myself."

"Exactly," the older wolf beamed.  "It'll get harder as the trail gets older, but by that time you should be able to come across the scents of your packmates.  I'll help you too."

With that they set off, following Aleu's trail back to the site where they'd first spooked the caribou and eventually on toward the pack's territory.

"If anyone should be in charge, it should be him!  He's Nava's son!"  Evvie shouted in Faelan's face.  She growled as she stared at him, her hackles raised threateningly.

A younger male wolf, who looked astonishingly like a younger version of Nava himself stepped forward, glaring at Evvie.  She stood down immediately, but then he turned that menacing gaze onto the beta.

"She's got a hot temper, and needs to learn her own place, but she's right.  I am the rightful heir here and now."  Yak and Sumac nodded in agreement, and were shadowed by Micah, Evvie, and Leila.

Faelan shook his head in return, puffing up his chest in his only show of authority.  "No, you're not.  You know just as well as Evvie does that the Alpha can pass on their rank to whomever they wish, so long as he makes it clear to the whole pack and so long as the candidate is worthy.  Aleu will prove her worthiness when the time is right.  You should have faith in her like your father did, Hinto."

Hinto growled quietly.  "I don't care what that daft old fool believed."  But he ended his statement there.  Faelan was right, and he knew it.

"What we need to worry about now is getting her back, and safely.  Nessa, you and Leila go search in the North end of this area.  Yak, Micah, to the South.  Evvie and Nuk will go West.  I'll take Styx and we'll go East.  Everyone else can stay and wait here, in case she returns.  Hinto, you will be in charge while I am gone, and only then."

But Faelan heard Evvie's voice ring out just as he finished and he rolled his eyes at first.  "We don't have to."  He was about to round on her and remind her why he was beta in the first place when she continued, "She's back, and she's brought another outsider."

The brown and white wolf turned to see where Evvie was looking and then rushed to his alpha, who was being supported by a strange, gray female.  He started to growl at her, but when Aleu glanced at him and shook his head, he stopped.

"Talking about me again?" she piped in, a frown on her face.

Evvie opened her mouth, but the words that were about to dribble out were contained by Hinto's glance.  He stepped forward, looking Aleu over.  She almost felt a little violated when he did this, and gave him the most ornery look she could muster.  She recognized him from before the crossing, but she couldn't remember him leaving with them.  The only guess that had come to her was that he'd slipped off before they'd crossed and decided to leave the pack, as she was sure some of the wolves had.

"My name is Hinto," he began simply enough.  "I came across the ice bridge later.  I felt I needed to have a chat with my father.  I've come to take back what should by rights be mine."

It didn't take Aleu long to figure out what he meant by his father, and what was owed to him.  Her lips curled in up what would have been a growl, but then her head reminded her that she was still injured.  "Well, get in line.  If you want the leadership of the pack, you can try to take it - after I feel better and the alotted time Faelan has allowed me to learn has passed.  That sound fair to you?"

Hinto raised a brow at the reply.  It was spunky, that was for sure.  He'd touched a nerve for Aleu, especially since she was weak and irritated with Evvie already.  He nodded, though his eyes were still narrowed and replied, "Yes, I believe I can take that arrangement."

Hinto turned and walked away slowly from the gathering, and as he did, many of the wolves followed him.  The only ones who stayed were Amity, Faelan, Nessa, Nuk, Brava, and the black and white, timid looking wolf Aleu thought was named Styx.  Brava looked at Aleu skeptically for a moment, as if trying to work out a puzzle in her mind, then gave her a small smile and walked off in the other direction, nodding her head to little Styx, who ran after her quickly.

Faelan heaved a great sigh.  "Well that went well," he growled sarcastically.  He then turned the full force of his gaze on Aleu and asked, "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Aleu shook her head in response.  "No, I'm not.  But it's the only way to really earn the pack's trust.  When the time comes, I'll beat him fair and square."

There was a confidence in her words that Faelan hadn't heard before, and it made him pause and look at her a little more carefully.  He noted that she was even carrying herself a little more highly than usual - much more dignified than the way she'd been acting previously.  He canted his head at her and smiled, then nodded to her.

"So, may I ask who our visitor is?"

Aleu relaxed a bit and then replied, "This is Amity.  She helped me out back there when I got lost."  She hesitated, then opted to leave out the bit about going after the sick bull herself.  'She's asked for a place to stay for a bit and I've obliged.  Is that alright with you all?"

Again, there was a new note of authority in her tone.  Although she was politely asking the others if they agreed, she was also telling them at the same time that Amity would stay, and there would be no question about it.  They all nodded silently and then Nessa stepped forward first to smell the curious wolf.

"Thank you, for saving our Alpha," she said with a smile.  Nuk nodded and growled contently in agreement with her.

"I was just doing what I thought would be right.  And what I would have hoped any other would do for me," Amity said warmly.

Evvie's voice interupted the gathering again, though it was a shout from a little distance away.  "Fae!  Hinto's scented others on this land, from before we were here!"

Faelan rolled his eyes and Amity huffed.  "I caught those scents as well when I entered the area.  They're old, way to old to have been here within several months.  Not to mention, there was no clearly defined border - those wolves never called this place home," she said.

Faelan nodded in agreement and then paused.  "I knew I'd been forgetting something.  Aleu, when a wolf pack claims an area to be its home, they mark the area with their scents to warn intruders not to enter it.  It keeps them safe, most of the time, from invaders and some other dangerous animals.  We've yet to do that here.  Would you lead us in a run to truly claim this place?"

Aleu looked skeptical at first, and then Faelan demonstrated exactly how it was to be done.  A light came on in her head and she made a face at first.  "Alright.  I suppose there's no other way, right?" she joked casually.  When none of them laughed, she hesitated and then nodded.  "Get the pack together then.  Let's go take a tour of our new home."

The territory was vast - moreso than any of them had imagined it would be.  It consisted mostly of tall, grassy areas, with groupings of trees interspersed here and there for variety.  It was full of hills and rocky outcroppings too - so many that Aleu had to pause every once in a while to take a short breather before continuing with their run.  Several small streams also broke the landscape here and there.  To the South of their home lay the sea, the direction they'd come from.  It was with a pang of sadness that they saw it, when they finished their cicuit, for it represented all that they had lost in coming here.

But they found that they had gained even more by leaving their old territory near Nome.  This new land was rich with life, and from the way the caribou's trails littered it, they could tell that they ran through often.  To top it off, the area was filled with lots of other animal inhabitants.  It meant survival for them in a way that they had not known before, and the pack was greatful for that.

They all came together, nuzzling each other despite the hurtful words that had been said by many.  Evvie still avoided Aleu, but slightly less so.  Hinto even smiled at her out of gratitude, if only for a second.  As the moon climbed high into the night sky, they all found places to sleep and curled closely together, beginning to act more like a pack again for the first time in months.

Amity was laying a little way farther from the pack, staring up at the sky when Aleu approached her.

"Thanks again, for everything this afternoon," she said quietly.  "I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Probably still be laying there, bleeding," the fae replied, laughing.

"Actually," Aleu began, hesitating a little, "I was wondering if I could ask another favor of you."  When Amity looked up with a puzzled expression, Aleu continued.  "Well, I know Faelan really needs to try and keep the pack in line, especially with Hinto and Evvie around.  And I still need help learning