Quote: Phoenix watched her for a moment, then took off after her. His paw steps seemed hesitant, but his eyes were excited.
Faedon slowed down once they neared the mountains. The sharp rocks would likely cut into Phoenix's pads and hurt him until his paws got used to the rocky terrain. She picked her way to the densite.
Phoenix felt a couple jabs to his pads, but shrugged them off. He followed closely behind Faedon, and as the scent of Stonepack became stronger, his nervousness started to swell inside of him.
They were almost to the densite, when a flying blur of white hurled into Faedon's new mate, sending him flying. He let out a grunt as he landed, and felt a small, but strong paw press down on his neck. Sierra snarled, and looked back for Faedon. She may be blind, but the smart she-wolf had learned to judge distances and attack using her sense of smell and hearing.
Faedon whirled around, and her fur fluffed out angrily. "Sierra! Let him go!" she snarled, and snapped her jaws inches from Sierra's face as a warning. "He's my mate!"
Sierra stumbled off and looked at Faedon with astonished eyes. "He's WHAT?!"
"Yes, he is!" Faedon snapped. "Don't jump to conclusions so quickly! You're supposed to question loners before attacking, anyway!" With a huff, she turned, her back facing Sierra in a pointed way. Her gaze shifted from irritation to concern as she gazed down at Phoenix. "Are you okay, Phoenix?"
"Well I was going to question him...." Sierra mumbled, her ears drooping. Phoenix got to his paws and shook off. "Yup. Oh, and um, Sierra? Is it?" The white she-wolf nodded. "Nice attack. I'll have to try and remember that. Good stealth too, never even heard you coming." he smiled. Phoenix was just friendly like that. Sierra looked horribly confused, but also very proud as she said, "Thanks."
Faedon flicked her ears irritably, as though something was lodged in them. "Let's go, Phoenix. The densite's this way." Holding her tail high, Faedon loped to the densite. Whenever the other wolves would growl or eye Phoenix suspiciously, she would growl back at them to ward them off. "Ma? Dad?"
Senkah stretched, and padded out of her den. She looked slightly surprised, but wasn't suspicious, which was odd. "Who's this?"
Phoenix held his tail high, and flashed a friendly smile at Senkah. Sierra padded past with a rabbit in her jaws.
"This is Phoenix, ma," Faedon explained. "He's... he's kind of my mate. Can he join Stonepack?" Faedon lowered her head, and looked a bit apprehensive.
A warm smile creeped up on the corners of Senkah's muzzle. "You're a loner, right?" Her gaze darkened a bit as she added, "Not from Darkpack?"
"No ma'am." Phoenix shook his head. "I actually haven't ever been part of a pack..." he shrugged.
Senkah's smile returned again. "Good. You can join this pack, then."
Faedon's eyes lit up, and her tail wagged. Senkah smiled when she saw her daughter's reaction.
Phoenix nodded. "Thank you, um..." he was asking Senkah's name.
"Senkah." She finished for him. "My mate's name is Hades, and our beta's name is Aki."
"Thank you." Phoenix said again, and nuzzled Faedon's ear.
Faedon grinned from ear to ear. Her heart soared high above the mountains.