The queen had been hard at work all day to keep herself busy in order to keep her mind from wandering to different locales such as what the future would bring and whether or not she'd be able to hold her throne. She tried no to worry but the earthy hued woman found that to be difficult. She had a true friend in Ace and a long standing relation with a family member, Heigen, to support her within the pack but other than that she felt in complete disarray. Did Phineas approve of her as leading beside him? Had he rooted against her? Perhaps she was just being paranoid but as a new wolf to the job she felt she had a right to be nervous. She took a deep breathe as she continued on with her hunt through the winter snow that laid fresh upon the ground. It was later at night but she did some of her best work at night as she was able to creep up on prey without being seen.

She had been following fresh rabbit tracks within the snow - it was odd for such creatures to be out in colder conditions as she was fairly sure they were supposed to be sleeping or something - especially at night. She crept forward until she had the rabbits in her crosshairs before rushing forward. She figured bringing back some rabbits for the caches would be best seeing as the winter winds were settling into their home within the mountains and the heights fairly fast. She wasted no time in rushing the rabbits and capturing one within her powerful jaws. One bite was all it took to end it's terrified looks and fast-paced heartbeat. She would take it back to the den. Perhaps she would give it to a wolf whom she had been having issues with in the past. Perhaps she'd give it to Seraphina or maybe Aestyn for being such a worthy competitor. She knew that before too long there would be a call for her and she would have to defend her title once more. She prayed she had a few more days if not a few more weeks before that happened.

The emerald eyes of Aesire tracked her paw prints back towards the den. She buried the rabbit in the fresh laid snow as a coat to protect the small cache that she had just created. With a deep breathe she decided to go for a walk. There was an obviously troubled look on her face. She shouldn't care about what others thought of her because she knew she was doing which she thought was best but she did not know what to do all the same. What could she do with so much tension amoungst the ranks when most of it had seemingly been started by her? She would figure things out with time. Storm clouds rolled in overhead when she realized - dark times were coming.

A familiar voice stirred the queen from her troublesome thoughts as she turned to see the darker tawny woman who went by @Seraphina asking if she could join the leader. This interaction was certainly going better than their last one had gone. Aes dipped her head in greeting back to the femme. "I'd love some company myself, Phina." She had stuck to the nickname the woman had presented herself with at their first meeting with a small smile. Perhaps she could fix one tense relationship... or at least make it less tense than it was. The woman who was quite good at controlling her emotions and feelings by locking them behind a steel wall gave her a friendly smile as she continued her walk. "How have you been faring? I hope you've been doing well." She showed concern for the woman. She knew what it was like to be upset and nervous and tense.

In the back of her mind, Aes was running probabilities and theorizing on timelines as to when the beta would challenge her for her rank. That particular challenge was going to be a looming thundercloud over her head but until that challenge, she would just keep doing what she could to make sure the pack ran smoothly as was expected of her. Her focus then pushed away the thoughts after she determined she probably had another week or so and she focused on the woman who was walking with her. Was Phina thinking of challenging the third ranked female which Aes still had yet to meet? Who was the third ranked female? Aes could vaguely remember hearing a name. It was something along the lines of Desmona or perhaps it had been Desdemona? It was one of those for sure. Eitehr way, Aesire was curious.

Two different things happened at once and Aesire did not even flinch. She carried out her conversation with Seraphina as the woman whom she was in a rather tense relationship with said she had been good. Aestyn entered the scene and Aesire shared her smile with the both of them. "I'm glad to hear it Phina and I'm sorry that I was a bit rude the first time we had talked, I just had a lot on my mind and had reverted back to a certain nature I had abandoned a while ago." She figured the apology and explanation would do good to make the peace, or at least she had hoped. She then turned her attention to Aestyn as she spoke once more a greeting.

"Good evening Aestyn. I hope you too have been well?" She asked mainly because she knew that all of them had been in rough shape after the tournament. No wolves had seen her for medical help and for that she had been grateful since she only knew the very basics. "What brings the two of you out this evening?" She was often curious of what others wolves did and how they though and now was a time to learn how her two biggest rivals, rankwise at least, were faring. This exchange would hopefully be remunerative for all parties involved. She also hoped that a random rank challenge did not break out because of this encounter. She was honestly shocked that Aestyn had not made a reach for the crown already.

She never knew what to expect with these two so there was a certain level of caution in her, though not visible.