Lila had just settled down into her bed of moss and dry leaves when Misty had walked in. "I'm fine, a little frustrated with how dense Renzo is but I'm alright otherwise. What about you? You looked a little uneasy when everyone was talking about having pups," She said, moving over to make room in case her sister wanted to lay down as well.

Misty plopped down beside Lila. "He still doesn't seem to know that you like him, huh?" She lay her head down on her paws. "I guess I'm just not sure. I mean, it's not that I don't want pups, but I want to make sure that now is the right time I guess."

"Apparently not," Lila said, absently batting away some stray moss. "And all last fall you were debating about pups, what stopped you back then?"

Misty thought back to last fall. "Hmm, I guess it was just timing. I mean, food was so scare that year. I didn't want to risk bringing any more mouths to feed. But food is more plentiful now then ever."

"Hopefully humans move off soon then, I wouldn't mind being an aunt sometime this century," Lila said with a smile. "Seriously though, you'd make a great mom."

Amber rolled back onto her feet. It had just occurred to her that most of the other wolves were being preoccupied with whatever they were talking about. She stood frozen in a half crouch before darting out of the clearing. She quickly but silently ran behind trees and bushes in an attempt to get out of view of the clearing. Once she had cleared a sufficient amount of distance away from the dens, she sat down for a moment to catch her breath. She definitely felt as though she had already made a mistake. She already started considering turning around and heading back to the rest. It was dangerous enough without the humans around. She steeled herself and stood. She paced around while sniffing for game. It took her about five minutes before she caught a scent. It smelled like... An elk? Yes! It was definitely an elk. She began following the scent trail as she pondered whether she had the skill to take down an elk by herself. It was possible, but it would be dangerous. She'd have to be quick and smart. She carefully tried devising a plan to take down the elk as she continued to follow the trail, but she stopped as a new smell entered the trail. Blood. Amber lowered her head close to the ground and sniffed it carefully. Even as she did, she started noticing how the ground was pockmarked by droplets of blood. Perfect, the elk was wounded. She was about to continue eagerly following the scent, but she stopped dead in her tracks when she realized there was a third scent further ahead that she had not realized earlier. She was paying so much attention to the elk and blood scent that she had completely disregarded the new smell. She could feel the fur on her back rising as she quickly recognized it. It was a human. She quickly sniffed at the air and whipped around to make sure that the human wasn't around. Once she was confident that she was safe, she straightened up and thought quickly. Did she dare continue? Should she return to the clearing? They might not have yet noticed that she was gone. She still had the chance to look for other game though. She lay down with a sigh and laid her head on her paws and simply waited, hoping she'd eventually make up her own mind.

"You think so?" Misty asked hopefully. Her mind was made up now. She wanted to have some pups, but would wait until the humans had wandered off.

"I know so, you practically raised me and Nelo after our mother died," She said with a smile then looked to the ground. "I miss him, why'd he have to try chasing that stupid weasel on the river?"

Misty smiled at that. "I guess that's true. I never really thought about it that way." Then when Lila mentioned missing Nelo, she nodded solemnly. "So do I. I wish that he never would have, but he did," she said as she thought of their brother.

Lila huffed and put her head on her paws, laying her ears back against her head. "I should get a hunting party set up for tomorrow," She said but didn't move.

"Who do you think you'll take with you?" Misty asked her sister.

"I'll have to take both Amber and Klondike, I'm too small to hunt big game with just myself and another wolf. Maybe Jackie if her and Ian ever make it back from their hunting trip," Lila said.

Renzo was quietly lying down, his mind still wandering about as he watched the clearing from his den when he noticed a figure dart out. He stood up and walked outside, sniffing the air and he knew almost immediately who the wolf was. "Amber." He muttered before turning to the forest and let out a small sigh. He trotted over to the entrance and started sniffing again and still smelled Amber's scent. He followed it, sometimes getting distracted by the scent of prey before getting back to Amber's trail. After a few minutes of following the trail, he began to grow stiff as he noticed that next two scents. Blood and humans. This was a bad combination. If the blood he smelled belonged to Amber... He shook his head, trying not to think about it. He got on back to Amber's trail and sighed in relief as he saw the wolf. "What are you doing out here alone?" He asked Amber as he walked to her. "You know the humans are here and you'd be in danger if you went out alone." He warned before taking a seat next to her.

Lila looked out her den and saw Renzo leaving. She tilted her head and shifted, debating on going after him. What was he thinking, going out on his own? If he didn't return soon, then she'd go and find him.

Amber winced as she heard Renzo speak. She didn't expect someone coming out after her so soon. The fact that she wasn't getting yelled at was reassuring though. Well, at least not yet. Her ears flattened as she thought about his question. "I-It's just that... I've messed up so badly," She murmured, "I just don't have the right attitude to hunt. I mess up everyone's coordination. And then today, all I caught were rats! I just thought that maybe I could sneak out and get everyone a real meal. Even if it meant stealing it from the humans..." She said, trailing off. Having to explain it to someone, she realize how pathetic and desperate she must have seemed. Stealing from the humans? How on earth could she even pull that off? She shook her head and quietly waited for Renzo's reaction.

Renzo sighed. He knew that Amber always felt really bad about her messing up in hunts but he didn't know she felt this guilty about it. "It's alright Amber. We all mess up from time to time." He reassured the she-wolf. "Rats are still food. Besides, prey is scarce since most are in hiding because of those humans and those tube-like things of theirs." He continued. He felt really bad that Amber felt this way. "Stealing from humans?" He repeated in a questioning manner. "I want to say that it is idiotic but I suppose feeling guilty makes you feel that bad. Don't do it again." He said as an order. "You don't know what you're getting into. Now come on, let's head back..." He stood up from his position and turned back to the direction of their dens. "Besides, we might catch some game while we're heading back."

Misty nodded. "That's probably best." Then she too noticed Renzo leaving. "That's odd. What do you think he's up to?"

"Not sure, maybe he spotted a quick meal," Lila said, shifting to lay partially on her side. "I'll try finding an elk tomorrow, they might've moved farther into the western forest, hopefully they haven't gone into tiger country."

Klondike headed over to Zia's place, ready to discuss the recent events.

"That could be. I sure hope that the elk are still around. We're going to need more food soon than just rats and rabbits. We can't live on those alone." She stretched and then yawned, feeling a little tired and hoping that everyone would return to the dens soon so they could rest and be safe from humans.