Ghastly Woods metus

For the past few days and nights, Mapplethorpe had barely slept, only seeking solace and moments of slumber whenever Naira allowed him near to rest beside her. Even in the heart of Hollowheart Keep he felt the roving stare of those prying, sinister eyes. In the warmth of the summer, he still shivered, shaken and unnerved by the idea that someone had permeated his borders and crept into the shadows of the towering, crooked trees. He left his mate and cubs to their afternoon nap and soon found himself just beyond the markers he only visited on a 'good' day.

He lifted his leg, touching the tips of his right hind leg against the knotted bark and claiming the tree as apart of his territory. The fur along his neck stood on end; a sort of ringing in his ears became louder as he struggled to listen to the shadowed world around him. As quickly as he could whirl around, to cat his yellow-eyed gaze over his tawny shoulder, he stared at the gaps between the trees. His breaths came in ragged puffs that exited his mouth and throat as though he had just sprinted from one side of the grove to the other. His heart hammered in his chest and he hiccuped as he tried to calm himself. Chulyin, Couth, and the new subordinate that Naira had accepted had to be around here somewhere... and if they were around, surely, they would have seen the trespasser and chased them out. Right He nodded his head with a 'Right.' that resounded in his mind.

Right.

Tearing his gaze away from his surroundings, he focused on the land in front of him. Nothing and no one had been there, he assured himself. There was no one there... One more deep inhale and exhale and the patriarch picked up his leisurely pace again, on the lookout for anything that might have been out of place on the edges of his domain.

@Mapplethorpe

He was comfortable in his position, accepting of the fact that he sat beneath Chulyin in rank and physique--one he could change the he had no choice-- and wandered his home with a new batch of herbs in his jaws. Since summer he had picked up his foraging and took to roaming just outside of the pack border to find rare plants before he would return home, hoping that nothing was amiss and eventually the stench of Sagacity would grow stronger. He'd noticed the faintness, wondered if perhaps she'd grown sick with illness or wandered off on a scout mission toward the far out reaches of the land; he only hoped that eventually she would return. Without Saga, Couth was but a clumsy and insecure wolf who had little talent besides his ability to heal through herbs, and he felt he hardly deserved the rank as third but he would not complain. Below him sat a new subordinate he was indifferent toward, the first wolf to join their pack since his acceptance and he felt a sigh of relief wash over him; there would be less tension between the remaining males.

At least that was his logic and he believed it strongly as he approached the border of his home and stopped only once the scent of his leader crossed his nostrils. He had seen little of his leader since his acceptance beside the informal meetings at the cache or near the watering pool, otherwise he had stayed to himself and gave his leaders the space they needed to run the pack. Today happened to be the off chance that he would encounter the alpha male. He clenched his herbs in his jaws, feeling the wet his tongue, as he approached Mapplethorpe with caution, checking to make sure his posture was submissive and his eyes averted. "Hello sir," he spoke, ears pressed against his skull as he waited for the male's response.

"Hello sir," the voice of another, Couth - he was able to discern - as well as the brute's cautious but still sudden appearance had caught Mapplethorpe off-guard. He shuffled painfully away to one side, trembling as he took in the sight of the submissive man. The Leader took a wary step forward, his paw shaking in mid-air before he brought it back to the ground. It was a good thing the ivory male's eyes had been focused elsewhere. Regardless of what Mapplethorpe's parents, particularly his mother, had believed and taught him, he was still of the mind to think that a pack was only as strong as their weakest member... and, at present, being the oldest of all of the Hollowheart Keep wolves, that would be him. And, being wracked with anxiety was not something he wanted anyone but Naira to see.

He clenched his teeth, attempting to mask the pain he felt with a scowl. "Couth," he addressed, his tone sounding as though he were out of breath. "What is it?" His goldenrod eyes raked over the subordinate, only remaining on the herbs for so long before trying to read the rest of the pale man's body language. "What do you want?" he then pried, seizing the opportunity to draw as much information as he could from the Medic.

The bristled fur along his neck and back kept upright, his back and joints much too stiff for him to even relax at all. He winced as he took another step to the side, his gaze never leaving Couth's respectfully poised figure, "Did you... Did you see someone?"