Blackmoore had spent most of the time on the borders of the willow ridge as of late. After all, it had been the height of the unpleasant coyote business, and nobody could say for sure when it would end. Or who would come around the borders seeking refuge from the scourge. Hence why the dark male have been more active here than anywhere else in the pack. Going as far as beyond the borders to keep a close tab on the moves of the vermin. Sometimes he'd would get lucky and find a single scoundrel scouting up the borders, thus focused towards the willow ridge. The dark male have tried to use that to his advantage multiple times, but so far no cigar. He was a tad too big for this game it seemed. At best he'd would end up with a tuft of fur between his chops but otherwise he was successful only in that he'd managed to disrupt any attempts at scouting out the borders by the smaller 'cousins'... If one could call them like that, taking in the fact that so far it seemed like an attempt on a hostile take-over.

That however have been only part of the truth why the male had been here so much as of late. After all, the birthing of pups had sent ripples that had affected him as well. In the male's case however, harboring a particular interest in one of the freshly anointed mothers meant quite an emotional ride. And Blackmoore felt best at dealing with the facts alone. Trying to figure out what could have been done. Besides, it would be simply unbecoming of him to try to nose himself in right now, which he'd could inevitably do if he'd tried to spent his days close to the dens. As they say, curiosity is a first step to hell. While the male have been the one that was supposedly entirely respectable... At least to a point, as his desires could lead him towards quite a war somewhere down the road - though that have not been known to him yet. Though maybe he'd would already suspect it, knowing that nothing comes for free and without struggle.

Failing to find any fresh tracks near the borders of the willow ridge, the male have eventually decided to direct himself back towards the pack that have so graciously invited him. The dark male have set out way before the sun have even rose up above the ridges of the mountains to the east, so by now Blackmoore felt a little sore and worn out. Especially since that temperatures have begun to rise significantly almost on a daily basis, though it was still getting quite chilly during the nights. The weather have been quite unassuming today however, keeping its options open. Like a good poker player that have hide it's cards behind a loose base of clouds that could either gave way to the clear skies or transform into the iron skies that would only promise rain. If not more...

The male have shook his mane and gave a soft sigh as his paws took him lazily over the border. A soft rumble down his belly have reminded him of the fact that he'd missed on breakfast so far. Perhaps it had been the time to do something about it?

The male soldiered on from the border, slowly, without any rush to be seen in his moves. After all, the man felt safe here - armed in the knowledge that only a grand number of really desperate coyotes would even dare to attempt crossing over the vibrantly marked border of the willow ridge. To Blackmoore it was now a time for some R and R, or to put it blatantly - time for brief respite and relaxation from the chores that the man imposed on himself so willingly. Perhaps it had been his character that loathed sluggards and lazybones to the core. Or maybe something else, something more ulterior in his motives for doing so. It was hard to say, maybe it was both at the same time - just driving the man to be worthy of acceptance from others as well as just from one person in particular. The time will tell.

Right now however, the dark male had been trying to figure out what he'd should do, aside from finally having a breakfast, with the time he had on his paws. The male had been so lost in the thought he'd almost missed on the manikin of a wolf that had been watching him for a moment as the man was closing the distance. In a sudden rush of anxiety the man realized he'd might have been taken for being impolite by so he'd opened his maw to say some form of greeting. However the man could only close it shut as the packmate before him had spoke first, rebuking him in a way for doing his job. The man stopped, raising his head in a slight surprise over the tone of the words he'd just heard. Only then really realizing how great of a size difference there was between the two.

"I think that I'm able to take care of myself, thank you." He'd spoke with a pretty neutral voice considering the rebuke that he'd just heard from the smaller wolfess. Blackmoore only did saw her briefly once or twice before, so he'd knew next to nothing about the woman at which he'd been currently looking from above - thanks to his size. It wasn't tho that she'd had been wrong, but unlike the smaller female - Blackmoore was fairly capable of holding out against the coyotes on his own. And if he couldn't - he wasn't that stupid to go far enough to be unable either to dash to safety or call for backup, even if the latter would be frowned upon. "But yes, I know. You could say that it had been me that brought the news, you know?" The male picked up with a lighter tone, as he lowered his head down to not tower over the female so much. Looking into her brown eyes, he added a little more seriously. "It's happening all over the place, not just to us."

