Well, wasn't this just a dream.

Though a few other Hollowheart Keep wolves showed up, Sagacity's blood curdled the moment she caught the scent of other wolves- and her eyes flashed when she recognized Maksim. He'd been more than a match for her before, so she knew to stay clear of him now. Rather than engaging in verbal nonsense with Maksim, who seemed to think that he had more of a right to the prey than them, Naira pushed forward- to join in with Chulyin and Gent who had come onto the scene at a different angle, and were therefore able to avoid the crowd. Quicksilver shot after them, and Sagacity was impressed by her pack member's fleetness of foot, but she herself was somewhat hesitant to take action, even though her alpha female had already moved toward the herd.

She looked to Maksim. A few other wolves she did not recognize began to run after Gent and Chulyin, obviously with the aim of taking down the Hollowheart Keep wolves. And if they did that, then the caribou would get further away and none of them would eat. But she knew that if they were the ones to make the kill, they wouldn't be on it long. They'd waste their energy bringing it down and then be unable to defend it from the onlookers, especially if they had some sort of bond between the packs. Even if they didn't, with the amount of wolves which had gathered from the other packs, they'd have little to no chance of keeping their kill.

There weren't enough wolves from Hollowheart Keep to launch both a hunt and an effective defensive party, though Aponi charged one of their rivals with enough conviction to rile the sterling female up...But she was still unsure as to what she should do. Her feet pushed her forward, following Naira toward the others, but she wanted nothing more than to abandon the scene altogether. Loyalty was the only thing which kept her there.

Given that @Crowe, @Mapplethorpe and @Faol hadn't shown up, she assumed that they had chosen to remain in the woods to guard the borders- they were a formidable force to be reckoned with. But there wasn't much to guard- all caches had more or less been used up, and surely no other pack would take their territory simply because they wanted it- the hunting was no better there than it was anywhere else. So for that reason, she wished they had abandoned the packlands altogether and had come to help them. Though they would still have been outnumbered, they might at least have looked like more of a threat and might've stood more of a chance.

Her heart wasn't in the hunt- not until she saw her son flash past her, and rather than hurrying to catch up with Gent and Chulyin, he made a different choice. And she knew then what she would have to do.

Chulyin, Gent, Quicksilver and Eek were the most likely to bring down the animal. The rest of them would have to do all they could to defend their kill. So she conserved her speed and strength and held herself back, choosing instead to keep pace not far behind Naira and move in to a defensive position once the kill was made- if they even managed to bring something down.

There was a taste on the young male's tongue, new and foreign to him. He became aware of it as the other wolves began to arrive and he looked into their eyes, which bore the same, hungry, feral light that he'd seen in those belonging to the wolves he cared about. But this was different. Seeing strangers with that look of hostility not aimed toward the prey but toward his packmates brought a heavy feeling into his lungs, as though a lump of burning coal had somehow managed to manifest itself within him, made of his own blood and heartstrings. He bared his teeth and growled, flicking his sour tongue over his lips as he stepped forward when they were offended. Naira, however, hardly seemed to register the words which had been flung in their direction, and with a single glance to his mother, he knew exactly who this man was who'd made the spiteful comment. That was the man who'd hurt his mother.

Though he wanted nothing more than to take revenge, he knew it would be futile. If his mother couldn't handle Maksim, no doubt Mercy couldn't- and he had enough wolves behind him that they'd never win a fair fight, anyway. So he shot forward alongside his mother and Naira, until he saw a familiar shape charging across the clearing aiming at one of the strangers who'd been dogging Chulyin, Gent and the coal black female he didn't recognize. Though Nova was his closest friend, she was safe where she was. Aponi, on the other hand, had charged an adult female from one of the other packs- and Mercy would not see her left on her own.

So he charged forward past his mother and aimed directly toward Aponi and Kisla with the intention of forcing himself between them, should a fight break out. He would not easily allow harm to befall one of Hollowheart Keep's two heiresses.

Quick had hardly the time to pay attention to her packmates as they appeared, her attention taken by another howl sent out into the clouds by a wolf not belonging to their own. Her hackles began to raise instinctively. It was not long until some other group of wolves showed themselves. She had expected hostility on hunting grounds (no pack wanted to share) but these strangers seemed to act as though they were stepping on to a mine-ready battefield.

Her lips curled in disgust. Vultures? Filth? How disrespectful. She had no idea of the previous interaction between the wolves of their packs, but it didn't take a grudge to garner her reaction. Immediately her head rose, lips pulling back to bare her teeth against the cold wind. Anger rushed through her veins as she wondered, who are these assclowns? But Quick swallowed her fury. She wouldn't take kindly to any threat to their livelihood (and boy was this quite the show) but all this animosity growing among the wolves was sure to be noticed by the elk. If this intruding pack's absolute lack of poise scared away their one shot at a decent meal, she would eat them instead today.

They could spit whatever poisonous words they wanted to, but the wolves of Hollowheart Keep had gotten here first and it was no fault of theirs that it had taken so long for these "River wolves" to lug their asses behind. If they wanted bloodshed they'd have to get in line. First and foremost, she wanted to eat. She was not the only one with the right idea. More and more kept filtering in but her own had started aftet the bull - with enemy wolves hot on their heels.

Ignoring the spectators she raced afterward, not conservative with her effort in order to get past the river wolves. More swift of foot* than them she remained on the outskirts of their reach. It wasn't the wolves' blood that tasted so good to her. Strides long and fierce the arctic-blooded wolf breached the head of the pack, talking to one side of the bull. Though weakened by the winter its hooves were no less sharp. To avoid getting her jaw broken she reached and snapped between the lower joints of its hind leg. She felt the texture of its dark fur on her tongue, closing her jaws with a ferocious growl. She retracted at once. Alone she couldn't hold a bull, but the first bite had been made.