They had spent the day at the charred remains of the giant tree before slinking home some time during the night. Since then they had always been within sight of each other. She was curled close to the large dark wolf, the moon was high in the sky, yet to begin it's downward decent to signify the sun was on its way. The tawny lady awoke with a start, eyes wide with realisation as she noted her slowly changing scent. They were out of time.

Rhysis was yet to inform her of his plans, and so she had already resigned herself to the life of a lone parent once the time came, knowing full well her pups chances at survival were slim. Sitting up slowly she nudged the dark male at her side gently, allowing her scent to wash over him first in the hopes his subconcious mind would recognise her smell before he lashed out at her. "We have to leave. Now..." she whispered urgently, well aware of what would eventuate if Corinna caught her quickly changing scent before morning.

Raising herself from his still half asleep form, she slunk from her den, happy to believe that if he didn't come now, he would be more than capable of catching her up. She couldn't stay here now, not a minute longer. She headed straight for the Wildwood. When the dark form following her veered off in a different direction she assumed he was splitting their scents so it wouldn't be discovered they had both left until later in the day. If only she knew.

She refused to flat out bolt from the place she had come to call her home, but that didn't mean she was going to casually stroll out either. Her ground eating pace covered the distance between her old den and the hidden tree before the moon had finished setting, and she waited. Hoping against hope that Rhysis would stalk forwards from the shadows soon, after all, he had said he would never leave her again. Her anxiety was beginning to build. What would she do if he didn't show up?

He felt someone nudging him. At first he thought he had been dreaming about it and ignored it, until the nudging grew more impatient and forceful. With a grunt, he opened one silvery eye and saw Naira standing by the entrance to the den they had slept together within. Around him, a variety of scents, plants and herbs dangled here and there, giving the den a sweet smell, but there was no mistaking Naira’s own musk in the mix. He hadn’t realised he’d been sleeping so well. Perhaps it was the mixture of herbs here, maybe purposely laid out to induce sleep, or perhaps it was because he was sleeping next to her. Either way he was awake now. He hadn’t quite caught what she said, but something had changed with in the den. It wasn’t the same place he had fallen asleep within. Something didn’t smell right...

We have to leave. Now.”. The words she had spoken came crashing back to him. He wasn’t sure why, he was not exactly well versed in what happened next but she was obviously panicked and he wasn’t going to doubt anything she said. In an instant, he was up on his feet and trailing out of the den. He escaped its boundaries just in time to see the silvery female slip into the shadows at a quick pace. Something was up, but it appeared the most important thing to do at this moment was to run.

Then it hit him. Like a ton of bricks. That smell. Her fleeing. She had conceived. ”Shit.” he said out loud, a mixture of a cuss and a snarl. Panic settled into his skin. He didn’t know what to do, he wasn’t well versed in looking after pups. Of course, they were his, he was their father and was going to drag them up, but he was going to need help. His mind flashed through all of the faces he knew and settled on one. Athena. He thrust his head up and let a howl slip out into the night hair. He called to her. She had to be here, somewhere on the pack lands. Whilst they had kept their distance, it was best for their future plans, he was now calling her. The time to leave was now. He needed all of the help he could get. As soon as the message was sent he bolted after Naira. His long limbs eating the terrain behind him.

As the scents of the River wolves began to fade he paused again. He could smell Naira upon the air, but he couldn’t see her. He would track her down in a moment, but he had another wolf to call upon for help. Ava. Again, he threw his head pack and called her name within a howl. They had arranged to meet in these woods, but with Naira on the run he had to catch her first. She would have to find and follow his trail. As he fell silent he inhaled the air before he headed off in the direction Naira had left in. He had to track her down, calm her down... no, calm himself down. Shit he didn’t know what to do. All he knew was he had to find her and they had to leave these lands, tonight... right now.

She had begun to pace in exactly the same place Rhysis had a few mornings before. Between them both they were wearing an almost unrepairable path of destruction about the base of the large tree. What was taking him so long? Almost resigning herself to leave, alone, the sound of approaching footsteps was enough to put her on edge. There was more than one of them, and they had the breeze on their side..

