Titan was getting used to doing whatever jobs were asked of him. He'd already gone on a few hunts with Enoki and had also scouted around with the black and white she wolf sending messages to other packs. The dark Thorben had also been learning bits and pieces about medicinal herbs by himself.
The main thing that he had learned was how to find new herbs or plants that needed to be tried out. The youth had figured out that certain plants that smelled or tasted like other known herbs often times had similar properties. The dark wolf had first noticed it with arnica and goldenrod. They both had similar scents and he knew that they could both help with bruises, cuts, as well as other injuries. The same could be said for the tastes of ergot and hyssop. The ergot had a much stronger taste compared to the hyssop which was only somewhat close. However both could help out with headaches to a degree. With the hyssop only helping headaches a little while the ergot helps more greatly.
So now Titan was out looking for plants that smelled similar to others that he already knew about. However the scents of his pack mate Xetor had Titan growling a bit. He didn't like the male that he was sure about. Yet Titan knew the order of things. He was but a lowly yearling and besides, why cause trouble if he wasn't even sure how long he would stay for? It was true that Titan wanted to prove to the others that he was a strong and capable wolf, but picking a fight with someone so soon after joining looked stupid even for Titan.
Pausing in his steps and musing over the idea of challenges, Titan let his fur fluff out against the chilling wind. It was growing colder out, and after surviving last years winter Titan knew what hardships were in store for him and the pack. Better to obey for now. Nobody would do well if they went into winter with injuries or illness. Even with a pack of healers working on them.
A second more fresh scent of a she wolf crossed Titan's nose making him turn to look in the direction that it came from. The scent was coming from the border, but he couldn't quite tell if the wolf had crossed the border or not. They better have not... Titan thought as he left his plant searching job and started for the border. A short clipped howl was echoed from his black muzzle as Titan sped forward. The call was to alert his pack mates of possible danger. The call could alternately mean that "he was checking it out" so that they would know what he was doing if they wanted to go look. Titan would just make sure that the woman was over the border and not across it. He would probably get snapped at by the higher ups if the loners scent was found over the border and he hadn't done anything about it. Better safe than sorry.
Titan looks around quietly as he spots the border and approaches it. There was no she wolf in sight. However her scent was there inside of the border. Titan wrinkled his nose in a silent snarl as he looked for paw prints to determine the direction the she wolf was heading. However it was his nose that figured the trail out first. Nose to the ground following her scent, Titan dimly realized that the woman had looped around back over the border into neutral territory. She hadn't crossed into their territory for very long. Perhaps by accident? He found it a little hard to believe since there were so many wolves in the pack and each helped with border patrols and marking the trails. Xetor's pungent smell reminded Titan that the second had just checked the border himself. Unless she can't smell I doubt she seems to care that much about crossing...At least she decided to get back across. Titan thought quietly while allowing the snarl to fall from his face.
The dark wolf lifted his head to look for the she wolf who seemed to be very close. His dark blue eyes spotted the woman just outside of the territory. Annoyed with the she wolf but not condoning her to being chased off yet, Titan decided to approach the loner. His slow steps forward were confident and heavy as the large male watched for her reaction.
"Why are you here?" The short question was uttered in a low growl that vibrated through Titan's belly as he closed the distance between them.