The salt and peppered wolf stalked forwards, looking for something to take her frustration out on. Something she could add to the stores against the impending blanket of white that was so swiftly approaching. She moved through the cedar trees with fleet footed purpose, going about her self assigned duties as a hunter for the pack. Someone had to help keep the caches full.

As she passed the border, she took note of the scents that remained. So it had come to this. With winter on their doorstep they had been abandoned by the men of the pack... Well, all but two, but she had always preferred to steer well clear of the male lead and second. There was no rhyme or reason behind it... Men just made her even more flighty... well, all but Alexander, and that nice black wolf on the mountain that left her almost a whole goat as a loner. Perhaps one day she would wander up there and try to find him again...

But this left her in a predicament. As much as she liked Sibyl, they were sisters in arms after all, having chased off that angry bobcat... She couldn’t help but shake the feeling, after the way the other woman had panicked even more than she had, that she could do a better job of being second, even as flighty as she was. She didn’t want to be second, but the pack was desperately short of members, the adults only outnumbering the young by two.

That was a lot of mouths to feed.

There had been the bobcat, that crazy black woman who had taken a chunk of her hide... She would always have a scar but at least it was healing nicely enough that it didn’t effect her running. She needed to be able to run to hunt. As she thought back over her autumn the realisation dawned on her. With a pack to protect her and young to protect, she was gaining back a little of her confidence. Perhaps she could be the wolf she was before...

It was unusual for her to be so deep in thought that she didn’t catch a scent, but this was one of those times. There was still another wolf to meet in her pack and she was about to walk right over the top of her.

"speech"

‘Hey -’ the voice came out of nowhere and old instincts kicked in. With a frantic yelp, the small wolf flipped to her back, landing heavily next to the neat line of small prey the wolf she had almost trampled over had arranged so precisely. Her heart thundered in her chest, and her head ached from the sudden impact as she observed the younger wolf from her prone position. Perhaps her previous train of thought had been unfounded. She was still very much a frightened little wolf in a big, scary world.

With a nervous chuckle and a lopsided grin, she rolled to her stomach as the scent of the girl washed over her. She was one of theres, and while she may have taken submitting to those who ranked higher than her just a little drastically at that moment, it never hurt to make sure both they, and you knew your position, right?

Her tail thumped on the ground happily as she took note of the work the young girl had managed on her own. It was good to know she wasn’t the only one worried about the food situation. “Uh- Sorry about that...” she apologised with a sheepish grin as she rose to her short height and shook the debris from her fur. “I’m Ani.” She offered meekly in introduction. Perhaps if the girl wasn’t too upset, they could track down something larger, to fill all their bellies.