Leveque

    The small, mottled golden pup stepped gingerly after the enormous dark wolf, taking care not to run into him whenever he paused to exchange pleasantries with the various other wolves moving about the hollow. The whole journey the dark wolf had been alternating between grumbling about his mate going off on her own to the far north and telling stories of these wolves. The little pup had far preferred the stories, and now he felt like he was meeting a series of very important and famous wolves which made him just a little nervous.
    "...and this is your den here," the impossibly deep voice was saying, "there's not a lot of other pups since we're still getting ourselves settled here, but there will be. Don't worry."
    "I- it's alright. I'm not worried," the pup tried to sound confident, "I think I'll like it here as long as you tell me plenty of stories."
    The dark wolf's gaze shifted to bewilderment and then a soft look of compassion for the pup he had led across the plains for the past few days. He nodded and smiled at the little golden thing, then pricked up his ears and whirled around as a familiar howl announced another arrival in the glade. The little golden pup's eyes were wide and his face plastered in a grin as his little legs scrambled to keep up with the dark wolf who was now bounding toward the sound.
    The pair finally crested the burm at the edge of the hollow to see a red-tinged she-wolf leading a sunset-colored pup. The little golden pup looked up at the dark wolf with a questioning look.
    "That's Banrigh," the dark wolf said with a happy sigh, "and that's hopefully your new friend."

-

    Leveque trotted after the sunset-colored she-wolf, her tail periodically swatting him in the muzzle. He laughed each time and spit out whatever fur had gotten stuck in his mouth, and she always turned to fix him with a grin. The mottled golden wolf shook his head with another chuckle. The pair of them had grown up together, and they knew each other like they knew their own paw prints. He supposed that others may think their bond was one of kinship, since they had been raised by the same wolves, but they never really thought of it like that. Banrigh and Dalibor took them— and about every foundling in the pack— in but their bond was one of friendship and... The thoughts trailed off and Leveque halted in his tracks. 'And what?' He wondered to himself with a quizzical look.
    Ahead a few paces now, Syndestar slowed and turned around, looking at her friend with her head cocked to the side. She stared at him for a moment, then approached and smushed her nose to his, staring him down as if to try and figure out what had gotten into him by eliciting some response. Leveque just stared, his light blue eyes studying his friend closely. They stood like that for several minutes, Syndestar's confusion turning to that same soft bewilderment as the two of them recognized the true nature of their close relationship.

-

    Hufen and Orynne walked side-by-side through the glade, talking in contentedly quiet tones as their fur brushed together. Eventually the sun rose higher in the sky and Orynne was called away to lead the noon hunt. Leveque watched impatiently from a clump of bushes as Hufen brushed his mate's cheek with his own and wished her luck, watching as she bounded off. 'Finally,' Leveque thought as he waggled his hindquarters, waited until his friend was just in front of the bushes, and pounced on him.
    "Leveque! What have I told you about scaring the daylights out of me every time you want to talk?" Hufen exhaled sharply toward his friend.
    The golden wolf didn't hear him through his barking laughter which took a moment to die down. Then he really got going. "I'm sorry, my friend! I need your help if you've a moment? You and Orynne have such a great thing going, and I want to know how I can do the same. I mean, you two just mesh, you go together so well and you never seem to fight. I just want to know how you-"
    Leveque was unceremoniously silenced as Hufen cuffed the golden-furred chatterbox over the ears and said, "quiet down now, brother. I understand you. Just make your feelings known, don't say the thing that immediately comes to mind- No, no. Say the truth, but think before you say it. No, no lying- Leveque! Wait! That's not..."
    Leveque didn't hear anything more since he was already bounding away to go and lie and do whatever else it was that Hufen had told him to do in order to tell his best friend he loved her.

