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((large picture time haha -- I used more paragraphs to help it seem less intimidating... but it may have made it worse...))

Astrila paused after only taking a few steps back in the direction they'd come. She sighed and looked up at the tree tops, naturally a little disappointed without the stars there right away. Her eyes moved around in thought and she finally decided on what could be said so far about the situation of her new and familiar alphas. Astrila walked forward again, the bag sloshing in front of her legs as they bumped it a bit with each step.

"Zeta," she started slowly, "Has always dreamed of having a mate to be held by and one day have pups with. She won't tell anyone, but she has it all planned out; not in detail, just the general idea in her head. However, the way she was raised between her parents and brother, she turned out to be harder than her sister, the already wed and mother of the two. After that, Zeta became less ...she talked less and began to be more interested in being alone than she was attending socials, trusting less and less males."

Astrila stopped and turned her head towards Karin with a lower voice, making it obvious this would never be spoken of again, "Zeta had grown to like and start to talk to a male once before, and smiled often around him -- even his name. That's when he belief in a future with a male waned, after he suddenly chose her sister and started a whole life with her, acting as if Zeta were below him in the family. If Silver is as great as you say he is, he'll do something -- even if its shocking -- to win Zeta over." Astrila walked along again, content to be with another female wolf who listened and could conversate, her tail fanning behind her as they went.

Zeta changed into her half human, half wolf form, still in the 'dress' her mother had given her when she was at their last co-pack meeting. She didn't much care for the gold holding it together, but knew the blue brought out her eyes. The jewelery could get in the way, and while she was not the girlie type, it did bring out both her pride in what she was and also dust off some flirt she had left in her from once before. For as tough and straight-forward as her father was, he recognized that and often brought her such gifts.

((I must have ESP cuz I so totally knew you were going to use that picture >
Astrila chuckled at Karin's comment about the male. "Yeah," she smiled toothily over the strap of the bag, "If only he were the kind of wolf you could do that to. And I was wondering," Astrila walked beside Karin as they neared the temporary den site, lowering her voice so that they others would not hear, "Earlier, when we were all settling who went where, and Zeta was standing with Kohja, Silver looked like he'd stubbed his toe -- stiff and, I don't know, uncomfortable. Do you think he doesn't like Kohja or someone?"

Zeta filled her arms with a heavy pile of leaves and shifted most of her weight onto one leg, looking a little self-assured and she gave Silver a sly smile. The jewelery was at work on her. "You could not stare at me for eternity," she slowly waved her tail back and forth under the hem of her slit skirt, "And what do you mean by 'catch'?" Her eyes were somehow darker than her natural light blue shade, and they looked a little daring underneath the eye-catching sheen of them.

((Scary is awesome, but yeah I know what you mean. Not to mention the buff part ...awesomeness >< so I am letting you find out about Zeta's choice in wolves a little bit with what Astrila says))

Astrila watched Karin's behavior with a small smile, gently amused. "Attractive?" She finished the female's sentence for her, "You don't have to be shy around him, dear, he has the confidence as a top bull. Not to mention, from the way he was acting, he thinks you're cute." Astrila moved on and into the temporary site. "No one needs to worry about him and Zeta, anyway, dear. He's her adoptive older brother, sorta like I am their aunt. Ya know?" She set down her bag on top of a pile of rough and pointed rocks so that it wouldn't spill, just sit there lazily.

Zeta didn't understand why Silver seemed so adamant about her. They'd known each other for a couple of hours now, and he was already talking about forever and being protective. Don't get her wrong or anything, she was intrigued by his confidence in winning her all the way over, but she was also wary of such words. Her jewelery wasn't done playing their game in putting her out there just yet; at his last sentence, she commented with a sly smile, "Yeah, you are. You'll be even luckier the day we have our own den." She wasn't submitting to his idea, exactly, but she was suggesting it was possible. Of course, it was, because they were lawfully named mates -- whether a mate connection was there or not.

She turned and waited for him to finish getting his own armful of leaves, ready to go back to the others. She looked up at the stars out here where she could see them. Zeta had always loved stars, and had heard there were places you could not see them at all, not even on a clear night. It was disappointing to be out in the wilderness and not be able to see them through the clouds, she could not imagine ever having to go to the place her parents had called 'the city.' Trance had come from there, and she wondered if all wolves became like that if they went there.

