Salmonberry Winterborn

Joined the pack as a loner in Year 1, Start of Spring.

Died Year 6, Start of Summer. Buried in the Mountains.

Family: Condor Hailstorm (Son), Breeze Winterborn (Niece)

Pack Relationships: Close friends with Honey and Alma, friends with Nettle, complicated relationship with Shrike. 

Salmonberry was born into a family that placed no value on kindness, with four brothers and a cruel father. They enjoyed killing for sport and getting into fights with neighboring packs, and also believed that female wolves were inherently weaker and should remain in the den, existing for the sole purpose of breeding. A mate, the older cousin of Salmonberry, was chosen for her by the time she reached adolescence. She was horrified by the beliefs of her family and her lack of freedom, and as an act of rebellion, she left the day she reached adulthood.

She didn’t mind living on her own, happy to finally be in charge of her own decisions. The freedom was exciting, and she was responsible enough to take care of herself. She picked up hunting fairly easily, managing to keep herself fed on the small animals that lived around her new den.

The only thing she was missing was other wolves. She had never had an opportunity to make friends as a pup, and her days did get a bit lonely without anyone to talk to. She knew of a handful of other loners who lived in the area, but they were even less social than she was. 

Shrike was the exception. Well, with most wolves he was very antisocial and avoided interacting with them as much as possible, but he didn’t seem to mind Salmonberry. He was a more experienced hunter than her, and helped her out on occasion. While they were still both loners, they regularly spent time together. 

Eventually, Shrike confessed that he had feelings for her. Salmonberry, having zero experience with positive relationships with other wolves, initially thought that she felt the same way, but realized later that she only thought of him as a friend. By this point, she was already carrying his pups.

Terrified of what her realization might bring, based on her experiences with her family as a pup, she didn’t bring it up until Shrike asked. He handled it surprisingly well, and the two wolves decided to go their separate ways, although Shrike promised to help out with whatever Salmonberry needed once the pups were born, as it would be difficult for a lone wolf to raise a litter on her own.

They were not expecting to meet again when Honey formed a pack. Salmonberry had joined because she missed having casual friendships, and wanted a support system for when her pups were born. She had assumed that Shrike would leave the area, preferring to be on his own than join a group, but she was wrong. Being in such close proximity to each other after everything that happened has caused a bit of awkwardness, but they are working to regain their former friendship.

Salmonberry is still very unsure how she feels about romantic relationships with anyone, but is fairly certain that she has no interest in males.