It wasn't Peregrine's first heat, but gods did it feel like it. For some reason the agitation, the occasional rush of blazing fire beneath her pelt, the twitching and snapping, all felt so much worse than it had before. In previous years it was easy enough to just shove it to the back of her mind, avoid all the males she came across, and just wait it out. This was simply torment, and she just wanted it to stop. Tsiry, clinging to the strap of Peregrine's bag slung over the wolf's shoulders, couldn't even find it in herself to tease. She knew her bodyguard-turned-friend was miserable, and Tsiry wanted her to find relief almost as much as Pere did. After all if Peregrine was normally an easily distracted mount, this was just insanity, and the lemur sure was getting sick of getting jostled around so Peregrine could dart over to whatever grabbed her attention in that particular moment. This time, it was a pack border. She sat at it's edges, overlooking the field of stones and grassy moor, eyes resting on the range of jagged peaks clawing at the distant skyline. Well, that certainly looked like an adventure. She wondered if they were the same mountains she'd traversed with Karabela so long ago, but she couldn't quite recall. Peregrine shifted uncomfortably as another wave of heat prickled beneath her fur, and growled in frustration. This was going to be a long season. "Talk" "You" Think

Kassander had been traversing the snow-blown length of the steppe with Rommel hunting for the small prey animals that they could catch alone, but he'd separated from the fox a short time back after they had reached the decision that they'd have better luck alone. It turned out that he certainly had, having flushed a little flock of ring-neck pheasants and managed to take down two of the gamebirds. He carried the glossy birds with him as he trotted back along the border on his way back to the rest of the pack. If they were lucky, Rommel had his own luck and they could share the bounty with the others.

A faint scent managed to overpower the scent of the bloodied partridges for a moment, stopping the male dead in his tracks and nearly glazing his eyes over. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd been around a female in heat, but here alone in the vast whiteness, with the ache of loneliness he'd gotten used to years ago, yet so proud of himself as he strolled along with his double kill... it caught him completely unprepared. He swallowed hard, drawn to face the scent despite himself. It came, he thought, from the border, swept to him by the wind. But... he couldn't be sure it was on the correct side of the border, and the female hadn't called to announce herself so... surely it was his duty to investigate? He was a healer, not a fighter, not anymore, but... the scent brushed his senses again. Perhaps he should investigate after all.

It took only a few moments of following that enticing scent before the dark form was visible. A few more as he approached before he realized the strange lump on her back was some sort of lemur, much larger than Remy. He faltered a few steps, suddenly wondering what the hell he was doing but it was too late to turn around and get someone else or it'd look like he was running away which he really desperately wanted to do but oh gods...

The internal monologue ground to a screeching halt and he came to a stop before her. It took him a moment to realize he was staring wide eyed but completely silent at her, having been instead drinking in both sight and scent of the stranger. Flushing hotly at the realization he quickly dropped the pheasants in the snow. "H-hello. Can I help you?" He really, really wanted to help her.

The man who found Peregrine struck her more as a startled rabbit than a wolf, and immediately endeared himself to her. Something about those wide eyes and the panicked glance back over his shoulder told Peregrine that this one would be easy prey. Large and healthy, older than her if she had to guess, yet hardly unbearably so. His russet coat and ivory markings would make him easy to pick out in a crowd... Or easy to evade for the rest of her life, depending on how this went down. But one thing was clear through her hormonal haze, and that was that this male was exactly what she'd been hoping to find. She flashed him a demure smile, letting her eyes flick downward for a moment as if embarrassed. Oh yeah, it was time to bust out the charm. His coat smelled of earth and herbs, and she pegged him at once as a healer. Perfect. She shifted uncomfortably. "Oh! Hello there, I'm- oh, oops!" She feigned surprised and took a few hasty steps backwards. "I wasn't trying to intrude, just get a good look at those mountains. I believe I explored them with an old friend, once." She gave him a small smile, just the corner of her mouth, and kept her voice sweet. She felt Tsiry give her fur a surreptitious yank, not fooled for a moment by her ploy. "I'm Peregrine Myre! Who are you?" She flashed him a brilliant smile. She jostled her shoulders, earning a startled "Eep!" from Tsiry. "And this is my friend, Tsiry." Another flash of heat beneath her pelt and she squirmed again. Gods, she wasn't about to just fling herself at the man but she sure wished it was an option. "Talk" "You" Think

