The sunset was spectacular. Ribbons of brilliant orange and red bled from the horizon, floating on the lake's glassy surface like the oily lifeblood of some great beast. The sun itself burned ever more fiercely as it slipped closer and closer toward the water's edge, as if unwilling to accept the defeat of night. All around him the day was slowly winding down. Those who had enjoyed their day lakeside were departing, in twos and threes at first, then in larger and larger groups, heading for the safety of the forest as darkness descended. None stopped to speak to him. Few even bothered to spare him a passing glance. He was a stranger here. A newcomer, who had happened upon the lake purely by chance in his search for a safe place to spend the night. Soon he was alone at the water's edge. As the final sliver of sun slipped below the horizon, the only sounds were the rhythmic rush of waves upon the shore, and the gentle thrum of the night's insects. A soft, cool breeze swept across the water, a sweet relief from the relentless heat of the day. He raised his large ebony head to inhale deeply, relishing the sweet scent of the nighttime air, and on exhaling let loose a long, single note. A lonesome, melancholy sound in the still night.
Perhaps another, more cautious wolf would not have wanted to make his solitary presence so clearly known in a strange land. But what had he to fear? Auron was a large wolf, standing taller than most he had met. His thick, black coat flowed seamlessly over a sturdy frame bound in rippling muscle. What had he to fear indeed? A sinister grin crept over his features, revealing a row of glistening canines. His amber eyes glinted in the darkness in such stark contrast to his ebony face. It was a look of complete self-assurance, for the brute truly felt that on this night, nothing could harm him. He was not some stranger wandering haplessly around a new territory, but a king of old, come at last to a kingdom he could call his own. Among those he had watched depart the beach, he had seen none he would readily consider a threat. Commoners. Civilians. Not a solider among them. Of course he had considered that things might be largely different in the packlands, where the mighty alphas ruled as gods, but on this night he had seen nothing of them. They remained as whispers in the back of his mind. Specters, easily cast aside and forgotten. Alone on this beach, a god-king in his own right, he loosed another howl into the dark sky. A song of defiance this time, a challenge to this new world, and a warning that a new king had come.
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