[Claiming] An Omen In The Stars

It didn't take long for the wolves to start gathering. Cousin Kavdaya was the first to arrive after himself, and he gave the snowy healer a grin before a tiny green and black figure caught his eyes. Ganja! His grin widened as he focused on her, his thickly furred tail sweeping the boulder behind him as she came to bump his foreleg. He grinned, and sought to drape one paw - gently - over her shoulder.

The difference in their size never ceased to amaze him. She smelled of the sea. So maybe she'd gone to the Island? Had she found her aunt? He had guessed at that being her reason for disappearing, so he'd tried not to be too worried when he'd been unable to find her one day. She was a big girl... a tiny big gir-- what was that smell? He stilled while his mind sifted through the information. It was a sweet, heady smell. Instinctively, he knew what is was, but his conscious thoughts took a moment to catch up. Not fast enough though... He'd already bent enough to whisper to the green girl. "You smell funny... Oh... Oh!... Sorry, no! You smell nice. Like the sea."

He straightened, and wondered if he'd escape the meeting at the end with all his vitals attached. It had been meant as both a recovery to his inadvertent insult, and a friendly compliment. She did smell nice. He caught his mother's glance and gave her a guilty look. That whole lesson, and what had he done? Broken that first rule about telling a woman she smelled funny. Others were arriving, and as his mother slipped down to talk to his brother, Regulus risked putting his face close enough to Ganja's teeth to ask "Did you find her? Your aunt, that is? If that's where you went to.." He hoped she had. She'd lost her brothers, her parents, and hadn't found them last time she'd left. She needed a break.

His mother returned to her seat beside him and he straightened, though kept an ear cocked to his verdant friend for her answer if he hadn't ticked her off enough that she wouldn't speak to him ever again... That thought brought a barely audible whine to his throat. She was maybe the only friend he had beyond his family.

As everyone arrived, Regulus looked out at the faces, casting a grin to Faite, Zuriel, Tórnach, and Báine. They were all there. All together. His whole family, Father included. Speaking of his father. He noticed that his dad looked like he needed to add a few pounds to his ribs. Regulus made a note to hunt down a deer for everyone and set a haunch under his father's nose. Finally, his mother began to speak, and Regulus turned his full attention. Everything she said, he was already familiar with, but it was great to hear it spoken to a whole crowd; to know that this was finally happening.

As she finished with her announcement that he would be given the pack sooner than he'd expected, he dipped his head solemnly to the crowd. "You have my word that I will do my utmost to serve and lead you all well." His baritone, accented voice was firm, honest, and carried well. Then he listened to hear what everyone had to say.