Sleepy Fox Hollow lecker

how ironic that the hollow had been so empty when they first arrived, only to be constantly assailed with invaders since!
the pups were under phaedra's watchful eye. today mahler and @Wylla struck out for the borders; her choice, of course. the intention was to strengthen their markings, so before they left he drank deeply of the little pool near the densite.
their gait was an easy lope. despite being out for reasons of deep wolven annoyance, mahler was charmed by the idea of spending the day with his small fierce wife.

Spending the day out with her mate should have charmed Wylla, too, but she was too busy stewing on the inside. She didn't care for the reasons each had given. Her last nerve was rubbed raw by the audacity of outsiders in the mountains. It was only a matter of time before one of them stumbled across Emmerich, Anselm, or Isa, and Wylla had not forgotten the way Thade was taken from them.

She had already decided to hunt down and kill the next wolf who set a paw wrong across her borders, but she would much prefer to deter another trespass before the worst had a chance to happen. Thus, she and Mahler went to the borders and began to mark in earnest. It wasn't fun. It wasn't romantic. Necessary, yes, but not fun.

I don't understand, she growled, scraping her paws on the ground between squats. Why are they so fucking noseblind?

"entitlement," mahler answered, pacing a few steps away to spray a low bush with a bitter scent. then a tree trunk, then another, until he had to loop back her direction. "if ve seem few, then the land is still free for use if you can sneak inside." he had lived a while as a lone wolf, and as a man he had seen nothing wrong with the occasional trespass or forcible attempt of taking over a weakened pack in the winter.
it would not have been acceptable if they were in the same position.
he rolled against another tree, leaving tufts of his pelt high up the bole.

She supposed that made sense, even if she didn't agree with it. Hypocrisy at its finest, that. Wylla had never seen an issue with trespassing when she was alone, either, especially when she was younger and more brash. If the borders were weak and the wolves weaker, she could often make off with a meal or two.

Which didn't make it any easier to accept when others did the same to her.

Well, we'll just have to make it seem like there are more of us, she scoffed, pausing to mark a conspicuously weakened spot. Do you think the children are old enough to patrol with us? They were children. Part of her bucked at the notion of advertising so clearly, by placing their scents along the borders, that there were children here.

Part of her knew that any wolf worth their salt could already smell it from a mile away, so there was no point in trying to hide it.

mahler nodded. "i think so. emmerich has been responsive to going on little valks vith me. the quicker they learn our borders, the more quickly they may learn vhere the dangers are." he paused to roll a crick out of his shoulders and nose her forehead.
there was a deep humour in his eyes, and perhaps something daring in the set of his jaw. "in the spring, perhaps there vill be more of us after all. not so long to hold an illusion then, ja?"

Oh, he was daring and forward, wasn't he?

Wylla smirked, and though what she said next was purely in jest, there was a pang of worry in it as well. She was lucky he was still alive to make such jokes. You think you'll still be fast enough to catch me in the spring, old man?

More of them.

She was not opposed to the notion, of course.

mahler chuckled. "vhy vylla, i think you vill find me quite spry come the spring."
he said it deadpan, but as he swung his broad head toward her she might have glimpsed the great amusement in his eyes.
in the next moment he pounced toward his wife, hoping to initiate a race through the borders of their homeland.