Sometimes, and only sometimes, Reyes broke out on his own to stretch his legs. He had very little interest in straying far from Wild Rye Fields – if only because that’s where Askan was – but one could not simply shake off a nomadic lifestyle in a few weeks because they wanted to. Even if he adored the beta (and truly he did, even if he wasn’t quite ready to apply that word to it), he still needed space, where the quiet world could settle his unquiet mind. What if he ran?

Reyes drew to a slow stop, eying the steep slopes of the palisade.

He’d let Askan in, already. There would be no getting him out. Even if he ran all the way home, ran all the way past it, there’d still be some gaping hole in his chest where the swarthy male was supposed to be. A few moons, and he was a different man. No wonder his Mama always called love a sickness. Never took a mate, even when she had young to raise. Maybe that old woman was wilier than he gave her credit for, but—

Out of nowhere, a sharp pair of talons grabbed the scruff of Reyes’ neck, nearly knocking him off his feet as he ambled aimlessly through the trees. A startled squawk escaped as he hit the deck, pupils blown before it hit again – but there was no one here!? What was happening?!

“¿Qué carajo es esto? ¡Dale la vuelta y enfréntame, puta puta! ¡Maldito cobarde!”

It wasn’t quite terror that ripped through the wolf as another patch of hair was torn from his neck, but it was a near thing. You couldn’t fight what you couldn’t see. Even as the large wolf whirled around, his attacked disappeared from view, leaving him blind as he panted harshly. If Phoenix hadn’t yelled just then, stopping the Rye wolf dead in his tracks, he might have been grabbed a third time. Instead, the owl narrowly missed – and he finally got a glimpse of the angry bird (and its angry partner, shrieking from the tree).

“Fuck you, Party Owl!”

They were breaking up. All of them. Cottongrass too. Party Owl was clearly no friend of theirs (no matter how much he favored the birds of prey over all other flying things).

With not better option, Reyes dropped his shoulders and followed the yearling’s command, loping towards her as he tried to keep his head lower and his ears back. He could feel the rush of air overhead as the angry father swooped, but two wolves seemed to pose more of a problem for it than one airhead did. “Incoming!” he warned Percy, veering left as he tried to keep the creature guessing. “It ain’t happy!”

At least his warning did something,, Reyes supposed, because the yearling managed to get away with minimal damage. Well, not away away – neither of them were in the clear yet – but they were at least far enough that the owl had stopped screaming at them like all it desired was to bathe in the blood of its victims. Or something like that.

In a few long strides, the older wolf had almost caught up with Percy, though he didn’t quite recognize her. The first meeting could be called short, if it even qualified as a meeting at all. Anything he knew about Phoenix came straight from Askan’s mouth, and the beta wasn’t exactly an unbiased source. Even if they weren’t being hounded by a very persistent parent, there was a chance he still wouldn’t have recognized the yearling.

Overhead, the owl looped, giving a fierce cry before diving down again. This time, it only swooped grabbing neither Rye nor the child of the Rye – a final warning, to never come back (at least while the owlets were still in the nest) if they valued their fur. Which Reyes did. So he didn’t slow down as he and Percy raced across the palisade, only slowing after several minutes of running. His breath fell in heavy pants.

“…think…think it’s finally gone. You okay, kid?”

“I dunno, kid, ask him!”

Ay, dios mio, he was not in the mood for stupid ass questions. Frankly, after having his neck cut up and his ruff plucked, Reyes wasn’t much in the mood for anything. At least they had a healer now – Neko would be able to tell him if he oughta do anything about it, or just leave it to heal. Finally, he gave Percy a considering look – because he was pretty fucking certain this was Percy Avalon, THE Percy Avalon[/i] – and rolled his shoulders gracelessly. “Could ask you the same damn thing,” he groused, making it clear two could play that game.

Shit, after that near-death encounter with Party Owl and the resulting sprint (something a brute like himself was certainly not shaped for), he couldn’t even remember what he’d come out to the palisade for in the first place.

Reyes gave a heavy sigh, muttering unintelligible curses under his breath before glancing back at the yearling. “Seriously, chica, I asked you a fuckin’ question. Are you okay? Or do I gotta drag my new healer out here for ya, huh?” She wasn’t limping, wasn’t coughing blood, so he was pretty certain the kid was fine – but shit, how upset would Askan be if he left the kid here when he could have helped?

Reyes didn’t even bother trying to stifle the roll of his eyes – kids! He distinctly remembered his sisters being this dramatic once they were yearlings, too. It was part of the reason he didn’t have quite so many arguments when their Mama had told all three of them to part ways. The silence was an utter blessing. He missed them, though, and for a moment, he saw a Reyes staring back at him instead of an Avalon.

Just a moment, though.

“Spare me the drama, Percy, I ain’t yer damn Mama. They’re just pups. Ain’t got much personality yet.” He rolled his shoulder in a shrug, brow arched upwards. “Besides, I recruited the healer – reckon she wouldn’t mind helpin’ if I asked. But if you don’t wanna, that’s fine. Just say so.”

None of this teenage bullshit, dios mio. He was far too old for that. His tail lashed behind him as he gave Drestig’s eldest child another look; he wasn’t going to drag her back, didn’t believe in forcing a wolf to do something she didn’t want. Short of literally sitting on top of the youth, they couldn’t make her stay within the borders anyways. “Probably oughta head back. But don’t be a stranger, you hear me? Askan misses you.”