Redhawk Caldera PACKTIVITY -- Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

A little holiday packtivity for anyone who wants to join! The rounds will only last a few days, and this is totally optional. :)

Elwood was still riding the high of the pack's successful hunt this week. They had managed to bring down a reindeer, and most of the remains had been put into storage for later usage. When he awoke to a fresh snowfall, he only felt more jovial; there was something about this time of year that just put him in good spirits. He wanted nothing more than to spend time with his packmates -- feasting and fellowship were on his agenda today.

This particular snowfall had left a thick blanket across the whole caldera, coating it from top to bottom. It really felt like winter as he slipped and slid up and down the slopes. His first stop was the community cache, located not far from Fox and Peregrine's den but within reach of the other wolves, as well. The Alphas had their own private food locker even closer to their home; this one was for the pack to share. Eagerly, Elwood took as much of the carcass as he could and made multiple trips to the top of the mountain. There, he deposited the meat in a pile, then stepped back to observe his work.

It had taken him the better part of the day to complete such a laborious task, so it was late afternoon by the time he threw his head back and called to his packmates. "Merry Christmas! Come and eat!" he cried; and as his voice reverberated across the landscape, the clouds overhead unleashed another round of snow. The powder floated down around him, sticking stubbornly to his fur and his eyelashes. Perhaps he could even entice someone to have a snowball fight with him; he hoped that his friends would be as excited as he was.

Somnia poked her head up from digging in the snow. A distant call for food rang out to her. Food was always a good thing, was it not? It kept you from starving after all.

With head and tail held high, Somnia dashed through the snow, up to the top of the Caldera. She had only slipped twice, which was a new record for her. When she actually got to the top, she was met with a large pile of meat. And who had assembled it? No one other than her fellow friend Elwood. "You did this by yourself?" She questioned as she amiably bumped shoulders with him in greeting.

I decided to power play Fox. I hope Remedy doesn't kill me. ;P

The last thing Peregrine wanted to do was mingle. For one thing, he was enjoying spending every last minute with his mate, banging the days away. For another, he didn't want to deal with driving everyone away from her constantly; how tiresome! But it would be horribly rude for the Alpha pair not to show their faces at a pack gathering, so when the new Beta male summoned everyone to the supper table, they mutually decided they should at least make an appearance.

Peregrine walked directly behind his mate, his chest practically pressed into her hindquarters, as they made their way to where Elwood sat with a large pile of leftover reindeer meat. Because they had been rather busy these past few days, they hadn't eaten much, so both of them made a beeline toward the heap of food. The Alpha male stuck obsessively close to Fox, shooting Elwood completely undeserved warning glares over the food heap. It wasn't personal and he would likely apologize later but Peregrine couldn't help himself.

...just like he couldn't help himself when, as soon as he put some food in his stomach, he found himself drunk on Fox's scent. Without a second thought about how awkward this might be (not to mention how unhygienic!), he mounted Fox right then and there. While making eye contact with Elwood. Alpha as fuck.

Tempest was chasing after a hare when the call went out. She deserted the chase and made her way quickly toward the call, hunger evident in her expression.

Tempest approached the food pile just as Peregrine mounted Fox. Her eyes widened, and she took a few hasty steps back. Falling back on her rump, she shot up and took a few wary steps around the Alpha pair. Giving them a wide girth, she whispered to Elwood: "Is this, umm, normal?"

I liken this to the way women's menstrual cycles line up when they spend a lot of time together lol

Early that morning, Fin had sought the quiet solitude of the upper Caldera, completely unaware until his call rang out that her fellow beta had also been roaming the slopes that day. She was in a sullen mood, somehow feeling both restless and listless. She blamed Fox entirely--knowing full well that the woman being in heat likely had an effect on all of the subordinate women of the pack, stirring up all of their hormones until one could almost taste the tension in the air. Or, maybe it was just Fin being dramatic. In either case, she had attempted to steal away from it all for the day, wanting nothing more than to wallow in her own moodiness and misery.