-

    "From being trained by the same wonderful Wise wolves, Banrigh and Dalibor, to hunting in the same party, to standing before us now, these two wolves have walked their paths together for nearly all of their lives. Now they petition me— and all of you— to allow them to become a pair," Ataahua's uncharacteristically serious tone made Syndestar's hackles raise.
    Beside her, Leveque leaned in as if to silently say, 'I'm with you.' The she-wolf glanced sidelong at him and smiled, her fur smoothing out once more. There were smiles of encouragement from the ranks of wolves crowding in around them as well; Caio with his lopsided grin, Daya with her even and reassuring gaze, and Hufen who's smile belied the fact that he was reliving his own pair-bond ceremony. Most everyone else had a contented smile on their faces too as their alpha carried on.
    "You've all heard their answers, you know their minds. Is there anyone who would oppose this bond? No one? I thought not—," she leaned in toward the pair in front of her, "everyone's been rooting for you the whole time."
    Syndestar beamed at her alpha and mentor while Leveque bowed his head in embarrassment. The alpha gave a small, unceremonious chuckle and leaned back once again to proclaim the pair official. As the pack began their howl of congratulations and acknowledgement, Syndestar bumped her new mate with her shoulder, knocking him off balance and into their hunting party-mates. The trio's howls were cut short, and when Leveque found his feet once again and they all took up the howl anew it was punctuated with laughter and teasing and smiles.

-

    Leveque bounded along the ridgeline beside his friend, both of them watching the three chasers up ahead as they herded their quarry along. The golden wolf silently egged his mate on as her paws clawed up clods of dirt and grass in the effort to keep up with the more experienced hunters. Thus far the former scout had been doing well and today she had passed the point when she usually flagged some minutes ago. The golden finisher couldn't have been prouder.
    "You think she'll hold up the whole time today?" Hufen called over to him.
    "We'll just have to see," Leveque replied conservatively, but in his mind he was thinking that this could very well be the day.
    A little while later the gap between Leveque and the chasers closed and Caio gave the signal for the golden wolf to finish their tiring prey off. Instead of dropping back to join Hufen with the others, Syndestar actually lunged ahead in a burst of speed to cut the bull elk off as Leveque went for the finishing blow. When it was safe to approach, the rest of the party did so and Leveque stood to grin at his mate. It was a bit of a grisly sight, but he couldn't help it he was so proud. She bumped her forehead to his, panting but still beaming back at him.
    Once the pair had had their moment the rest of the team shouldered their way in, milling about excitedly and each congratulating the she-wolf on her first full hunt with no breaks. Even after they had cleaned up and gotten back home all Leveque could do was smile.

-

    Leveque grinned at the little golden pup, nodding emphatically as the small thing adjusted his tail so it wasn't wiggling excitedly in the air. He shifted his own position slightly. It was a bit crowded under the thorn bush with Tellras there, too, but he still needed some instruction on this sort of thing. The young pup waited, waited, then his tail started to raise into a wag again. He calmed himself, took a breath, waited, then pounced!
    "Aiieee! Tellras! What was that for, you snake?!" The little gray she-pup squealed from under Leveque's proudly beaming son.
    Leveque crawled out from under the bush as well and bowled Tellras off of Coorah so she could recover a bit of her dignity. "Well done, young one! She never saw it coming! Coorah, sorry, but you made a wonderful practice target!"
    Coorah gave a little harrumph, licked her chest fur back into place and scratched her ear. She would be planning something to get her buddy back for sure, Leveque thought. 'Well, now's as good a time as any to start learning the art of anticipation and evasion!' The golden wolf thought as young Tellras kept on giggling on the hollow floor.

-

    Leveque lounged beside Syndestar, watching the pups lunge, bite and retreat as he had showed them. He quite liked this job. Nowadays his day consisted of going for a run about Redfeather territory, having a good meal and then sitting here on this rock in the training hollow while the older pups he was in charge of practiced their hunting and fighting. Most days— today was one of them— his mate came to join him after scouting all morning, and they spent the rest of the day just instructing pups together.
    "Raalia! Will you come up to the front here and practice your lunge where everyone can see? They could really use a good example like you," Leveque called with a smile.
    "I, uh, suppose so. I'm not sure I'm really all that good yet, though," Raalia said humbly, though she still obliged her teacher.
    "I've been watching as well and I quite agree with Leveque. You've got it down wonderfully, love," Syndestar piped up from where she sat.
    Leveque grinned at his mate and then watched as the young wolf made her way to a good spot to practice so all her fellow pups could see. For a moment the golden mentor was worried slightly that he had put her on the spot, but after a while she got back into the swing of it. She even began to give out tips to her younger fellows, which Leveque had not intended, but was happy with. The sooner they learned to work together and teach each other the better.

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