The black River wolf rarely ceased in his patrols of the pack borders, and therefore he was well aware of nearly every event that took place so close to home. Strangers abounded, attracted to the new settlement and seeking a refuge from the bitter season, but there were also those whose scent only came so close before its trail vanished, betraying their return to wherever they had come from. These were always a slight bother to Hati, but since Maksim's scent always mingled with theirs he never sought answers to the riddles. Their leader knew what he was doing, and for this Hati was content.

He was in the process of tracking down a snowshoe hare's fresh trail, his heart set on a warm meal rather than the frozen meat from the caches, when a gentle howl caught his attention. It was a note he had never heard before, and immediately the River subordinate knew that it was another wolf seeking entrance to the pack. Though the decision to abandon his chase was difficult, in no time he bounded towards the source of the call making no sound. It took little more than a minute to reach where he believed the woman to have howled from and her scent hit him suddenly, confirming the location. Hati's one golden eye roved the area, searching for the outsider. Her pelt that matched his own stood out against the bright snow drifts making her easy to spot.
With the black female in his sights, Hati turned to face her full on with his head and tail raised to display the total dominance he had over this stranger, his eye burning with expectation and mistrust. As always, he remained silent, giving plenty of room for the loner to speak her piece.

If he had to define the dark female in one word, it would be friendly. Her body language, though satisfactorily submissive, was bursting with excitement and the need to simply talk and be happy. Her mouth was bubbling with nonsense, but Hati didn't really mind. Though his expression of total seriousness never wavered, he secretly enjoyed the way Pennyroyal overflowed with words. It was something he would never know.

There were a few words that Hati recognized in the woman's barrage, mostly her mention of Aeolus and Lachesis, both of whom he knew of, though her personal description of the latter did not exactly fit his own. As he listened to her bubble over he wondered how Maksim would react to her initial speech—would he find it disrespectful, or let her obnoxiousness slide as she portrayed obvious and, Hati believed, genuine interest in becoming one of the River wolves. His eye took on a distant fog during the short pause Penny made, but snapped back to attention once she continued. Once she stopped all he could do was stare for a moment before a humorous, idiotic grin spread across his face and he shook his head, no. Demontes was an entirely foreign name to him...though for a moment he wished it were true. If someone from his old life could come, and just whisper his name, his true name, so that he could be called by it again. Pain and regret flickered in his eye for a moment then, and the smile vanished. Maksim or Astra needed to arrive...and soon.

A sour taste had built up in the silent wolf's mouth as his eye remained fixed on the overly-talkative stranger. At first Pennyroyal's senseless rambling he found refreshing, but the woman was beginning to get pushy, prodding him with her words from every direction. Hati was careful to hide his emotions and simply stared with a steel expression. When the Baskerville female eventually tried to shut herself up (and failed) by asking Hati for his name, an awkward moment was avoided as a large agouti male of great strength and powerful stature stepped from the shadows, waving his tail like a banner of leadership.

As Maksim Baranski drew up beside Hati's smaller figure, the subordinate assumed a more submissive posture by lowering his head and tail slightly, as well as flicking an ear in his alpha's direction as thanks. He did not wish to seem sulky, but Pennyroyal's words had greatly dampened his spirits and there was no stopping the indifferent, even dark look that shown in his single eye. He studied her carefully, just as he was sure the larger wolf beside him did, coming to personal conclusions about her usefulness to the pack. They already had a well abled medic whose skills Hati had recently encountered for himself. They did not need greater numbers to hunt large prey, for no herds could be found anyway.

As Maksim introduced himself as well as Hati, the latter could not help but feel some pride at his superior's statement and it showed in his eye, though his posture did not waver. Pennyroyal began a second rant, this time about herself and her own abilities. When she mentioned her skill at procuring plants needed for medicinal practices even in this death-like season, he couldn't help but wonder if she would indeed be of great use to the pack. However her comment regarding her diet had him narrowing his eye indifferently; she was not the only wolf who wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of sweet berries, though he wondered what it was exactly that she planned on happily digesting when none were growing. Tree bark?