Fancy meeting you here

While Alastor studied the male before him, waiting for introductions to be made, the sudden calls of his son from beneath him broke his attention away, spotting the fluffy ball of ruby and onyx nestled between Manea's legs. His son, ever the bold and brash one, immediately asked the newcomer who he was, making Alastor laugh. His son had yet to learn the tact of social etiquette, but the bravado of a child was something endearing in itself. The newcomer seemed overjoyed to see Saracyn, even lowering himself to the boy's height to make better eye contact with him while he addressed the pup. Alastor appreciated the courtesy he gave, but he still remained cautiously aware of the strange man interacting with his son.

The wolf introduced himself as Poe Mendacium, and Alastor's suspicions had been confirmed. He was one of Manea's family! Introduced as a cousin and confirmed when Manea introduced himself and their son, Alastor dipped his head in greeting to Poe, his body relaxing as the cautious tension left his muscles. "Pleasure to meet you, Poe! Quite a pleasure!" he remarked. "It's always good to meet more of Manea's family—and I guess by extension, my family too." He glanced to Manea when she mentioned Avacyn, then followed her gaze to the den. "The little darling was sound asleep snoring. She won't be waking up til morning." Irilyth would be able to keep an eye on her while she slept. In the meantime, they could have a little fun with some prey animals...

Once Manea had scooped up Saracyn and placed him safely between Alastor's shoulders, the giant dire chuckled and followed his wife's lead back through the old stone ruins to where the herd of caribou were grazing lazily in the late evening. Although they were losing the sunlight by the minute, the darkening shadows would actually work in their favor, cloaking all three dark-furred predators in the night. The stupid cervines wouldn't know what hit them. Manea positioned a couple of options, and while starting another stampede sounded like the most fun option, Alastor did not like the idea of a frenzied herd of caribou around his toddler.

"Well, since we have this squishy boy on my back, I think stealth is probably our best option." He turned a stern gaze up to Saracyn when the boy on his back began to complain. "Ah ah, none of that, mister! You're going to see how predators hunt in the night the way we're built to." He nodded and motioned with a wave of his paw to Manea and Poe, inviting them to take the lead so he could pull up the rear with Saracyn. He wouldn't keep his son out of the action, but he wasn't going to put him right up front either.


"Alastor"