The reaction he'd got out from a smaller female had quite honestly perplexed the way larger male. It wasn't something that the man had expected, after hearing her own words that he'd took, quite frankly, for a rebuke for him trying to do the good job. Sure, the male would agree that there was a danger out there but the male wasn't going out of his way to get hurt. Sure, he'd go beyond the border to scare the spying vermin, but he wasn't even going that far to be in a much of danger. By his eye, quite honestly the smaller female before him could do the same if not far better than him - utilizing her smaller size to get a better jump on the singled out scoundrels. But of course that would cross his mind a little later, as for now the man had simply raised his eyebrows in a slight confusion just before the woman herself had spoke again in response.

"Yeah, while I'm trying to put some fear into those coyotes. So if any of the kids will feel adventurous in the future - they won't be jumped instantly upon crossing the border." He said in return, easing up on his tone quite a bit as slight confusion had crept into the tunes of his voice. "Look, I'm not endangering myself more than it is necessary okay?" The male continued, while lowering himself enough to not look from above upon the female that could be easily twice as small as he was. "I'm not even going that far to not be able to return on my own. I should be safe at least till 'they' grow up beyond half of my size." A soft chuckle escaped his maw as the male relaxed a little while trying to imagine such overgrown coyote - it would had to be a wolf mutt surely. The idea seemed to be quite improbable to him however. "I feel it's my duty to at least try do something about the current situation you know? And you can't do that without taking some risks every now and then. One can be however conscious about how he's going to take those risks..." He felt that way for many reasons. Starting with a one in a silver coat...

"I'm Blackmoore."

The man didn't knew how well his explanation had sat with the petite woman in front of him. But honestly, he didn't cared either as he'd spoke the truth. It was all that mattered to him in this regard, that said however - he could understand from where Enia was coming. Their perspectives differed, both in a proverbial and literal way, but that had been okay with him. He was doing what perhaps only a few in the ridge could, and he was doing it for the others. A man like him didn't expect nor demanded recognition for that. And a bit of critique could prove helpful sometimes. 

In other words, the man would respectfully 'agree to disagree' with her on this issue.

Seeing that Enia wasn't going to budge, the man chuckled just before she'd spoke. "Well, if I screw it up I'll have nobody else to blame than myself. I understand the concern though, it's very thoughtful of you." He smiled politely towards the smaller female. "But I got to do this if I'm ever going to be a guardian." Which had been true, after all by this point the dark male had been questioned about this by the leading male himself. Though Blackmoore suspected that his counterpart had dabbled a paw in it as well. Neither had surprised him, after all that was pretty much what any leader had seen in him since he'd grown up. Some things never change, as they say.

"Likewise." The man responded, despite the soft argument that they just had. She was simply concerned and the man wasn't going to think ill of her for doing so. Thus he didn't minded and he had genuinely thought so as he'd spoke - adorning it with a brief smile. It was good to get to know your packmates after all. "Sadly I have only arrived here in the past month." He continued, as his maw looked to the side briefly as his eyes mused upon the surroundings. "I had been tied up north for the most part of the winter." And what had come after it - but that the man had left out and said it only within the confines of his head.

Blackmoore didn't knew what kind of answer he was expecting to hear, but he'd knew that the one his cream tipped ears had heard coming from Enia wasn't the one. Honestly, it had been quite the opposite of it all, as she'd skillfully disarmed the whole argument with a just few seemingly naive words. The male had found himself quite confused for a brief part of a second honestly, as one could say she'd threw the rug from under his feet - proverbially of course. But it didn't last any more than that, though perhaps she'd would notice the change before the male had regained his composure.

With a chuckle, partially to himself, partially to the world, the male would smile briefly before speaking again. "Sure, I suppose so." How could he stay "mad" on somebody like that right? No matter did she'd truly posses a silver tongue or was it just a fluke from her. Quite honestly, the dark wolf had begun to simply enjoy the predicament she'd put him in. Not literally of course, but it was nice to see a friendly face like hers. "Not sure though how it will work out yet." He added after a brief moment of thought as Blackmoore was still working things out.