Wildflower nodded, looking at the pups and padding towards them. Before she could even get a word in Dodge was up, running after a small little squirrel. She shook her head and picked him up by his ruff, his small little legs still moving. She set him down next to Autumn, and licked his head. "Maybe when you're older I'll teach you to hunt. For now it's time for us to rest." She pawed Dodge gently holding him down, with a forceful intent in her eyes. "I don't want to be rude, but I'll use some force if I have to." She turned her attention to Autumn, who seemed unnaturally sad for her age. "Autumn, what's wrong little one?" She nuzzled against the sad pup, not knowing how to cheer her up.

after seeing there was no running off he stopped and was set back down. he jumped on her playfully noticing her slight sadness nipping and wrestling around

Shadow had fallen asleep up on the ledge he was on while he was watching the pack. Being a loner now, he knew how to take care of himself, but he was still very easily bored. If anyone were to look up at where he was, they could probably see him up there.

Autumn looked up at Wildflower, about to answer her but was cut off when Dodge leaped on her like before and tried to wrestle her down. Autumn was confused. Didn't Dodge say he didn't want to play a few minutes ago? She wriggled, determined to win. She used her smaller size to slip out from under him then pounced on him, trying to pin him to the ground.

dodger rolled around on the ground getting his once grey coat becoming very dirty he nips her ear again.

Wildflower smiled at the two pups, sitting back and watching them play. But as soon as she started to relax the hairs on her back raised, she felt uneasy, and instinctively started to look around. That was when she saw a different wolf, that looked very similar to Leila, sitting on a ledge not to far from the pack's territory. She let out a long, warning howl, getting up to face the wolf at the edge of the rock. Where had she seen this wolf before though? He looked fairly familiar to her, but she didn't think about that too long, howling and snarling viciously.

So a hunt was to start soon? He was glad that he hadn't missed out on it. He nodded at Ruka and would have replied had Ulfang not trotted up to them with the pups. Recognizing his senior in rank the wolf stood up a little straighter and his eyes brightened, "Ulfang- hey there-" and just then his gaze fell on the two pups. They fumbled about in such a silly way and seemed so.. Mushy and weak. He didn't know how to act around kids. He noticed that Leila and Wildflower fawned over them- the wolf considered the pups once more and, he could admit, they were kinda cute. But Ruka had announced preparations for a hunt and he was attentive to actually set out on one. However, surprisingly, Wildflower seemed to not want to set out on this hunt. He was disappointed- Riagan enjoyed hunting with both Wildflower and Ulfang because they were such a great hunting pair. He looked over at the quiet Leila- a female he hadn't gotten around to knowing too well- and saw that she seemed as eager as he did to set out on a hunt. For this reason he had no issue with the change. His attention was drawn by the pups once more- he understood that they were strangers. In fact he was sure that they must be orphans and this made him angry- not at the pups but just at how cruel the world could be sometimes. The muscles in his jaw flexed a bit as he grit his teeth against grumbling angrily.

Autumn rolled around on the ground with Dodge, nipping his ear in return. Now dirty and panting she gave in, falling limp underneath him. It wasn't far, he was bigger than her and could use that to his advantage. She nuzzled him, her earlier sadness forgotten. She jumped in fright when Wildflower began howling, eyes darting around trying to spot danger as she froze.

The howl woke up shadow, and he looked down at the wolf who was snarling at him. "Oh...it's just her..." he mumbled. "She joined after I left, so there shouldn't be any problem..." He just stayed there, looking at her.

Leila heard a howl which made her turn to Wildflower as she howled, growled, and even snarled like she did to her and Ulfang. She looked very angry as she did so. She looked at the three males with a worried look that only showed for two seconds before she ran towards Wildflower and the pups, she was about to ask why she looked like she was about to rip a head off when she saw another wolf. Her crystal eyes widen when the wolf looked very similar to her. But it seemed to look like a male by the way he looked. She let out a vicious growl so she could hide her surprise. She got next to Wildflower but her eyes locked to the black wolf that was at the ledge. The male wolf seemed to look at Wildflower which made her growl more. She said softly growling still, "Wildflower move the pups behind you" she was trying to say it politely which was what she was trying to say it but it didn't sound like that.

Dodger ears stood at attention as he heard the howling standing up and looking in the direction of where wildflower was looking snarling himself and growling. at what, he didnt know

Wildflower paced back and forth, trying to ignore the urge to run off and approach this stranger. Who was he? Had she smelled him before? She looked anxiously at her Alpha and the pups, she couldn't just run away, but the wolf just kept staring at her, he was a threat, she knew it. "Leila, who is that?" She yelped, before resuming her growling. She felt a bit more comfortable now that Leila stood beside her, but she was still unsure about what was going on.

Autumn finally caught sight of what it was they were growling at. It was another wolf, lounging on the ledge not far from them. Based on their reactions to him, they didn't know him. Autumn pressed against Dodge's side, wide eyes gazing at Wildflower and Leila snarling at this unknown wolf.

Dodger noticed the frightened autumn and nuzzled her affectionately before licking her snout to calm her.

Leila looked at Wildflower feeling a grumble of a growl that was trying to be heard but she said, "Looks like a Lone Wolf. But he kind of looks-...." She trailed off in her sentence. What she was going to say was that he looked familiar to her. Maybe its because he looked like her. And she could tell Wildflower could tell too. She let out a growl as she looked back at the Lone Wolf, saying "If he doesn't move then someone has to go over there and one of us has to stay here with the pups."

Wildflower wanted to go so badly that the anxiety almost killed her. "Leila, let's go together. Working as a team will help get the job done. And of we don't go together one of us may get hurt. The boys can take care of the pups, yeah?" Without waiting for confirmation, Wildflower was taking off, running like crazy to the ledge. She knew this territory well, so it wouldn't take her long to get there, but the path up to the ledge would probably strain her if She kept up this pace. She growled as she ran, her body more determined than her mind. It was probably a bad idea to just go running, but She felt confident that the pups would be fine in the hands of the males.

Leila looked at Wildflower as she knew she will catch up but she wanted to say this to the pups, "Little ones please go to the males so they can take care of you. Me and Wildflower will have to check something." As she finished she ran after Wildflower feeling her energy grow making her run even faster. She let out a growl as she got closer to the ledge where the Lone wolf was. She felt grinned as she ran loving the feel of the air going through her fur as she meet at the same pace as Wildflower. They were almost there, she noticed. She knew the territory perfectly because she was looking for a dark place to stay at that's how she found her cave.

Riagan's eyes widened as he watched Wildflower and Leila spring to the defense of the pups against some loner watching them from some overhang. The fur about his ears bristled- how hadn't he seen that wolf before? Before he could even snarl the females were already howling and growling. The hunter took the chance to quickly understand the situation- this wolf was a stranger to them and the girls were weary- but he hadn't done anything aggressive toward the pack. If push came to shove they would all out-number him. The dark gray wolf called out to the loner, "I believe its in your best interest to leave, loner. You're a threat- one which I'm compelled to deal with-" But before he could even finish he saw Wildflower and Leila take off. He sprang up and barked after them, "Where are you going?! You can't go alone you idiots." He took off after them, straining to catch up with the lead huntress and Leila.

Autumn looked on in bewilderment as Wildflower and Leila quickly raced towards the strange wolf with one of the male wolves hot on their heels. Autumn glanced at Dodge, ready to try and stop him should he try to go after them; this was not the time to try and play grown-up. "Come on Dodge." She said, trying to nudge him over to the rest of the pack.

Dodger wanted to go after the others but would rather make sure Autumn was safe. so he followed her instead.