Malignant was dead as usual. There must’ve been some profound sadness in the fact that this was a usual occurrence, but Samus chose not to think too much about it. She really didn’t think much about anything, to be honest. Her days consisted of sunbathing in the hot mid-day sun until her fiery pelt reddened to the deepest of crimsons and burst into flame, then prowling the shadowed corridors of the forest while the moon made its lazy journey over their quiet territory. Every now and again she’d stalk down a foal or weasel, even the occasional wild boar to satisfy her need for both nourishment and danger. But other than this well-accustomed routine, nothing much happened in the femora’s world anymore. On many a charcoal midnight she would be brood over leaving the pack, traveling the lands once again and resumed her much-beloved job of bounty hunter. Yet, something pulled her to stay in these lands, and with each passing idle breath Samus Aran was bound deeper and deeper into the land.

The distant sound of footsteps caught her attention, a rarity in Malignant during this time of day. The huntress opened her eyes to follow the invisible movement, auds twitching sensitively. Had Queens returned from another one of her mysterious disappearances? Perhaps... but her nares told her otherwise. This was one of the Alpha’s males, a past lover or a current one, maybe even a son from a long forgotten litter, Samus couldn’t keep it straight and honestly didn’t care to dig much deeper than that. She’s not here, the damsel thought idly, returning her skull to its place on the forest floor. Moments passes, the hum of cicadas filling the still air, sweltering over every surface of the woods and clinging to her pelt like dew. Then a howl cut the air like the first breeze of winter, chillingly different from the lull of the land around it. Samus Aran perked immediately once again, fores pushing the greedy ground away in an effort to turn towards the source of the call. Definitely the male she heard earlier. But who was he hoping to lure with that vibrato of his? If he couldn’t sense Queen’s absence by now, Samus would being to seriously question to regal’s taste in men. Giving the brute the benefit of the doubt, though, the rouge mistress interpreted his melody as a summon, and rose to shake her littered pelt before setting off towards the clearing where she knew he was located.

Her pace was steady, her strides long, yet there was no hurry in her step. The girl abandoned a direct route in favor of a longer, yet smoother one. Woodland parkour was fun and all, but the lady’s bones ached to just run and she was powerless to halt the yearning of her primitive soul. Her arrival would be a bit delayed, not doubt other more wholly devoted members of the pack would speed there first, but she never had a problem receiving bullshit accusations before. A murderous smile caressed the vixen’s face.

Samus received quite a shock upon her arrival, though, when the clearing sat completely empty of any other than the beckoning brute. Her pace slowed to a surveying walk, emerald portals scanning the area. This was a joke, right? Samus knew these lands were not the most inhabited out of all the packs, but surely there were more than this. The mistress felt her eyes roll in annoyance. Her pistons propelled her into the barren patch of forest, smoothly padding towards the brute, her silhouette much more filled out than it should’ve been for one so idle. She let her hinds fall a short distance from the male, distance enough to suit them both and yet room enough to hold a decent conversation, as it appeared they would have time enough to talk before any others decided to show their face. She gave a smirk in greeting, her version of a friendly smile. “It seems you’d have an easier time raising the dead, dear sir.” Her courteous words were tinged with sarcasm, but she was serious about her first comment. That being said, her jade gaze wandered to the trees, wondering exactly how much time had passed since their last pack meeting. Well, no time to dwell on the past, at least there was finally some action in the pack once again. She wouldn’t take it for granted.