She'd just been wondering for the umpteenth time how Finn was faring since their "breakup"--if they'd even been enough to call it that--when Elwood's voice rang across the territory. Fin had debated for a while on whether or not to join in on the fun--not feeling particularly jubilant after all, she wasn't sure if her melancholy presence might not ruin it for the rest of them. In the end, she dragged herself up onto all fours and cantered off, assuring herself that it was her obligation as the pack's beta female driving her and not some hormone-induced longing to be around Elwood the pack's males.

The scene Fin arrived upon was not at all helpful to her current mood. Not only was her handsome counterpart surrounded by two other females, but the alpha pair were going at it right on top of her dinner. Fin supressed the dark growl that tickled her chest and stalked forward, head and tail flung high subconsciously to remind the other subordinates that she was above them and to back away from what was hers. Bitches just be crazy.

"Yes, unfortunately," Fin grumbled to the unknown female who had posed the question to Elwood, not caring at all that she'd clearly intended it to be for his ears only. Her hormone-dilluded mind claimed even the whispers Elwood received to be hers, but fortunately she had the sense enough to keep such thoughts to herself even when she would have rather thrown a tantrum and pushed the other women's noses into the dirt to show her dominance and stake her claim. That desire was quite the irrational one since Elwood was not actually hers, after all. So how weird would that have been.

The Blackthorn glanced over at the furiously coupling alphas before giving a shrug and leaning in to claim a piece of the meat for her own, dragging it a away from them so that she could munch on it in peace. She swallowed a couple of bites before looking around at the not-boning-eachother crew that had gathered and then to Elwood, wondering what it was exactly he had intended when he'd dragged all of this meat up the mountain.

Wanted to throw this up before the Christmas craziness begins! Besides, I don't know if we can handle much more insanity in one thread, lol...this round will probably last til Saturday-ish! Don't forget that you can earn EXP by participating in at least 3 rounds. :)

Also, my power went out in the middle of writing this last night, so this is a weird post!

As Elwood waited for his packmates to join him, he arranged and rearranged the meal, as though he was setting an elaborate table. He shifted a leg here, a hip bone there, and tucked the larger slabs of meat into the snow to keep them cold and fresh. Steam rose from the pile, and the smell was enticing; if there was anyone who hadn't heard his howl, he imagined that the scent alone could draw wolves in.

Somnia was first to arrive, and Elwood yipped happily as she cantered towards him. He accepted her amiable bump, his tail waving behind him as he stepped back to survey his handiwork. "Yup, I pulled all the reindeer meat from the cache. It took a while, but I thought it would be nice for everyone to eat together," he said, looking down at her as he spoke. Over her shoulder, he saw Peregrine and Fox making their way towards the food and lifted his head curiously. The Alpha male was looking particularly defensive as he hovered around his mate's hindquarters, and Elwood was surprised to be caught in Peregrine's malignant glare. He shrunk slightly beneath Peregrine's gaze, watching as the leaders began to feast.

He glanced over as Tempest approached, his tail waving at the sight of her. He was glad to see one of the pack's newest members making an attempt to socialize. Before he could open his mouth to greet her, however, from the corner of his eye he saw Peregrine mount Fox -- in front of everyone. Elwood's jaw dropped slightly; this wasn't what he had expected when he planned the get-together. Tempest sidled up to him, whispering a question, and he found himself shaking his head and smiling.

Finley answered Tempest's query from Elwood's other side, and he whipped his head around to look at her. He hadn't noticed her arrival, due to the, um, distraction. "Yeah, they like to keep things...interesting," he added, glancing at Tempest as Finley moved to take a piece of meat from the pile. Jumping on the opportunity, he took a step forward, clearing his throat to get everyone's attention. "Thanks for coming," he said, shooting a pointed glance at Peregrine and Fox. "I thought it would be nice for us all to get together and enjoy the rewards of our pack hunt. So, now that the Alphas have eaten, feel free to grab a bite." He looked to Tempest and Somnia, who hadn't yet consumed anything, and gestured towards the deer meat. Once they had eaten their fill -- and watched some of the spectacle -- he would sate himself, then hopefully guide the group in another direction.

