Harrier

0 months: Born in captivity as part of a breeding program alongside a brother and a sister. 

3 months: Grows into a bossy pup, often initiating tussles with his unwilling siblings. Their mother is emotionally distant and doesn't interfere. 

6 months: His domineering attitude towards his siblings evolves into outright bullying. The humans caring for his family find this encouraging, and think Harrier will do well in the wild. 

1 year: The fully-grown littermates are released into a forested area. Harrier is quick to abandon his anxious siblings and set off alone. 

1 year, 5 months: Harrier turns out to be a natural at hunting small prey and seeking out water and shelter. He often hunts near a shack that's occupied by humans, as the area has a large population of rabbits and grouse. It didn't occur to him that humans could be a threat, as they had always provided food and toys while he grew up. Unbeknownst to Harrier, the humans take advantage of the local prey supply by setting traps in the woods surrounding the shack; he inevitably gets caught, a snare trapping his left foreleg. 

Mullein, who had been sniffing out scent trails in the woodland, was drawn by the smell of blood. He finds Harrier, who snarls and snaps, acting furious to hide his distress. As a pup, Mullein had been taught how to escape snares, so he ignores the growling male and approaches the snare's anchor - a metal peg driven into the ground. He tugs the peg free, then calmly informs Harrier that the wire should be loose enough for him to escape. Harrier is astonished to find that he's correct, and once he frees his leg, he's even more astonished to find that Mullein is already walking away.

He limps after the smaller wolf, and an odd conversation ensues wherein Harrier angrily demands to know Mullein's name, angrily gives his own, and angrily asks where Mullein comes from. Mullein tells him to drop the attitude, that wild wolves don't respect those who behave aggressively for no reason. Harrier becomes very quiet, as aggression has always made his littermates listen to him and he doesn't really know how else to act around other wolves.

Mullein breaks the silence by suggesting Harrier come back to his pack's Infirmary for treatment. The bigger wolf is clearly uncomfortable with the idea of suddenly being around more wolves, so Mullein comprises by bringing him to Herbert the bear. 

Harrier ends up spending 2 weeks with Herbert, meeting other wolves as they come for herbs and diagnoses, and learns that Mullein had been telling the truth: when he reacts to their presence with aggressive words or body language, they become condescending or ignore him. Mullein himself visits several times, and helps Harrier amends his ways so that he greets strangers gruffly, but not angrily. Once Harrier has recovered enough to walk - albeit with a limp - he is confident enough in his social skills to accompany Mullein back to his pack. 

1 year, 5 ½ months: Mullein introduces Harrier to the Ashen Pack. He is warmly welcomed, but he is still anxious about upsetting the strangers, so he says little and stays close to Mullein. This continues even after he has been living with the pack for a few weeks; he hopes no one has noticed, or that they think he's cool and mysterious. In reality, almost the whole pack has noticed how this muscular, perpetually-scowling male tries to hide behind Mullein - who is rather small and a poor fighter - when spoken to, and they find it immensely endearing. 

Harrier, to the surprise of very few pack members, develops a crush on the intelligent and compassionate Mullein. His emotional state therefore takes a blow when he learns that Silt, a wolf who'd been pregnant when he arrived and is now close to whelping, is carrying Mullein's pups. He distances himself from Mullein, instead spending time with the motherly Cloud and her two young pups. 

1 year, 7 months: Silt bears 3 pups, and for a few days Mullein dedicates all his time to caring for them. Harrier tries to hide his disappointment, but Cloud confronts him about his "moping". He is reluctant to voice his feelings, especially as Cloud is Silt's mother and he's loathe to admit that he's jealous of her pup; Cloud eventually pries the truth from him, then laughs in his face.

Before he can snarl back, she explains that Silt and Mullein are just friends - that the pups are the result of them misinterpreting their feelings for each other and having a brief romance, and once Silt recovers from the delivery, Mullein will step back so they can be the pups' sole parent. 

Harrier is simultaneously relieved and horribly embarrassed that he spent days being upset because he didn't know the entire situation. Cloud encourages him to express his feelings to Mullein, and he insists that he'll do so... Later, once the pups are a little older and Mullein has less on his mind. 

1 year, 9 months: Harrier develops Cystitis and is confined to the Infirmary, receiving frequent visits from Mullein. Silt is also in the Infirmary due to a bout of Mange, and after an awkward discussion about their respective relationships with Mullein, Harrier - with Silt's encouragement - resolves to tell the other male about his feelings. 

Once he has fully recovered, Harrier marches up to Mullein, gets shy and babbles for a while, then steels himself long enough to blurt out a confession. To his astonishment, Mullein reciprocates, and the two begin a tentative courtship. 

2 years, 7 months: Silt and Mullein's pups, now a year old, leave the pack to see the world. Mullein puts on a brave face, but misses them terribly and seeks comfort in Harrier. Although he's become less standoffish over the past year, Harrier's still bad with emotional matters, so his bedside manner is awful; nonetheless, his presence seems to reassure Mullein.