Wild Rye Fields off with their heads!

After an eventful two weeks away from home visiting their neighboring packs that surrounded them, even getting to steal a night with Laike which took away from her relief to be home. Nevertheless, it was nice to feel the rye against her fur and the gradually sloping hills around her. The Rye beta was back to her routine once again, perhaps back again to being uneventful. Though, she doubted such as of recently the Rye seemed to buzz with drama and action.

Today was a prime example. Only a few days after returning home, the large woman had taken to resting most mornings and perhaps would lazily patrol the borders. Her paws were just getting over being sore and worn from their constant travel. She didn't see a lot of harm to take a day or so off before getting back on the work horse again. Though, as she rounded a bend in her first real patrol since her return, the scent of foreign wolves invaded her nostrils. Flaring her nostrils, she lowed her had to the ground to get a better trail of what she can already assume as trespassers.

Growling lowly, she followed the seemingly haphazard trail until she arrived at the aftermath of the trespassers thievery. Growling once again, her nose circled the unearth cache to try to identify any scents from the thieves. Mud. A pair of loners. Lifting her head to the sky, she urgently called for the pack. They've been robbed.

It was true that Jessie had ordered him to increases his border patrols- and he had- but he was still only a man and could only do so much. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't be in multiple places at once. He couldn't mind the pups, patrol and mark the borders, as well as spend a decent amount of time tending to his own personal needs. Like moping and sleeping. Something had to give and it was just bad luck that a couple of thieves had taken advantage of chance.

He didn't know that, of course, as he bounded towards the border, having just responded to Adelayde's call with one of his own. He could tell something was wrong, her howls were usually so sing-songy and chipper, and yet this one was deep and landend with a sense of urgency only a fool would ignore. His short legs couldn't carry him fast enough, what if someone was hurt? What if it was one of the pups, or Reyes?

Oh shit, oh no no no.

He stumbled in his steps, nearly crashing face first into the ground. Anyone but him. Gathering what little shreds of self control he had left, he increased his stride and hurried on. Panicking would not help, they would deal with the situation once they got there.

Soon enough, he pushed through the long grass and arrived at Adelayde's side. There was no blood or signs of a struggle simply...A hole in the ground, where one of his caches had once been. Admittedly, it wasn't one he had used in a while. Not since he'd caught that red haired bitch trying to poke around, but it was his, theirs and someone had taken it all.

"Damn it!" He growled, no one stole from them and walked away scotfree. And yet...He knew they probably wouldn't catch the thieves. Not now anyway."I bet they're long gone, if they know what's good for them."

He bowed down and sniffed at the dirt again, before he looked up at his equal.

"We need to find the others, make sure everyone is okay." He ordered, falling into his role as easy as breathing."Maybe they saw something, or better yet recognise the scent."

Something was happening. There was always something happening. And he didn't really understand the reasoning behind the original howl nor the almost immediate response but he jumped into action anyway. Because the last time someone howled it was Drestig calling a pack meeting. He didn't want to risk being late or missing the event in it's entirety. But even as he approached he realized that it wasn't the case.

Adelayde and Askan.

His pace slowed and his tail offered a friendly wag. Like he totally knew what was going on and that everything was okay because of it. But the closer he got the more ignorant he felt. Because there was a hole in the ground. He didn't understand the big deal. There were plenty of those around pack territory! He was probably even the cause of most of them. Unless it was a cache? His mouth was moving before he could make sense of his own thoughts.

"What's happeni—" It fell into place.

That was a cache. It was empty. There was mud all over the place and something about it smelled off. Everyone seemed angry.

His tail stopped wagging and his face went still. Because they were stolen from, weren't they? Unless Askan and Adelayde were arguing about who ate their cache. But he was pretty sure that wasn't the case. He took a quick step back. Like he already didn't want to be involved. Who the heck would steal from a pack's cache? They must have been pretty hungry. Rude, too. Which didn't make sense because they probably could have just asked. There was more than enough to share! He wouldn't mind offering some really hungry wolf some food before sending them on their way.

It didn't work with Saros but—

"Oh." He wondered if this was it. If he somehow caused this. Was the universe really that cruel? Or was it just bad luck and coincidence? Either way he took another step back away from the crime scene. He sure hoped it was just paranoia and panicky thoughts leading him down a very uncomfortable road.