The twins had made their way into the world a little less than a fortnight ago and the mother and father - though strained had been nothing but doting on them. Serach stood guard at her den and Aponi nursed dutifully, calling the father in when their eyes had opened just the day before. They could still hardly see now but they were on their paws and stumbling about the den, yipping and babbling nonsense from the time they wake up until the time that they fall back to sleep against her belly. It would still be weeks before they could wean off of her milk and onto meat but the Donata couldn’t help but think it couldn’t come fast enough, they were already chewing her raw.

So, after a particularly painful round of nursing they had fallen into their slumber and Aponi had called for one of the yearlings. A reluctant Mabel had appeared and while she had looked disgusted and taken aback at the request of taking her mother’s place until they woke up she had agreed. The silver woman had slipped out of the den and headed straight out of the territory at a quick lop, needing to put as much space between her and the pups as she could before being called back to duty. It wasn’t that she didn’t love them, because she did, she just needed a little room to breath even if it was only for an hour.

Aponi headed with no particular destination in mind and as the dog got thicker she barely even noticed, she was used to it’s ghostly presence by now. It was only the large moose head surrounded by the stones that gave her pause. Had this always been here so close to the territory?

The alpha didn’t hear Chamomile’s hum or see his flicked tail while she was walking away, intrigue getting the best of her. She didn’t know who left this or why but Aponi found herself sorely wishing that she did. It just didn’t make any sense and the closer she got the less sense it made. A circle of stones and a moose head, what did any of it mean? Silver paws paused when she reached the ring, not sure whether or not she should cross the clearly marked border for whatever it was.

It was her subordinate’s teasing words that pushed her over the edge, and with a sly grin cast his way Aponi stepped boldly over the stones. Sniffing the moose head over she lifted one single paw and placed it on the crown of the skull, ”Or maybe we should take the centerpiece.” Her words were full of humor, she clearly wasn’t really going to take the skull even if the pups would surely love it.

It had been a long time since Aponi had felt so lighthearted and free, out here she didn’t have to be a leader or a mate or a mother. She could steal a moose skull and waltz it home or she could so somersaults in the grass and nobody could say anything. There was no pressure, and it was so freeing.

Perhaps Aponi had thought too soon about how free she was out here near the moose skull. Because she had hardly formed the thought in her mind and noticed Chamomile’s sly grin before her silver ears flipped backwards in surprise. The Bend had been aware of how aggressive the coyotes had become thanks to Mabel’s run in with them and the information she had garnished from her Edge friend. But, the alpha almost hadn’t believed it, surely it had only been a story that had been exaggerated by the yearlings. They had probably run into a few coyotes - who truthfully were more abundant than normal - who had hesitated for a moment instead of running and the teens got spooked.

Yet, the sound of so many vermin together howling at some undetermined distance made her tail stiffen. Perhaps she had been too quick to dismiss her daughter’s story as that of a child talking themselves up. Blue eyes narrowed in the direction that the sound had come in, they certainly weren't here attacking them but they were trying to send a message. Aponi was ready to send one of her own back, they were after all the larger more dominant canines but before she could even lift her head a familiar voice echoed into the clearing.

Shit. Now Corsair was out here somewhere in the wolves and if what Mabel had said was true then he could be in real danger. This time there was no hesitation and her muzzle lifted to the sky with a bold howl. It was a message to the coyotes that they shouldn’t be so brass and also to her son to let him know where they were. He shouldn’t have been to far from them.