Stone Circle you’re the closest to heaven that i’ll ever be

for momma @Valette <3

Ezra had taken to the borders quite often in the recent days, often mimicking the adults that went on patrol. He would watch from afar as they made their rounds only for him to peek his head out of hiding once they moved on. Today wasn’t much different from the rest and the fascinated boy watched on as a fox began to creep along the edges of his home. This was his chance! Ezra sunk low to the floor, snow tickling his stomach as he waited for the right moment to pounce. He froze when the fox drew near and when the time was right, the boy sprung up and let out as fierce a growl as he could muster. The fox stood dazed for a moment before bolting out of sight and into unclaimed territory. 

Ezra stood a little prouder after that, head held high as he turned around to walk along the border. He couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face, tail swishing happily behind him. He wonders for a moment if he should tell mother about this, and after some thought decides to seek her out.

Valette was more at the borders lately. She didn't have much connection with the profession, she rather liked hunting more. But it was necessary lately. They had an intruder and Valette didn't want that to happen again. Plus she had heard news about a war between packs. She didn't want to have the war go in their direction. She was more vigilant to watch for strangers or worse, pack's ambassadors asking their opinion on the matter. She rather wanted to stay neutral.

When she caught the scent of her son Valette was quick to make haste. Mostly to check up on him to see if he was safe. She worried about his safety just as much as she would for her daughters. When she tracked down his scent and found him, she was met with a proud looking pup. Valette smiled at him warmly. "Ezra," she greeted. Valette couldn't help herself and gave an affectionate lick over the top of his head. He was getting so big already! She wished they didn't grow up so fast.

SO EXCITED!!

The familiar figure of his mother sent the boy eagerly prancing her way, eyes shutting lightly when her tongue raked across the top of his head. He smiled up brightly at her, his tail swishing gently behind him while he greeted her with a few licks to the chin. In all the excitement he had briefly forgotten about the news he wished to share, but his thoughts returned quickly and he gestured towards the borders with a swift point of his muzzle. “I protected us” he announced proudly, his eyes seeking the approval of his mother.

He assumed she would be happy with this achievement and would come to recognize the interest the boy was beginning to show in guarding the borders. But little did he know how his words could cause worry, for he was oblivious to the true threats that lied without of his reach and therefore did not think of them while he spoke.

Valette was glad to see that he was fine. There was a bit of relief in her eyes. The female quirked up her lips into a proud smile. She loved how her kids were starting to show where their interests were. Steph was clearly into hunting, Clary into scouting and her wonderful son Ezra wanted to help protect them. Valette's tail wagged. "How wonderful!!," she praised. Valette raised her children mostly with praise unless they've done something really bad and she needed to show her disappointment.

"Did you protect us from someone?," she asked curiously. She doubted that an adult wolf would be impressed with the child trying to chase them off. 'Or did you mark the borders?," she asked curiously. Perhaps she could learn him a thing or two. That would be fun! She liked to help her children with their trades.

The boy’s tail swished happily behind him while his mother praised him for his efforts. It felt good to hear the kind words come from the one he admired most and the joy clearly showed on his face. A smile spread from ear to ear as he listened to the questions, head nodding in agreement to the first and shaking in disagreement at the last. “A fox” he let out softly, eyes trailing over to where the sly creature had tried to sneak in.

He assumed it was going to try and steal the food from the caches his mother and the rest of the pack had worked so hard to stock. And while he couldn’t do as much as a full grown guardian, the rho was at least capable of keeping pesky thieves from stealing what wasn’t theirs.

Valette grinned. She was happy she had something her son was showing interest in. He was sometimes a bit like his father and more of a recluse, especially the last few months, but Valette wanted to change that. She hoped to do lots of thing with her son and his sisters. She wanted to raise social wolves after. "So I have another task for you if you like?," she offered.

"Do you want to learn how to mark the borders? It is something males do most of the time, but females can help as well," she spoke with a nod. Valette was just less likely to pee everywhere. The female would love to explain it to Ezra. Perhaps then he could help Stark or the other males since he had little male influence.

His eyes widened a bit when his mother asked him if he wanted to learn how to mark the borders. He had seen the adults do it a few times before when he would watch them and Ezra had always found it to be a curious thing. Instincts told him it was normal and that he should be marking the borders, but the boy had never actually tried to pee on something with the intention of making a claim.

He looked up to his mother and blinked a couple of times before nodding his head to her question. His excitement was clear on his face and he gave his tail a few wags, butt wiggling along with them. The simple thought that he could help out was enough to get Ezra up and moving, but the fact that it was Valette who was going to teach him just made everything a whole lot better.

Valette quirked up her lips when she saw her boy's eyes widen and the excitement on his face. The mother wagged her tail. "Alright! Let's go then," she spoke with a smile. Valette started to trot towards a tree. As they were on the border with Fox's Glade there were a lot of trees to mark. With the fields in the other part of the territory, the ground was marked more since there were no trees. Though most of Valette's marks were on the ground, or over the roots of the tree as she did not have the equipment to pee higher than that.

"Okay, so could you tell who you smell here? And if it smells fresh?," she asked curiously. Those were the first steps to lean. "You will only have so much pee, so you need to use it carefully. It is best to refresh old marks that you can barely scent anymore," she gave as a tip. "If your pee has run out you can always rub yourself against trees, the bushes, or the ground. Or scratch them," she added.

He followed obediently after his mother, ears perked up to catch all the advice and wisdom she had to share. When they reached the borders and the lesson began, Ezra eagerly got down to business and began sniffing the area to identify who had been there. Mother had been here recently, Nanook’s scent was still identifiable as well despite the fact that it had begun to go stale. “You and aunt Nook were here” he answered before taking another sniff at the ground. “Your’s is fresh, her’s is old” he finished up with, eyes anxiously searching to see if he was correct. 

He wanted to do more than just tell who had been here, he wanted to leave his own mark as well. So after Valette finished sharing her advice, Ezra moved to the nearest tree, lifted up a leg and began to pee. He looked up to his mother then, head tilting to the side while his eyes asked “like this?”. He was so wrapped up in making sure he was doing the job correctly that he completely forgot about the whole save your pee thing. Whoops.

Valette smiled when Ezra sniffed the marks. The female watched as her son called out the correct names. She nodded in agreement. "Very good," she praised and watched as Ezra also wanted to leave his mark. Valette nodded when he silently asked if he was doing it right. Though started to chuckle as he didn't stop peeing.

"Yes, like that, though this mark will be quite excessive," she hummed fondly towards her son. He was still young so that he was already marking was a positive thing for her. "But I think you understand what needs to be done, right? So whenever you want to help you can mark old scents," she explained.