Seeking was an extraordinary position to be in. It meant there was purpose and as a result, a mission. Being a seeker meant Grimoire had purpose; that she existed. An unexpected mystery had presented itself to her while she infiltrated Spirane. Grimoire rolled the knuckle bones around in her mouth. They where the objects in question, and the scent of the previous alpha all over them her clue to who she sought. The free lands were a large places, however, and she took her time pacing them in her search. She’d caught his scent a few times, but in the company of a few females.

Grimoire wanted him alone. She wanted to see his actions unhindered by audience and unhindered by knowing. Even if he had seen her in passing, would ruin the experiment, for he must owe her nothing - not recognition, not malice, and not kindness. Such a set up would free him to express or contain himself without the pressures of impressing anyone. And she’d finally found him alone.

Her nose led her close, but she remained hidden in the long grasses that had yet to shrivel and die before winter took hold. His scent had already shifted from his time in the free lands. It now appeared that the former alpha had simply visited Spirane for a while instead of warning a passerby of his pack membership. Her sienna ears flicked with interest at the rhythm of his paws and breath. Agile, which meant he was well. And his breath? His breath was steady. It hummed in harmony with the world around him. She wondered, Has he accepted his loss? Has he become as harmonious with the wilds as his breath has?

And then, for the first time, she set eyes on her prey. She poked her head through the blades of brown grass to see the heavy heap Tithe had become in front of his den. Her pearly pink eyes pointedly caught his gaze. She carefully lowered her head, and let him see her drop a whitish bone on the ground. Then, she darted away, and left another a few paces away atop a stone for him to find. A third, she left a top a fallen tree. A fourth, she left at the foot of a tree. And finally, she sat with the remaining bones at her paws in the center of a clearing. Grimoire waited, wondering if the organic structures were important enough to lure the grand wolf away from his den.