Zeta looked around them and pursed her canine lips together in thought. Vampires knew this area better than they did, and while deer and other prey animals were easiest to find at night, she did want to fight her first vampire when she was more interested in being fed. Not to mention her already set pack connection to her chosen three was tugging at her. It felt like instinct to her to go check on others that she knew and it was very hard to walk away from. "Mm," she began to answer, "I think morning would be better." She shifted a little and glanced back in the direction they'd come from uncomfortably and hesitated. "That's okay," she pulled her gaze back towards Silver, "Right? I just want to go see how everyone is doing."

Astrila reassured Karin with a soft smile and look towards the males she'd come here with. Both were typically laid back no matter where they were, but Kohja was the one who would become irritated first. "We have names, Sora," he smiled tightly and stood up off his belly when the two quieter females came back from the river. He gave them a light look before looking back to the two, still unfamiliar wolves. "I hope you will be less irritated when you get food."

Zeta nodded as Silver spoke. She knew the others were strong, but she didn't mind telling them to stay and wait. Only she also wanted to leave the males somewhere, too. It wasn't that she wanted to be alone with Silver more then she had to be, but as she had said, Trance was not good for hunting, and Kohja would challenge Silver unknowingly in some way on the hunt. Well ...they would have to see. "Do you think," she asked thoughtlessly, "That our wolves will ever get all the way along?"

Kohja grew a broad grin at Sora and his eyes had fire in them. He'd found something he'd liked in this new group: they didn't have a problem talking. Some wolves did; they'd brush things off and walk away, or grunt in response and that would be about it. Trance stood up now, and flared his nostrils, his eyes narrowed a little. He could smell the alpha pair coming from the direction in which he looked and was waiting calmly. He had never been respectful before he'd been looped into Zeta's ...old pack.

((When you IM'd me, I had gotten up to get some popcorn, sorries ^^; ah...))

Kohja looked amused and looked towards Trance who seemed to have unintentionally caused a rile. "Huh," he said in a breath, "Zeta coming back, then?" Trance flicked an ear slowly in his pack-mate's direction in his own silent acknowledgement. Kohja licked his lips and looked out towards the forest a little and then turned, walking into the trees in a different direction. He mumbled something about having to take a leak and disappeared around a tree.

Astrila watched her nephew walk off and looked at Sora with her head down to show she didn't mean to start anything with what she said. "Neither of those boys are likely to fight in their own pack," she told him quietly, "Trance likes to keep to himself usually. Kohja is the one who starts things, but it would have to be for a major insult or self-defense ...I'm sorry that he's a bit cocky..." She did look apologetic, but at the same time she would defend her family if she needed to.

Zeta and Silver came within sight of their start-out group and smiled. Looking at the two quiet females first, she realized why Astrila's connection to her had been light and lifted: she'd found a friend. Kohja was out of sight, but that didn't both her too much when she could sense he was nearby, and though Trance had been wonderful to behave the way he was, she had to greet the other members she had yet to get to know first out of respect.

"We've got leaves," she tried to sound casual, "I don't need mine, do any of you want them..?" She was really trying to be nice, which was eating away at her inside because of her own social issues she'd developed.

[After getting a response...]

"I didn't forget you, Trance," Zeta got gentle eyes and walked over to him. His eyes half closed and his ears went down a little, though he still stood properly. She rubbed the top of his head and his ears, making him tilt his head comfortably. He licked his nose slowly like a pet and she promised to save him a few leaves to sleep on and he wagged his tail once in response with his head bowed.

Zeta turned back to Silver, still smiling quietly. She didn't know where the temporary den had been dug, and she didn't know if he wanted to say anything before they headed that way.

((Yes actually ><))

Astrila looked back towards the trees and shrugged her shoulders. "If you want to," she told Karin, "Just don't walk up on anything." She smiled a little at such an incident. Kohja would be back shortly, whether Karin went after him or not. She seemed to like him anyway, so a moment alone might be good for her. Especially since she also seemed rather shy.

Zeta tilted her head a little at Silver. He sounded funny. She had only known him for a short time, but his tone was different. "Yeah," she said slowly, nodding her head and looking towards the others. Personally, she felt rather embarrassed about Kohja not being there when it seemed he should be. Talking to him about it would only make him irritated and possibly even an intentional problem, though. Instead, she settled herself with just sitting there, looking around for him a little and looking uncomfortable.

Kohja's ears flicked back towards his name being called and a slow smile spread over his muzzle, his eyes closed like he was in the bright sun, smiling as well. He turned around and stood with his front and back legs spread apart like a pedigree show dog, flicking his tail to a curl out behind him, his expression changing into a curious one when Karin came into view. "Of course I'm okay," he said, "I was just going to the bathroom before going to the den; don't wanna have to get up in the middle of the night and wake anyone. Did you really come out here to check on me, though?"