For a couple weeks now there was no mistaking that all too familiar burn that began to lick at the magpie's skin beneath her dappled pelt and build fervor with each passing day, countless nights made restless with the excess warmth that forced Enoki to seek relief in the frigid twilight hours where constant drags of her body against rough surfaces and sessions of wallowing in the snowdrifts about the territory brought little to no reward. Instead, her efforts proved to make her predicament worse by spreading her gradually intoxicating perfume and surely the few men within the pack were beginning to register the change in their piebald matriarch.

Surely Ravenna and Attica had noticed as well, but in a different manner as the normally kindhearted female's displays of dominance became heightened to levels foreign to those that knew her with the onset of her heat cycle. Unlike years before, this season there were no dominant females ranked above her to abate the strength of her heat nor quell any ideas of trying for a litter of her own. This year nothing was stopping her from acquiring a litter of her own and Enoki would be damned if someone tried to rob her now of something she had ultimately earned and been blessed with when Elettra had handed over the key of Willow Ridge to her.

Smoldering amber irises were concealed behind dark lids and a pleasurable grunt could be heard from the magpie while an ivory-clad shoulder brushed forcefully against a rugged trunk that served as a marker along the Ridge border. Her alluring scent adoring the pieces of timber like many markers beforehand the past week before the she-wolf moved on to the next, occasionally lowering her lithe frame to rub the underneath of her body against the cold surface of the snow in hopes of at least suppressing the irritating fire that burned. She knew all too well what it truly took to douse the flames, yet doubts, if the man she wanted was capable of stepping up to the plate, lingered in the back of her mind since no such discussion was ever brought up.

Deciding she needed to leave the familiar embrace of the willows for a terrain more open, yet familiar all the same, ebony limbs trotted with determination toward the snowy knolls of Fireweed Rise. Perhaps the well-skilled hunter would keep her mind distracted with scouting the landscape for signs of a quarry to chase, imagining the wind rippling through her fur and aiding in keeping her overheated body cooled off since the snow present still helped little against the bout of unseasonable warmth that plagued the land combined with her own exuded warmth. Yes, that sounded like a lovely plan indeed.

Enoki hadn't a chance to get far into the rise when a raspy voice broke the afternoon silence and sent a shiver coursing down her spine, ebony ears connecting that voice with its master in an instant while limbs halted themselves in order to crane her head back over a dappled shoulder. Despite her best efforts at avoiding the men to suppress the amount of torture they would endure being exposed so readily to her ever increasingly intoxicating perfume, she knew they couldn't be avoided forever. Eventually, she would be sought out, craved and nothing could stop a man determined and drunk enough off her scent when the timing was right. Whether now was the right time or not, was a decision made solely by the duo.

"You can come closer, Nico. I won't bite your head off, promise." She called back in a playful tone of voice, ivory painted haunches lowering themselves to the equally colorless ground underfoot while smoldering amber irises watched to see if the man dared to approach, or determined he had stepped close enough given her current predicament. Hammering within the cavity of her chest, though, her heart yearned for the man to approach. Her body was feigning for the brush of his own against hers, missing the embrace only he could offer, but a piece of her still feared the man she had come to fall for didn't quite feel the same as he may have once upon a time when sorrow and heartache didn't plague the pack.

Memories of the last time they had ventured out this way began to swim about her mind, a brief smile tugging back the corner of her lips recalling how they had acted like pups and romped around the decaying flowers. Tumbled down one of the various knolls in a heap of dark fur. Her stomach fluttered just like it had that day when she relived that moment he had called her beautiful. Enoki knew there was a strain on their relationship; what type of relationship they had she still was uncertain, but she couldn't restrain a part of her that wanted to experience that day all over again, but in present times. To hear the musical sound of his laughter again. Witness the smile that graced his handsome features while tumbling together about the snowdrifts, give his ears a good chew before whisking away in hopes he would give chase and ultimately capture her. Truly capture her this time.

Nicolo had yet to approach at this moment and without thinking a sigh likened to a love struck puppy escaped the magpie's maw. Enoki Ashrelle was amorous with the man but were the sentiments returned?

