Pregnancy did not suit the viking alpha, not at all. While some females found joy and purpose in pregnancy, she did not. It was an irritation and an inconvenience - she could feel pride in it, in the children who would carry the next generation of her family, the children of a god... but not enjoyment.

She did not let it effect her duties. She would not coddle the pups after they were born, and she saw little reason to coddle them before. There was much she did not know about the state of packs in the south, as evidenced by her recent surprise in the battlefield, so she'd set out, still with gently rounding belly, to investigate. She was idly considering making the rounds of the other packs as she paused for rest in the desert oasis - taking the shortcut through the desert was not safe nor comfortable, but winter blunted the teeth of the desert heat enough to make it more bearable.

As she lapped at the water to quench her thirst, a sound caught her attention and, though she gave little indication she'd heard - after all, the best way to counter an ambush was to bait one of her own - she turned her attention to attempting to pinpoint the sound.

The volcanic mountain had started to become a sort of hell for the white male. Boredom was starting to become the emotion he felt the majority of the time and to be honest he was getting sick of it. His solitary confinement wasn't something he thoroughly enjoyed. While the familiarity of the east was an advantage to the male since he traveled alone it didn't mean he liked it. He was a vain creature who sought others to amuse himself to help the time tick by. He had no pack or family to speak of so there really was no other purpose for his actions except to make himself happy. So he would do just that. While he looked to please himself he was also tired of sitting in the dark. As he'd confined himself to his old home he'd come to the realization of how out of the loop he was concerning the rest of Alacritis. He could remember from when he was a child when the pack had started warring. Glaciem being taken of had been the start of it. Were the packs on this continent still just as blood thirsty and entertaining or had everything disappointingly simmered down? At least with no allegiance to anyone he didn't have to worry about caring about any of these packs or their families, however watching their chaos was always an enjoyment. So he'd set out of the mountains to go find some answers. Obviously they weren't going to come to the mountains. Either they feared the volcano or just found it boring in general so he couldn't wait around for forever. No instead he ventured south where the air was warmer and the terrain was less hilly. He had to say the desert was hardly a better place to find wolves though. The northern parts of Alacritia were certainly far more entertaining to look at. The deserts offered very little hiding places and very dull to look at. At least there was the pleasantness of a challenge to find food and water at least. He had to say he wasn't fond of the temperature though. He had to make a mental note not to come back during the summer when it certainly would feel like hell. Having come across no one yet he decided to make a pit stop. He could smell the water and traveling certainly made him thirsty. As he neared it though it became obvious that he wouldn't be alone. With a quick sniff he drew in the feminine scent to familiarize himself with it; however, this did not halt his progress towards the water and he made no moves to hide his presence. He found it best to just practically announce his presence. Didn't want anyone to think he was up to something. Besides he feared no one. Whether she heard him or not he didn't quite pay attention. Instead he was more focused on his first need and that was water. So he trotted right up to the oasis making sure to give them quite a bit of room away from each other. While he was certainly interested in his would be company he didn't quite fancy the idea of being ambushed while he was drinking if she didn't happen to like the idea of company. Besides it would be rude to talk with a scratchy throat. So he occupied himself by taking a few laps and it wasn't until his throat felt less parched that he took the opportunity to observe the other wolf. She was thin, shorter than himself though not by much, and he couldn't help but notice the interesting markings. He'd seen some interesting wolves in his day, though she certainly wasn't bad to look at. What was most noticeable was the slight roundness to her belly where he expected it to be slim. She didn't look like the sort of wolf to let herself get fat, but that was only his speculation. "Odd place to find yourself, isn't it?" He inquired with a smirk. "I definitely hadn't expected company." Walk, "Talk" Think