Soft crackling could be heard as Vespertio pawed disinterestedly at the frozen edge of his lakeside property, slowly but surely beginning to make a hole in the ice large enough for a snout to prod into should one need a drink. He himself lacked a thirst at the moment, but he constantly tried to keep an open source to spare his pack-mates from having to work too hard at it. They had enough to do with patrolling the grounds, restocking caches and whatever else tickled their fancies while the regal patriarch did his own chores that included searching for his missing members and loved one any chance he had a moment to spare from marking the borders with his scent and checking in on the few wolves who came to reside within his ranks now. Anthem, the longest dwelling wolf now, @Samhain a woman who was plain as day on the outside but he saw potential on the inside(his intentions not quite clear just yet) and the newest member, a yearling by the name of Rift.

At the sound of crunching snow under fast approaching paws his crown shifted direction along with a twist of his ears to gaze upon the gallivanting woman known as Haine, something he wasn't quite sure what it was yet clenched ever so delicately between her jaws. "My dear, pet." The agouti man mused as his body turned to face the woman head on, tail quickly rising from its once limp position to hover over his back in a common dominate display of his position. It never ceased to cheer the man up watching the woman so willingly go belly up before him, the actions of total submission feeding his dormant side that hungered for power. A side that had once been present alongside Athena's until the ivory queen had locked it away with her whispers of sweet nothing into his ear. But now there was no guard on duty to keep the beast behind locked doors. Time would be the factor on when his power hungry, malicious side would slip under the cover of darkness to reek havoc once again. "What is it you carry in your mouth, Haine?" The words fell from his ebony lips like silk to coo at the demented woman, just as amused at the way his words affected her as to how eager she was to submit. Haine was a shiny new toy for him to play with and boy was she a fun one.

No words came from her lips to answer his question and instead she inched her slim frame forward to place a dead sparrow half frozen still at his paws only to roll submissively onto her back to expose her vulnerable underside to him. Giving him free reign to do as he pleased to her willing body should he like or dislike her token. Had he not received a hunch that she must have meant for it to be a prize of sorts for him he would have taken a step back in disgust and quickly done away with the useless pile of feather and bones, but alas he saw an underlying piece of information from the gift at his feet. Leaning his mighty crown to hover above her vulnerable jugular his coal black nose gave the tender flow of life a gentle nudge before returning his head to its proper height. "Is this a gift for me?" He tickled her ears once more with his cooing words of appraisal even though he was actually the opposite with the dead bird. What he was curious to understand was why she had ventured however far to find this gift instead of staying within the territory. One glance of her body revealed that she needed much recuperation before doing any hard traveling, but then again there was always more than what met the eyes.  

The sound of a low whine erupting from her chest brought a devious smile to his lips, enjoying the pathetic sound of total defeat filling the velveteen tuft of his ears. It was a beautiful sound like the harp of an angel ascending to heaven. Before he knew it his body was beginning to circle the woman, tail swishing from side to side at a slower pace that that of her own which continued to clear away the snow between her hind legs. "You have done well, my pet. Your leader is happy." He crooned in that silky tone again as his body came to a stop, resting right back where he had started, golden gaze never leaving the face of the woman beneath him. It was the best sight in the world to look down upon another and this sad excuse of a wolf constantly reminded him of that feeling. "Now be a good girl and eat the bird why don't you? You will need to regain your strength and you don't want to displease me do you?" Even though his words were true he truly just didn't want to have to stare at the crumpled bird anymore. It was of no use to him and had there been pups around he would have thrown it to them as a gift of his own, a new chew toy to hone their skills with. 

At his request there was no mistaking the pained expression that etched into her facial features, but like the good girl she was there was no word of complaint as her body shifted to roll onto her stomach and inch towards the awaiting pile of feathers and bone. Two crunches and the deceased thing was gone down her throat, a single feather sticking out the corner of her mouth the only indication the bird had ever existed. A satisfied smirk tugged at the corner of his own lips. "What a good girl you are. Good girl." He praised before lowering his crown to nip at the edge of the feather, removing it from her mouth before dropping it to allow it to float down onto the untouched snow between them. The plain woman beneath him would need to eat more to regain the body mass she had lost and he would need her to be at her strongest for his plans of the future. A pack was only as strong as their weakest member and Haine was pathetically weak. That needed to change if his plans to conquer. His thoughts were soon interrupted as a warmth could be felt against the digits of his paws, golden eyes glancing down at the pink tongue that slithered from between her teeth to grace his regal toes. 'Yes, kiss the feet and the ground I tread upon you vile creature.' The nasty voice in his head chimed before bringing his paws back as a sign that she had touched his body enough. Nobody would be allowed to touch him now unless he willed it. Slowly layer after layer of stone was beginning to encase his heart with the intentions of leaving nothing but a cold, empty void once it was done.

Like the flick of a switch the demeanor of the cowering woman had changed to that of a ferocious warrior with the change in wind, bringing to their nostrils the scent of both prey and predator though the predator were nothing more than vile scavengers a pair of wolves could easily chase off. Alas it was the Haine woman that did the chasing, a guttural growl echoing in the confines of her chest as snow flung out from behind her heavy thuds. The smirk that had graced his lips now spread wider as he watched the fleeing bags of bones of the coyotes and the snaps his henchwoman gave to their flanks. That was until she either took a wrong step or realized what she had done and splat her face ended up in the snow between her paws. Momentarily Vesper closed his eyes in embarrassment for the woman and the thought that someone other than himself could have seen her pitiful trip. 'Were you really desperate enough for members to let a wolf like her into the pack?' His alter ego of a voice rang in causing his snout to lower and a paw to raise to rub over it in an attempt to shoo the nuisance of a voice. 'She will be of use to me, just wait and see.' He bantered back with his inner voice before righting himself back into his posture of power, beginning to head in the direction the Igor like woman had disappeared to.

Loping at a much slower pace than Haine's abrupt sprint it took him longer to come upon the full scene and notice the slain moose sprawled upon the snow in a pool of pink and crimson the closer you reached the carcass. An unexpected gurgle of his stomach arose the moment his golden eyes settled on the fallen beast, unaware of the fact his need to eat had been pushed aside many of times in order to search for the missing pack mates and attend to his duties as leader of the pack. Now that he had a moments rest it came in like a wrecking ball to smash into his stomach, the gnawing pains of hunger making themselves known. There was no way that sparrow would have done any justice. Tongue slowly peeked out from between his lips to lick along his saliva coated chops, body moving on its own towards the awaiting pile of flesh. He didn't even give the woman who secured his meal a much deserved word of praise as his agouti form nestled between the bloated stomach and chest where the coyotes had already opened the body.

Dominate growls could be heard through slices of flesh that muffled the sound as his muzzle dove into the moose, tearing and shredding away bite after bite tail rising high over his back and wagging to warn others to stay away until he had his fill. The patriarch had succumbed to his hunger and savored the flow of luke warm blood down his throat and face, staining the cream colored fur of his chest and cheeks. A meal such as this was a gift worthy of a king such as he. Haine had done good. Master was very pleased.