Lost in her own world while her mind took a pleasant stroll down memory lane the magpie hadn't been aware of the man's approach after hearing her sigh until soft spoken words brought her back to reality, a couple blinks allowing her distant gaze to refocus and bring the dark blurred mass back into sharpened details. Grateful for being blessed with a darker complexion upon her face, the flushing of skin underneath would be missed by the male that otherwise hardly missed a beat. "Nothing, nothing. Was just captured in my thoughts for a moment." She admitted, shaking her head to dismiss any uncertainty that lingered about. "About the last adventure shared here together." Enoki continued, a warm smile adorning the dark lining of her lips to cement the idea that she was indeed okay if you axed out the annoying itch at her skin.

Rising, the dappled woman ran her scarred muzzle through his dark scruff before guiding it along the length of his body, inhaling the comforting; and alluring, musk he produced after each inch she caressed. A poorly hidden smirk soon adorned her lips once her hind legs came to stand parallel to his shoulders, head leaning in to apply a playful nip to his haunch before bounding away with a soft bout of laughter and whirling about to take up a bowed position. Smoldering amber irises twinkling mischievously in a silent challenge while her Ivory-tipped tail swung behind her.

Threat or not she waited with bated breath for the man to act upon her invitation, his growled words only causing the smirk that adorned her lips to grow twice in size. "First, you'll have to catch me." she responded to edge him on before suddenly his body was launched in her direction, another bout of laughter escaping the magpie while her ebony limbs made quick work pushing off against the snow to give herself that much more of a gap, scattered powder in her wake while he gave chase. Salmon tongue dangling between a partially ajar snout and despite the advantage, it wasn't long into this game of tag that she felt a soft bump to her rear that signaled the tables had turned. Nicolo was now the mouse and the skilled huntress the cat.

Fresh powder flung high around the piebald female and dusted her coat as her paws skidded across the snow to slow her pace down, twisting herself about just in time to witness a black blur be sent tumbling down to the ground by his own handiwork. A fit of laughter filled her ears and warranted a wide grin to spread across her face while she quickly trotted over least he scrambles back onto all fours and makes a mad dash to escape capture, promptly hovering over the fallen Archer to lean down with a paw resting on either side of his body to run her muzzle over the plush fur of his chest. Her own chest vibrating with a pleasant growl while she did so.

"Got you." She whispers after placing a kiss upon his cheek, the next moment her teeth giving his nearest ear a playful nip then a moment later her dappled silhouette was bounding away a bit to once more fall into a play bow. A couple barks encouraging the man to stand to his feet.

Further coaxing was no longer needed to get the fallen man back onto his feet, smoldering amber eyes watching closely as he hoisted himself up with an exhaled grunt. The sudden darkening of Nicolo's eyes warranting a low whimper to escape Enoki's lips and the beat of her wagging tail to increase tenfold, the smile adorning his lips not going amiss before ebony ears pricked forward to catch the soft-spoken words that fell from his lips. The exact same spoken last time, but unlike last time there was no mudslide nor other tasks that required the Archer's presence elsewhere.

A familiar heat that had nothing to do with her current predicament nor abnormally warm weather adorned her cheeks in response and for a moment an expression of shyness overtook the playful one, gaze averted before returning to his handsome facial features and coming to find his own frame now lowered into a bow that mirrored her own. At this, a grin returned to her face and the warmth upon her cheeks cooled a few degrees, a playful growl resonating within her chest before she lunged her lighter frame in his direction. Jaws grabbing ahold of the thick scruff and offering it a playful tug, releasing and making a beeline for the base of the mountain.

Stopping a few feet away Enoki tilted her head back to glance over an ivory-clad shoulder to meet those yellow eyes she loved so much, a sultry flame burning within the depths of her own eyes while a teasing smirk adorned her lips. Tail swaying off to the side to silently inform Nicolo what exactly she had in mind for them to do now. "Catch me." Smokey words leaving her lips and confidently, the magpie woman knew he couldn't refuse that invitation.