He thought he was taking a deserted land off the hands of an inept ruler. Not a single wolf had risen to meet his challenge. Not a single one of them had dared to spill blood to defend their home. And yet, after the fates had declared him the victor, the pack had quite literally crawled out of the woodworks around him. For a few moments he stood like a statue at the border simply watching them as they, one by one revealed and introduced themselves to him. At first he was reserved, uncertain if they would accept him as their alpha. Anyone of them could challenge his crown before it could find a place in his thick skull, or maybe two or more of them might suffocate him while he tried to get some sleep.

After a few minutes his golden eyes began to glow through the shadows of the canopy. Moonshade had managed to put his paranoia to bed and started to visibly relax. He dipped his massive black head to each of them in turn. Clearly pleased with each and everyone who still proclaimed their love for the pack and the desire to remain within the forest. Once the first meet and greet had concluded, he yawned widely before shaking out his brindled pelt. He was tired of all this patrolling, listening and trying to remember new names and faces. It was time for them all to get some rest before walking into their futures side by side.

Moonshade had actually been looking for a suitable place to make his new permanent den. He wanted a central location, but he didn’t want to make his nest in the same places as the alphas that had preceded him, all of them. Of course that was because he was more concerned about tarnishing his own reputation rather than respecting their old spaces. He catches sight of a shadow in the distance and the smell of sweet flowers hits his nose like a brick. Untangling himself from some brambles, which he was in the middle of pulling from the roots of a large tree, he approaches the female slowly. Tail sawing pleasantly behind him. There are scratches up and down his grey legs and a few stray leaves stuck in his ruff and down his back. He didn’t look his best at this moment, but he didn’t need to. Are they not now a pack together? Was she now his family?

She has come alone. That was a very brave thing to do. Taking the first steps towards anything new and unfamiliar was always hard. Moonshade tilts his head to one side, eyes lighting up in fascination. How exactly had she made that flower thing she was wearing? Smiling, Moonshade licks his black lips and clicks his front teeth together twice. It was a surprisingly gentle sound, like a bird tapping on a tree trunk. With a grin he suddenly trots back towards the space he was in the process of clearing out. Shuffling and snuffling in the leaf litter, he finds a single long feather. He doesn’t know what bird it came from, possibly a pheasant? It was long with several bars of interwoven brown black and black hues. But there was a magnificent strand of golden hairs running through its whole length. This was a perfect gift to Mara Sov, at least he thought it would add something dynamic to her current attire.

Turning towards her, he hesitates for a mer moment, fearing her rejection, before trotting over to her. Feather sticking prominently from one side of his mouth. Carefully he pokes the quil side through a loop of her flower lei, just below one of her ears so that it sat in a prominent position across the dark fur of her neck. There. He tries to say. Before holding his breath in anticipation of her response to this gift.