Blue, pupiless eyes looked upon the landscape and he breathed in deep. The sultry taste of sea salt lathed his tongue as the waves laved the shoreline. The white fur that sprouted from atop his head above his brow spread down his spine to just above his tail just as his daughters, just as the shamans., just as the rogue alpha who came here with his people and became one of the pack. Daemon was Rage's mate, Rage being the alpha, but Daemon never considered himself alpha.

He never wanted to.

Nestled between smooth stones on the beach the sand matted his fur, for now, until he soaked in the warm pools of sun water near the clear falls near the western part of the packlands. There the ridges were high, the banks now riddled with rock debris from the melting snow and ice. Summer was coming, spring fast fading although the chill in the wind remained. Breathing he felt the cold in his lungs, remembered the cold of the valley he hailed from, the valley he wondered if he would ever see again.

“I wish to know what is to come,” he spoke aloud, rubbing the right side of his face on the nearest stone. It was cool and damp, but so smooth. He licked it with his tongue and spat, smacked his gums together and winced as if pricked by a thorn from the prickle bushes in the underbrush. She wondrous things, rubbing stones, but not tasty, even for something upon the lips.

Yawning he let himself lay on his side, peered towards the horizon across the sea. He wondered where Rage was. Most likely wandering the borders, checking on the guards, checking on the children. It had been so long since pups ran here, perhaps, it seemed, like the breeding time had passed.

But again, you never knew.

Times were changing.

The possibility of a new time, new blood arriving, was coming, and Rage made Daemon know that for certain. She would not let this plentiful land lay to waste or lay to invasion of another pack. This was their home, she would defend it, love it, but not rule it as if a dictator. She was alpha, friend, leader, but not master.

But to Daemon, she was mate, love, beloved, one to protect.

The past has been a dark one, he thought to himself as he stood and shook his fur. He looked a mess in the subtle reflection of the sea foam and headed inland towards the pools of fresh stream water to rinse himself. The numerous water sources had their uses: drinking, bathing, source of drink for prey beasts.

The sky turned blue, then violet and nearing navy and he smiled, pupiless eyes blinking he jet into the underbrush uncaring of what detritus stuck to his black fur. It had once been sleek as night, but now, more like a congruence of every bit of dirt possible. Chuckling to himself he leaped over logs and a lone porcupine, tilting his head as he watched the strange quilled thing move into the safety of shadows .

Coming close to his destination he weaved through the birch forest, one of the few clusters of the magnificent trees that scattered through the packland. A small part of the rover that cut through the Outriders territory jut into this area and cast a curved wave of freshwater near the bank. There moss nestled on smooth stones and quartz crystals glinted beneath the water's surface.

Sneezing, Daemon shook himself and jumped into the water, rolling onto his back and wriggling his body until the mud and sooth-like pieces of debris fell from his fur. No doubt he would be reprimanded later. There would be some burrs that would not spring free easily, and he would need Rage's assistance freeing them from his coat. His winter fur coat had almost fallen free now, but he still tufted.

Tufted from his rear, more specifically, his eldest daughter mentioned it almost every day.

Sputtering and spitting water flung from his fur and he looked ridiculous. Fur stood on end and he grimaced at what he appeared in the water's mirror surface. The guys would have a field day if they saw him. The stream water gathered the mess from his fur, including bits of his undercoat and washed it downstream, carrying his scent down and away towards the sea.

Hopping the the bank he stretched, shook again and rubbed his side on the nearest maple, noted, not pine, as he did not want to get sticky so soon. A towering red maple caught his eye and he rubbed his side, back and tail along side her as if a gentle loving touch. To carry his scent for marking territory, yes, but not as a threatening gesture to his people, his pack.

Daemon was surprised that after the years he had grown and aged the ridgeback on him did not fail, and did not faultier from being a little higher than the rest of his fur. It had to be noticeable, right? Nabu'na, the rogue alpha, said that it was a sign, a gift. Philokiss, the pack's sun shaman, said the same. That it was a trait of those that lived in the valley now lost to the past behind them.

But did it matter?

Should he care?

His ears folded back, and he peered to the bushes around him. He knew his brother, Arguin, lay in wait somewhere around here. Either that or Croanyl had taken his brother with him. Daemon held in a snarl, if Daemon came across Croanyl again, he would not hesitate to rip his throat out. What Croanyl tried to to do Rage, to his home, here, Daemon would never forgive. Those that guarded and patrolled the borders would not forgive either. Logan, Wrigley, Redlea, Senku, Malik. Especially Malik.

Rage told Daemon how both of them grew up together. How some believed that Rage and Malik would end up together. However, Daemon came here and it was foretold to be fate, at least, that was what Philokiss said was written on a cavern wall. Malik's red eyes were still as bright as ever, and would never fade.

His son's though, pupiless like his, lighter though, were cold. He pulled away from him, his own father, some some strange reason. He could not understand why. He figured it had to be because of his mate, Anokain'thros, she said she loved Ghilt, and Ghilt loved her. However, Anokain'thros and her brother, Senku, gave Daemon a strange feeling. They swore to protect though, always.

Noir was quiet nowadays, and stayed with Amara and Phaelin, and some of the quieter females.

It was strange the packlands were so quiet when so many dwelled within the trees.

However, Daemon knew. In the night when one rose their voice in song, they all contributed as family, as one.

He came to stop at the nearest birch, rubbing his side again. He chewed on some of the loose bark as a pain in his jaw was bothersome as of late. The salt from the sea water didn't seem to soothe the searing pain a bit. Served him right to try something that Rage seemed to have heard on the wind from no one in particular. She liked to play, and tease. He grinned and knew he would have to repay the favor someday.

Looking up the tree branches came together, weaving like a knot, or like the talons of the falcons and eagles who swooped down to capture a fish for a meal or a writhing and unlucky serpent who had slipped from its slimy depths in the upward roots of the elder trees in the deepest part of the forest. It came together, full circle. Everything was connected, everything, and everyone, had a purpose, so he remember being told as a puppy, and so the shaman spoke to him now. Rage even spoke it it, and was why she spoke of bringing in new wolves, bringing in new family.

Truth be told, Daemon was hesitant, he was, how could he not be? But, again, no pups paws dabbled across the riverbanks, and those of his children that were youngest were old enough to take care of their selves, their own.

Stretching he lay himself amongst the ferns that sprouted from the pine needles that had already sprung themselves free from the tall spruce whose branches darted out and intermingled with their neighbors. Again, connected. Nothing was without another. Everything was meant to rely on one another, singular was never successful. It was amazing that he had survive so long on his own as a lone wolf before coming here in a group of males who had journeyed far as well. Luck, some might call it, fate though, he thought it fate that brought him here. Brought him to the Outriders, brought him to Rage.

All in all, this place was home. The valley was fast and far behind those that originated from the depths of the northern mountains. This was home, Outriders.