Well, she had kept his attention and together he and Alcmene walked back to Glorall in the hopes of introducing Matthias to this fabled Eden. Their walk back was mostly silent, perhaps a bit of conversation here and there, but nothing more. As they neared Glorall, the elder wolf could hear the constant sound of waves crashing along the shoreline and the smell of salt laid heavy in the air. Already his fur began to feel thick and greasy the closer they got. Humidity had never been something the older wolf was fond of. He began to pant softly as they reached the border, not because he was out of breath, but because the air was dense. “I will never understand how you wolves can stand areas like this,” he said to his lady companion.

Together, they sat at the edge of the pack lands and Matthias lifted his head and called out a bass howl. It rumbled deep in his chest and sounded mournful and melancholy. When he had finished, he turned to the younger wolfess and gave a sly smile. “Perhaps he’ll come faster if he suspects an intruder at his borders.” Perhaps it was uncalled for, but Matthias didn’t care. This was his way to test the alpha to see how well he protected his borders.

It was information he was gathering for himself for future reference. Steel blue eyes looked at everything, noting the land and how it was shaped. He sniffed the markers that litter the area to see how long it had been since they had been renewed. Ears turned this way and that as he tried to hear if more wolves were coming or going in the general area.

The day grew longer as the sun made its way every slowly towards the horizon. Matthias tapped his tail on the ground as he counted down the seconds it took for Eden to come and greet the wolf who might become a valued ally or a painful annoyance. The choice was his to make. It mattered little to the mercenary. If this wolf did not provide, another would. Glorall had enemies. All packs had enemies, whether they knew it or not.