I'm not at your orders

rougues and moss.

By dawn the expeditionary force made up of panians and awani already advanced toward the northern mountains. The air was fresh and the larks awakened the forest with their sweet song. All were in their wolf form, but Filip stood out due to his prominent coat and size, for which Nori cast numerous glances at him. He carried pocketknives, medical kit and clothing in a bag strapped to his back, in case they would be needed.

They had not mentioned what had happened that night to the warriors or even to each other, as much as they both had a fixed image of it in their minds.

The warrior leader had been put in charge of the expedition and with orders to lead them to the Atarangi peaks, where they would separate from Pania's, awaiting their return. He did not trust them, especially Filip, with whom he felt that he had to assert his own authority so as not to be seen as weak to his companions, although the alpha was unusually condescending.

As they advanced, the forest became dense, the paths less smooth and the view more limited, making it impossible to have full control over the outside environment. But for the first time Nori found himself on a real expedition among warrior wolves, and as he looked at the others he could grasp all their concentration and coordination, as if they were acting according to a single mind, despite that they were from different packs.

A moment of rapid climax came when Jean found the lifeless body of a male fallow deer, visibly attacked by a wolf because of the unmistakable wounds on his neck and abdomen.

What a waist, he didn't even deign to eat it.

Nori watched the Awans exchange glances of understanding, certain of who the culprit was:We are close. A rougue must have come through here.

Commented the warrior leader.

And recently, too

commented Fillip in front of the fresh meat of the animal. Nori knew that rougues attacked for no reason but seeing the intact fallow deer with no wolf bite wounds made him better understand how for them hunting was a pure delight, devoid of any essential purpose, and therefore disturbing him internally. This was an adult fallow deer, thick-skinned and with a large and mature antler stage, and for which hardly a few wounds would have been enough to bring it down, yet in that quick postmortem Nori had to disprove himself to his chagrin.

He would have liked to stop and analyze the animal again but Filip called him back:NoriThey looked at each other and the alpha caught some concern in him:are you ok?Yeah, sure.

he said without hesitation, needing time to process that information. He was about to ask Filip for further details about that kind of wolf, but the expedition leader hastened to call them back:

What are you waiting for, it won't come back to life. Let's move.

Stay in the center of the formation. If anything happens stay close to our warriors.
 Said Filip before walking off.

Nori nodded and the expedition resumed, but not as before. There was more tension in the air and the steps became quieter to better hear outside noises, even the faintest. Moss slowly covered the rocks and tree trunks, and the air seemed to grow colder, as if they were entering a separate world, although Nori still managed to be enchanted by the plants in that extravagantly shaped place: it seemed like a lovely garden sublimate for its wild and enigmatic state, even though the creatures living there were not as attractive.When, however, the dense forest opened up into a deep, narrow gorge, the group halted and the warrior leader turned to the panians: