Welcome to Gaia! ::

The broken-hearted male followed the old gray closely, wondering at how Aion actually looked warm. The wind wasn't blowing nearly as badly as it had been the night before, but what little there was still drove through his fur like frozen little knives.

Flattening his ears against his skull in an effort to keep them warm, he scanned the area around them, looking for signs of life. Absently, he murmured, "Petbe seems like a handful, but I had . . . fun . . . yesterday, with him. He made me feel like a puppy again."

He didn't voice it, but he wondered is Petbe might just be the thing that healed his wounded soul . . .

"Tell me, Aion. What made you choose here, of all places?" There was no hostility or annoyance in his voice, simply curiosity. It was, to say the least, an odd place to make a home after all.

Looking around, he had to agree with his new alpha. It was peaceful here, and he could easily see the advantages of the high snow banks that built up between the trees. A small grove, after a good snow, could become it's own little fortress.

He glanced down at the snow beneath his paws, flexing them to make his black nails dig into the frozen crystals. With some work, a permanent den could be created in the snow, with a network of tunnels and multiple exits in case of collapse, or the need to escape.

His only worry was food, but with time, they would learn the migration paths of the prey animals, and where best to search for a snack to tide them over between meals.

The whole affair had potential, and all they had was time. At that thought, he glanced at Aion, wondering. Did they have that much time?

By the time they reached the trees, Occam was shivering again. But at least now the wind couldn't reach them, though it did send the scent of another wolf to the loner's nostrils.

Aion was good, if he had scented that way back at the den.

Looking around, he shook himself, trying to fluff up his fur and maybe keep a bit warmer. It was then that he spotted the pretty ice colored female, coming out of a den completely hidden by the snow. She wasn't facing him, but he froze anyway, knowing she would spot his black coat any minute.

Icy eyes flicking to his alpha, Occam returned the smirk to play along. "I agree very much. It's far too cold to fight, and doing so would only aggravate me more. I'm not much fun when I'm aggravated."

He stood tall, though not as tall as Aion, and smiled a wicked smile; all glistening fangs. It ended up looking more like a silent snarl, and he hoped it had the affect he was going for; that he wasn't a scrawny wolf that had nearly died more times than he could count because of his lacking personal strength. He wanted to look like a wolf that could actually protect his alpha, if anything were to go wrong.

Occam hid his wolf-ish grin and watched with cold eyes as Livia relented, body language turning submissive. He ignored the biting comment and strode forward, legs stiff and ready for a leap, in case the icy female decided to change her mind.

The black and orange male circled her, his eyes never leaving her form as he idly sniffed the area around her. He stopped when the wind was again to his advantage, sending her scent directly to his nose. It took him a moment to sort the different scents out, but he finally realized that she wasn't the only one who had lived here.

Flicking his gaze briefly at Aion, he grinned, but it proved to more of a baring of teeth for Livia's benefit. "She's not alone."

The empty spot that was filled so wonderfully by his Winter Eyes woke him. He didn't slowly wake, with stretches and yawns, but rather snapped his eyes open, immediately aware. Sitting up, a quick glance around told him that she wasn't in their den. Strange, to already think of it that way. He had only just met her, but already his dominance asserted itself. He wanted her for his own.

He rose swiftly to his paws and headed for the outside world. Perhaps she had gone out to relieve herself, but his spine tingled. Something wasn't as it should be, but being a stranger here, he couldn't quite sense what it was. Best not to get alarmed at ghosts in the shadows, he sternly reprimanded himself. But even so, he quickened his steps to finally exit the cave's mouth.

And there he found the truth behind his premonition. Livia faced two aggressively moving male wolves. Bristling instantly, he leapt forward with a snarl, teeth snapping, to shoulder between his Winter Eyes and the circling one. This one was dark even as he himself was, and young as well. The other was pale, and much much older. Instinctively, it was the younger male he focused his aggression on.

"She isn't yours," he growled, ears thrown forward and lips drawn back. "Back away, stranger." His voice rumbled deep in his throat, heavy with threat. He stood tall, his lanky but tall frame making him significantly bigger than the pale she-wolf. He would protect her to his dying breath, and it showed in every tensed and taut muscle in his body.

Aion was too old for this sort of thing. He wasn't quick enough for a fight. Rusty when it came to confrontation. But that didn't change the fact that he was a smart old battleaxe. Gray fur, whitened about his muzzle, eyes and paws, bristled slightly as the large male stepped forward. He was determined to end this without blood, and as it seemed most likely that this new arrival would go for Occam, he nosed between the two, pushing the likely 'threat' to the star furred newcomer slightly out of the way just slightly. Tail stood as a testament to his superiority over the black and red wolf, but his gray gaze stayed averted from Equus in something of a peace offering. Strangely, some vitality returned to his eyes while making those moves of a dominant wolf.

"We're not after your mate, hasty young thing," came the deep and slightly raspy voice from Aion's throat, "we're looking for a place to begin our sanctuary." His head tilted up, observing the snow in the branches of the trees. The sparkle off of them and the beauty of the place made him continue, though up until that point Aion had kept some of his motives to himself. "I want a place for myself and my family where I can rest and find peace, wolves I can trust near me, and if I have to, I want to take others in and show them what peace and family means." There it was, an older, wiser wolf's gift back to his son and those who might need help. A brighter pair of gray eyes fixed on Equuleus, and the whitened muzzle between them grinned. "Surely you can understand that even in your haste, whipper-snapper."




Livia could have collapsed with relief when her Starry Skies came to stand between herself and the startling young invading male. She relaxed, bringing her body close against him but making sure not to open herself to an advance by either of the two newcomers to her mountaintop. "Thank you," she breathed quietly to her love. For the moment, all she cared about was that he was there, so everything would be alright. That thought was emphasized when the old gray stood between the two dark males, seeming to try and dissapate some of the tension.

Rolling his eyes at Equus, Occam flicked one ear back in a wolf shrug and abruptly sat on his haunches, tail wagging faintly. He turned his attention to the ice between his toes and started to chew it out, completely ignoring Livia, and the only evidence he was listening to Aion being his other ear, which was pointed in the old male's direction.

His entire demeanor said, Don't look at me. I'm not a threat. Just your friendly, neighborhood chuckle buddy. Har har har.