"It's ok," he rushed to assure her when for one heart-stopping second it looked as though she might leave. "You aren't intruding at all. You must have been here before this was Ivory Ridge? You don't need to be afraid, I won't let anyone be angry with you just for looking." He took an anxious step forward himself before he could stop himself, one paw half raised in a pup-like appeal for her to not leave, worried that her embarrassment would lead her to leave. He didn't want her to leave. He found himself captivated by her silver eyes - the only silver eyes he'd seen were on Katja and her children, though no thoughts of his former alpha could displace this stranger's beautiful face.

"I'm Kassander," he told her shyly. "Kassander Xanilov." His attention was diverted momentarily to the lemur as she was introduced, and he dipped his head in an awkward half-bow. Having grown up in a family that had a tradition of fox stewards, it was natural enough now for him to be respectful of others' companions, even aside from having spent enough time with Rommel to see them as not so very different from the wolves they chose to make a life with. "It's nice to meet you, Tsiry."

But his gaze was drawn immediately back to the woman. Peregrine. It was a strangely fierce name for such a friendly woman. "You're very beautiful," he blurted out, his eyes widening in horror as the words flew unbidden from his mouth. "I.. I'm sorry, I..." His ears and tail dropped, eyes lowering to the ground between them though he wanted so much to keep looking at her. What was wrong with him? She was going to think he was a complete idiot. He was a complete idiot. "I mean, you are beautiful, I just shouldn't have... I'm very sorry." Please don't go, he silently urged her. He was such an idiot.

Oh, Peregrine was just tickled pink. This was better than she could have hoped for. The farther back she drew, the closer the male, introduced as Kassander, pressed forward. Before Ivory Ridge? Did that mean Karabela's pack was no more? She frowned minutely, a small bit of uncomfortable knowledge breaking into her facade. "Well, yes. Karabela's pack is no more? That makes two of us then." She turned her face away, swallowing to force the uncomfortable lump down her throat. When she turned back to Kassander, the easy smile was back on her face. "I took control of a pack around the time that she took up hers. We travelled the length of Boreas together first, just for shits and giggles. Do you know if... Is she... you know, okay?" It was harder to get the words out than she might have liked, but she forced them out all the same. There hadn't been too many wolves she could call friend, but she had certainly thought of Karabela as such. Another twinge rocked her body, and the sentimentality faded away. She could question anyone within ten leagues about Karabela, she was sure the wolves who called this place home would at least know a rumor or two. That could come later. She was here for a much different reason, after all. She gave him a wide smile when he shared his name, and a small nod. "It's very nice to meet you Kassander!" He also gave Tsiry more respect than Peregrine would have expected, too. Tsiry gave a small gasp and leaned forward to stage-whisper in Peregrine's ear, "Ooh, I like him." Peregrine rolled her eyes and smiled. Oh, now she likes him, Pere thought to herself. Looking back at Kassander, she found a somewhat dazed look in his mismatched eyes. Before she could ask him if she had something on her face, he blurted out, "You're very beautiful," and then immediately panicked. Watching the male flounder left her giddy, a smile growing wider and wider across her face. She couldn't help but wonder if he was as old as he seemed, when he acted so much like a flustered yearling. She laughed like a woman used to compliments, somewhat shy but always gracious. "Oh, well." Another demure chuckle. "You're very handsome yourself." Peregrine took a few cautious steps forward, toeing the line between her space and his, and not as mindful of the pack border as she probably should have been. "Oh, Tsiry?" The lemur sighed. "Those herbs we gathered this morning. Would you maybe mind running to get some for our new friend here? I can't quite remember where I left them to dry." Tsiry hopped off her back and shot the woman a withering look, before stalking back the way they had come. Message received. Peregrine turned back to Kassander just as the wind shifted, pushing her scent at him. She simply waited, letting her eyes trail over him from head to toe. Handsome indeed, she decided with a satisfied purr. "Talk" "You" Think