I just spilled water on my computer. D:< At least it seems to be alright besides the water marks under the screen. Oh, and Stevie, I'll go along with your idea of being affected by the pheromones.

Peregrine and Fox arrived, Peregrine still in his testosterone-driven state of mind that caused him to be overly protective of his mate. Somnia turned sideways so that she could keep all three of the wolves in her vision. "That was a good-- Somnia cut off as Peregrine mounted Fox. She gaped at them for a few moments before getting over it with a shrug.

Then a new member came along, and Somnia forgot all about what she had been saying. She whispered something to Elwood, but before he could answer Finley appeared on the scenes, her tail and head held high in superiority. The moody grumbles that came from her mouth supported the fact that she was in a bad mood.

Somnia's tail went down as far as it could, and her ears went back in submission. Her eyes, however, openly displayed her irritation. Somnia wasn't the one who shoved the stick up the Beta's ass, so why did she have to be in the range of Finley's bad attitude?! The thought of verbalizing this was a strong one, but luckily Finley went to eat before Somnia could say something she would regret.

As Elwood suggested she eat, she took him up on that offer. However, she made sure to position herself farthest away from Finley as possible.

The Alpha male's gaze remained fixed on Elwood for several seconds before he let his head drop down beside his mate's. It probably looked like he was whispering sweet nothings into her ear or else talking dirty to her. In reality, he was muttering random silly nonsense to her. It would be a lie to say the occasional naughty epithet didn't find its way in there, though.

None of his subordinates seemed to really mind much as he went to town on his mate, though it was all over fairly quickly. He grunted loudly for Elwood's benefit, then slid backward off Fox. She lay down to nibble at the leftovers and otherwise veg out and Peregrine had no choice but to do the same.

Oddly, this inability to separate actually put Peregrine at ease. Nobody could get at her now! The realization excited him—no, not in that way. Just generally. He leaped to his feet, forcing Fox to hers as well. Ignoring the discomfort, he dragged her around the kill to greet their pack members. One by one. Personally.

"'Sup, Elwood?! Thanks for throwing this fest right in the middle of my wife's heat!" Insert passive/aggressive wink. Elwood had brought this on himself. Onto the next one. "Hey, Somnia, what's shakin, guuurl'?! Yo... I don't know you," he said when they reached Tempest. "I'm Perry and this is my other half, Fox. As you can see, we are attached at the... at the hip... heh heh heh heh heh. FIN!" Peregrine yelled, tugging Fox over to their Beta. He noticed the gloomy look on her face and said, "Don't be sad, Fin! Come here, let us comfort you." He reached out a foreleg, intending to draw the Blackthorn into the world's awkwardest hug of all fucking (heh... do you see what I did there?) time.

"Yeah, they like to keep things...interesting,"

Tempest, looking at the ground, snorted. Yes, interesting was one word to describe what had just occured. When she looked up, she saw the two coming at them. She peered closer, not quite understanding how theor current position was possible.

Tempest took a tiny step back when they approached her after giving an excited greeting to Elwood and Somnia.

"Yo... I don't know you,"

"I'm Temp-" she began to reply, but was cut off.

"I'm Perry and this is my other half, Fox. As you can see, we are attached at the... at the hip... heh heh heh heh heh.

Tempest looked after them as they tried to pull the bad tempered wolf, (Fin?) into a bear hug. A very awkward, uncomfortable bear hug. Their mood was infectios, and she grinned. She grabbed a haunch and began to chew on it, watching to see how the spectacle would turn out.

