved when he explained his relationship to Raleska, not that Towhee was responsible for Kaertok's actions. She briefly pondered whether any of her other hookups might've been involved with other people, then shrugged it off inwardly. It wasn't any of her business. She only banged consenting adults, so...

Towhee forced herself to focus on Kaertok's mouth as he reported his lack of information on Raleska. His mention of Sugar reminded her to say, "I'm happy to report Sugar turned up." Her tail gave a flick and Towhee licked her chops before adding, "Sucks about Raleska. I hope you find her. I'll still keep an eye out." Truthfully, she had stopped actively looking for any of them upon Sugar's return, though she didn't deign to share that.

Kaertok looked like she felt: ready to take a hard nap. With a sigh, she lowered herself to the ground and curled into a loose ball. "If you're still here when I wake up, we can go for round two. Otherwise, thanks for the good time," Towhee said, pulling a total Lenny face before letting her chin drop to her forepaws and falling asleep almost immediately.

That was good to hear (or half-hear, as Kaertok was already starting to doze off). His eyes were already closed by the time she mentioned round two, although he would remember it when he woke (and yes, they would go at it again). After that, and likely another nap, Kaertok would continue his search for Raleska and Isi. There was still much ground to cover.

Before they went their separate ways, Kaertok was sure to mention that he was staying with a pack far to the west, in case Towhee happened to be able to pass a message along. Even if she wasn't able to make it out that far (many wolves he met never strayed far from home), Kaertok imagined he would swing by here from time to time to see if she had any more news for him.