Things had been speeding up, or at least certainly moving faster than usual. His daughters were nearing their fourth year already, both seeming to suddenly become inclined to prove themselves as adults. His other children had become more adventurous, and those within his pack had become more interested, too, in proving themselves. Small as they were as a group, it seemed he had a number of rather ambitious comrades. It was... pleasant. Yes, he quite liked it and he had high hopes for each of them, even Ieron (though he dare not admit it.) The only thing that bothered him was their glaringly obvious lack of healers now that Alana and Chickadee had all but vanished by the sea. It left them weak, particularly in the face of the recent upheaval of nearby packs. Oh, he'd certainly heard the call for Diveen and word had caught on quickly that Spirane, too, had been moved against. They needed to be stronger when faced with such a thing.

For that reason, he had increased his border patrols, ensuring not a single speck of sand was out of line or unmarked. Perhaps he was the most... obsessive Alpha within Moladion but it worked, for he had not even seen the lights of Rhoedias for some time. It also kept his muscles taut and firm, ensuring he at least would be prepared for any challenger that might come a-knocking. In these days, it was important. If Diveen had been under attack than no pack was safe, even he could admit that. Still, all these potential changes offered him many new chances of stronger, different alliances. He could not dismiss the challenges as innately bad, not really. It simply made him wearier than usual.

As he moved across the northern borders, he heard a cry both weak and desperat echo from the west. Instantly, he paused and tasted the air, narrowing his eyes in contemplation - surely it had not been a cry of challenge, not with such a bleak, hollow tone. It sounded odd to him, resonating with an emotion he could not quite put a name to. Without another moment's hesitation, he took off a fast trot, cutting through the mainland of Glorall in order to arrive sooner. Though it did not echo with the sound of challenge, his curiosity could not be satiated from such a distance - after all, the scent had been faintly familiar, as if he had merely encountered it while passing by. Nonetheless, the issue would be solved fast enough as he came close, breaking through the tree line and revealing the stranger's identity.

She lay bunched up, her body a frail tangle of matted fur and bones. For a moment, he considered that he had been left some sort of warning in the form of a corpse, but as he approached he noted the faint rise and fall of her chest. Rather than wait patiently at a distance as he often did, he was inclined to move closer to the female, reaching out and sniffing at her. It was the same scent that had infiltrated the pack, that was for certain and yet he could not understand her... approach.

"You smell familiar to me, stranger."

He speaks then as he is inclined towards her, retracting only when he has spoken completely so that he might sit some two or three feet from her. After all, he sees little threat within a girl cowering by his borders. There is something, though, something that bothered him... it was something in the way she lay, or the way she seemed to sob between breaths. It reminded him of a child, a child that had lost some cruel game their sibling had put them up to. Finally, he decided he had enough of wondering to himself, his head tilting from axis to axis as he watched down at her and with a deep breath, he chose to ask a question he did not necessarily know if he wanted it answered. Women could be quite... emotional at times.

"Are you okay? You do not seem it. I thought it best to check."