Fin could feel Somnia's irritable gaze upon her, but she paid the girl no mind. In every other circumstance, she was rather fond of her. But at that moment, she wasn't very fond of anyone. Hell, even in the midst of her struggle against her possessiveness over the pack's single males, she didn't particularly like them at all. They just belonged to her. And no one else... unless Fox wanted them...

The alpha pair finished canoodling just as Fin was swallowing her last bits of reindeer meat. She paid them no mind as Peregrine frolicked about like a freakin' weirdy. Only when he landed beside her and pulled her into an awkward embrace did she bring her gaze over to the exuberant alpha.

Finley gave him a deadpanned stare as he pulled her into a hug. "You smell like man juice," she grumbled as his black fur tickled her nose. Pulling her head away, she searched for Fox. "Is he always this obnoxious after he gets off?" she queried as she found the female's fiery face. It was a rhetorical question--she would have bet her life that the answer was 'yes'. He was a man after all. And he was Peregrine. Creepy and awkwardly jubilant seemed to be his trademark qualities amongst friends.

Awkward packtivity is awkward. :P This was meant to be brief, anyway, so depending on how everyone responds, I'll either conclude this in a few days (let's say the deadline is Tuesday, 12/30!) or we can have another round. Up to you guys; one more post and you've all met the requirements for EXP!

Though there weren't many wolves present, there seemed to be a lot of commotion. Everyone was in a strange mood -- Fox and Peregrine were in their own little world, obviously, but even Finley and Somnia appeared to be put off about something or other. And poor Tempest -- what an introduction to Redhawk Caldera! She was handling it well, though, and showed no signs of being offended by her packmates' behavior.

Elwood was relived when Somnia followed his bidding and began to eat, pulling her chosen meal away from the pile -- and away from Finley. He watched as his friend carefully separated herself from the other Beta, a quizzical expression on his face. He wasn't given much time to think on it, however, for Peregrine and Fox soon "joined" the festivities. They approached the rest of the group, despite their evident attachment. Peregrine spoke directly to each member; Elwood's ears splayed to the side as he was addressed, then he watched as the Alpha male embraced Finley. He winced.

Luckily, he looked away from the train wreck in time to see that Tempest was beginning to eat, and he leaped at the opportunity to do the same. With one last quick glance at Peregrine, Fox, and Finley, he slunk over to the reindeer carcass and seized a slab of shoulder meat with his teeth. He dragged it free of the rest of the bones and ligaments, then settled down on his belly. The Beta male used his paws to steady his meal, while he consumed it quickly with large bites. The sooner he digested, the sooner this packtivity disaster could end.

Once he had consumed his portion, he sat back onto his haunches. His belly felt deliciously full, though a sense of unease had settled over him. Clearing his throat, he said loudly to the group, "Well, I was hoping that we would be able to socialize a bit once we finished eating. But, ah, it seems that there are some more important things that need to be taken care of...so I'll be here, cleaning up, if anyone wants to stay, but don't feel obligated." He looked to the Alpha pair, fully expecting them to be the first to exit -- and although he liked both of them, he wouldn't be sad to see them go in this situation.

Peregrine grinned, ignoring Finley's discomfiture as he pulled her into a three-way embrace. Fortunately for her, he did not hold on long. Nor did he remain stuck to Fox for much longer. Their bodies parted ways and his mate took the opportunity to say her goodbyes, then gather up some reindeer meat and trot back toward their den—but not before shooting Peregrine a sultry come hither look.

"Cool speech, bro," the Alpha male drawled when Elwood finished addressing the handful of gathered wolves. "I'll hang out for a minute if any of you wants to socialize with me," he quipped, sitting. Elwood probably didn't expect that, nor were the others probably entirely comfortable with him at the moment. Finley had said he smelled like man juice after all.

When nobody promptly took him up on his offer, Peregrine grinned and found his feet. "All right, guys, I'll stop torturing you and go boink my wife in private." He waved his tail, then followed in his mate's footsteps. As he walked past Elwood, he gave him a rough bump to the shoulder, though he left it up to the Beta male to interpret what it meant.

