The stranger’s eyes turned on the boy as he entered the clearing, a brilliant shade of fuschia that was such a direct opposite of his muted, pale green. In the silent space of her thoughts, Hawthorne passively scanned the white wolf, taking in her small, feminine stature. She was clearly a wolf in her prime, and yet she could not be much larger than the boy nearing his second year. Despite this, Hawthorne chose to err on caution. While he could meet her eyes on level, he was still just a thin slip of a thing made mostly of leg and thick, wet fur. Confident as the boy could be, he wasn’t so foolish to assume they stood on equal ground.

Tall ears adjusted minutely as the stranger answered, something of a necessity for one hard of hearing. Every degree counted, though the close proximity was very forgiving. Hawthorne was attentive to her hopeful words, and his eyes carefully read her face and body for any contrary tell, something as natural to him as breathing. By the moment of her sigh, however, the boy wore a warm, welcoming smile.

“I can’t speak in an official capacity, Ma’am,” Hawthorne spoke in the same soft, gentle voice, though the caution began to leech from his tone and posture. “But welcome home.”

It was true. Though Kalseru was his mother’s cousin, his cousin once removed, Hawthorne held no authority. But… This was Spirane. Family meant something there. Family meant everything there. At least, born into a family so deeply rooted into mountain, that was what the boy was raised to believe. And so, although he was no authority and just a boy by all accounts, he chose to act according to his upbringing, according to every lesson his mother had passed on to him.

“I’m Hawthorne, by the way,” the boy added, taking a few steps closer to the white wolf. Hawthorne paused as a thought struck him, his brow knitting with a hint of uncertainty. The boy was almost certain she was welcome here, but not everyone in the pack was born of the mountain, and, in some cases, those that were not understood very little of the ways of the mountain. “If you wouldn't mind too much, it might be best if I escorted you until we find Kal, Miss…?”