Gingerly, I attempted lifting my tail. It rose slowly, and I turned my head to watch it as it ascended. A sharp pain shot up my back and I nearly dropped it, but I ground my teeth together and persevered. The wound was slowly healing, but I had yet to fully posture my tail to show my total dominance in these lands. My pack had not seen fit to challenge my claim to leadership, but it still made me feel slightly inferior to the other alphas of Moladion if I could not truly show my stature upon the mountain. I took a deep breath and pushed through the pain, and my tail finally lifted to its full stance, a proud banner in the mountain wind. A grin split over my face, and I released a breath as I lowered my placard once more. At least now I knew the damage was not permanent. Niviaq had assured me as much, but it was relieving to have physical evidence to back up her claims.

Oddly enough, my neck was causing me less fuss than my tail. Perhaps it was because it was easier to go about alphen duties without straining those wounds. On the other hand, I constantly tried to posture my tail, aggravating the wound and giving Niviaq and Ceal more to have to deal with than they probably should have. Time would see the wound fully healed, though, and today was proof of that. Since my return to Spirane, my would-be council bid me rest – especially Leo. He was hardly pleased to see me so much as leave my den. And so I had conceded and sent those who wished to prove themselves to me to meet with the other alphas of Moladion. I was glad that I had taken it upon myself to meet with Tesseract before I had pursued my throne, for part of me knew that if I had not he would probably not have been all too pleased to meet another wolf upon his borders in place of myself. In any case, I trusted Pan, Orca, and Taliesin to come to agreements that would be favorable to both sides of each pack. Lavender, on the other hand, I had not seen since the pack meeting. Perhaps I would need to take relations with Taviora into my own paws. The notion did not bother me, only debunked the wolfess’s hopes for high standing among my ranks.

As I lowered my tail, I lifted my nose to the sky, closing my eyes and smelling. My keen senses were rewarded with a howl not more than a minute later. An unknown wolf requested my presence upon the borders, and I would not keep them waiting longer than need be. I moved off in a gentle jog, a gait that did not jar my neck as a lope might. Perhaps this delayed my arrival slightly, but I was not going to risk damaging the wound that was so near being healed. Soon only scars would remain, and my fur would grow once more to cover the marks so it was as if they had never existed.

I had not been too far away from the wolf that summoned me, and so she did not have to wait an inordinate amount of time for my arrival. The snow white femme, marked with a bold crimson hue, rested easily just beyond the border. I slowed my pace to a walk as I approached her, and I lifted my tail to show this wolfess who I was. She was unfamiliar to me, but a slight zephyr caught her scent and delivered it to my nostrils. Diveen, without a doubt. I smiled as I slowed once more, coming to a halt before her. “Greetings,” I said, “To whom of Diveen do I owe the pleasure of meeting on this day?” Shortly after I had returned home, I had sent Taliesin to retrieve our sisters from Diveen and to offer a state of ally with Isola’s pack once more. Perhaps this was her answer, her show of faith in my rise to the mountain throne. For a long time our families had been friends, and I was confident that that friendship would not cease today.