Steady pawsteps thudded without thought as the lowly tawny wolf made her way about the perimeter, always on high alert, seeking the first hint of danger...

They would stay safe.

In another time, perhaps in another place, she would be leisurely hanging about the den, keeping a watchful eye on her brood... But only one truly knew her as their mother, and she wasn’t about to destroy the perfectly happy lie the others had created in her absence, and so she busied herself at a distance.

Her presence had seemed to upset the pack. More importantly it seemed to upset all the women she had missed the most. She struggled to comprehend just how they had come to the assumption that she had willingly abandoned them. It tore at her insides until there was little left but an aching, gaping hole where her family had once been. If it wasn’t for Adonis, she would have taken herself back over the mountain. Datura and Bella didn’t need her. Nobody here needed her... except him. Even Rhysis had forsaken her.

She was working herself into a mood. At least the pang of hunger no longer clawed at her gut like it once had. Her sides had filled and she was once again an imposing mountain of a wolf for a female, well muscled from the harsh terrain, although scars still littered her pelt. Of course there were males that were larger but she was yet to meet a female even close to her size.

The scent that brushed her nose was an affront on her senses. Someone had been foolish enough to cross the border and they were headed towards the den. She raced forwards, her hackles on edge as she analyzed the scent closer. Young. Male. Was this another who hadn’t been taught the importance of remaining outside the borders until you were invited in? Was he going to harm her young? She knew the path he would be taking and so she looped around to put herself defensively between the direction in which the den and her children laid and the intruder.

She almost barreled headlong into the stranger, his mocha coat lacking the tones of silver, creme and gold that littered her splendiferous cloak. Her tail arched over her back instinctively, a flash of the queen who was, still lurking somewhere deep. She stopped within lunging distance, her hackles on edge and her teeth exposed. He was young. She would give him the chance to retreat a safer distance, or she would teach him a lesson he would never forget. Her growl spoke more than a million words ever could.