Taking the safer option, she retreated into the base of the hollowed charred tree, at least that way they couldn't attack her from behind. She was ready to fight for not only her life, but those that were already growing inside her.

From a split in the trunk she saw the three wolves approach. One was white, and two were black. Finally within sniffing distance, she recognised Rhysis's scent, and another familiar wolf, Athena... but the third she did not know. In her current stressed state, she was not in the best of moods and stalked forward from her hiding place, eyes for nobody but Rhysis. "What is going on?" she questioned quietly, clearly confused by the presence of two other females when they were meant to be fleeing for their lives.

It took a moment to dawn on her, exactly what it was he was planning. She didn't need his explanation. A simple bump to his cheek before walking forwards and greeting the two other females in a similar fashion. A small smile for the familiar female and welcoming warm one for the younger darker female. "Naira. she whispered in greeting. It was all they would have time for now. They may have jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, but at least they had each other.

"We have to keep moving." she said to nobody in particular, but aiming it at each and every one of the gathered, including herself. It was high time the conspirators made their way well beyond the reach of the soon to be gnashing teeth of the River wolves. For their own sakes they wanted to be well clear of the Wildwood by the time the sun finally broke the horizon.

Finally his female fell into view, pacing beneath the tree where this had all began. As he snaked from the shadows he walked up to her, strong, confident and bumped his head against her chin. A message of confidence and something more within it. Though outside he might be feeling certain, inside he was hoping that he would soon hear the tell tale signs of two other wolves joining them. Without them, this would all fall to pieces.
He didn’t have to wait long until his ears caught the thundering of paws. It was a monotonous sound, a rhythmic pounding upon the floor. With it came a gust of scent, alerting him that Ava was coming. He knew he could rely on the girl. His first impression of her had been right and as she came into view, looking a little healthier then she had before, though not too much, he had made the right choice in recruiting her. He offered her a small smile and a nod in greeting, but didn’t move from Naira’s side. Afterall, this was the first time they were all meeting and should anything go wrong, she would be the one he protected.

They didn’t have to wait long until the little white wolf arrived. Athena. He glanced towards Naira. He assumed she would recognise their fellow pack mate and hoped she wouldn’t feel worse about her leaving too. They were all going to be in big trouble for abandoning their pack. Whilst the pack had been forming, slowly, they could have done it the correct way. Thanked the leaders for their kindness, said their goodbyes and left... it had all changed with Naira’s scent. He couldn’t risk her staying there and she knew that. Sure, they could have just exiled the pair and he had his backup pack waiting of course, but they could also have attacked Naira and whilst he might be a warrior at heart, his logical head told him the odds of him fighting off at least 5 other wolves were slim. This was the best action to take, flee into the night and hope that they would get far enough away that the trackers would lose them.

He released a breath he didn’t realise he had been holding as Naira asked what was going on. The relief came as he saw her face change, realising just what was happening here. As she introduced herself he remained silent as the shadow. ”You know Athena.” he then said, nodding his head in the direction of the little white wolf. ”And this is Ava.” he said then offering a tilt in the skinny black wolf’s direction. ”They’ve been waiting for us... for you.” he said, then looking at Naira. ”I was hoping to make this a little less dramatic but well, time doesn’t wait for any wolf.”

Naira’s next comment was right. She was too panicked to small talk and she was right, they did need to get moving. ”We move as a group. I will lead, Naira I want you to follow me. Athena stick close to Naira and Ava you can take up the rear. You don’t have the scent of a River wolf and you may help to mask it.” he said, then stepping forwards as he continued to speak with his strong, confident southern accent. ”We walk through every source of water we can find. We have to scatter our trail as best we can. They may come after us and we do not want to lead them to our new home.” Though he hadn’t actually told anyone where it was yet. He wasn’t bothered about keeping it a surprise, but should one of these wolves change their mind along the way, he didn’t need them knowing about it. ”Let’s move.” he said, before he tore off in the direction that the tall Riddle Heights loomed in. Within the darkness, he seemed almost invisible but his scent was as strong as his determination as he lead the wolves home.