Tempest looked out after the departing Alpha. Wordlessly, she picked up a slab of reindeer and hurried away to store it in a cache. She returned after a few minutes and grabbed another piece to store. Her mind was on the Alpha, and his strange ways.

However, she much preferred him to a boring leader. You had to hand it to him, he made life in the Caldera exciting.

Peregrine's greeting of, "What's shakin, guuurl?" was a bit awkward, but he moved on before Somnia could come up with a reply, leaving her to give Fox a sympathetic look. She couldn't help but smirk at them to herself as Peregrine made his way to Tempest, then tried to trap Finley in a hug.

When Elwood made his final announcement, Somnia watched the others to see what they would do first. Fox left first, with Peregrine following a few moments later. Then Tempest left. Well, time to take her leave.

"Thanks for the food." Somnia told Elwood in parting, along with a small tail wag. Hopefully his next attempt would be a bit better. But only time would tell, so Somnia walked off the scene with a piece of meat in her mouth. She could at least help a little bit in helping clean up. It wasn't like anyone else had agitated her besides Finley.

Fin found her gaze being drawn to Elwood as he made another announcement to the group. He seemed to be a little disappointed with the way the gathering had turned out and immediately Fin felt irritated with everyone there for being such douchebags (minus herself of course--she still hadn't gotten the hang of the whole self-awareness crap). The beta scanned the crowd to see if any would stay to help him re-stash all of the meat. Peregrine agreed to staying, but only moments later dashed off after his mate's vagina. The other two girls set themselves to help Elwood clean up, which caused Finley another flare of jealousy.

But, they too eventually left, leaving Fin and Elwood alone. Fin pulled herself up onto all fours and began to take a couple of steps towards him, nothing but deviousness on her mind. But suddenly, her sense caught up to her and she realized that her hormones were getting the better of her. She changed direction in mid stride to aim herself towards the remainder of the reindeer meat, but slowed before she reached it. With a turn of her head, she was gazing again at Elwood and feeling bad for how the gathering had turned out.

With a little sigh, she leaned down and picked up a large hunk of meat and pulled it over to rest in front of Elwood. She then angled herself to be parallel at his side and laid down again, looking up at him with an arc of her neck while her tail wagged gently. "I'll stay," she said quietly, allowing herself a tiny smile while hoping he'd settle down at her side and enjoy a nice Christmas dinner.

Posting once more to wrap things up! I'll archive this, then give everyone the EXP. Thanks for joining, you crazy kids!

Elwood watched as Peregrine announced that he would be staying, then promptly changed his mind. He could understand why -- the glance Fox had given him as she left hadn't gone unnoticed by anyone, most likely. The Alpha paraded past him, following his mate, and delivered a particularly heavy-handed shove to his Beta. It wasn't enough to knock Elwood off his feet, but it unsteadied him -- both physically and mentally.

He pursed his lips, his gaze remaining on Peregrine's retreating figure until he noticed that others were taking their leave, as well. Tempest and Somnia both took food with them, which he appreciated; he didn't want to have to carry all the meat back down the mountain. Somnia thanked him, and he gave her a close-lipped smile in return, his tail stirring gently.

Then, there were only two left: the Beta pair. Elwood had taken note of Finley's sour mood, so he didn't expect her to linger, but she surprised him. She selected a bit of the remaining meat; he assumed she would be taking it to storage. Instead, she dragged it over to him, then settled herself on her stomach next to him. Her words were soft, but they warmed him from the inside out, and he gladly laid down alongside his friend. "Thanks," he murmured quietly, and began to nibble.

In the end, his Christmas gathering didn't turn out so bad after all. He was thankful to have Finley's company, and they talked late into the night before finally gathering up what was left of the deer carcass and carefully storing it nearby. Then, under the milky light of the moon, they parted ways; and Elwood's heart was full.