"I'm really glad you agreed to come live with me."

Torrin would look over at him with a smile on her maw, blood coats her dark muzzle but before too long she was licking it off as she shuffled toward Blackburn. Torrin then nuzzled her head under his, her tail wagging behind her as he talked too her. Though, hearing him say he wanted her too rule beside him, it felt as if her heart stopped. Lifting her crania, she looked at him with soft eyes. "I'd love to lead by your side, Blackie." She told him, smiling.

As he stated he wanted to wait a few more moons and then the reason why, Torrin nodded in understanding. "Of course, I wouldn't want them being uncomfortable with anything." She told him softly before standing and shaking her pelt. Torrin then looked over toward their catch, watching for a moment whilst the rest of the pack devoured it. She smiled gently before seeing as Dahlia was sitting alone eating. Torrin would lay her audits against her crania and look over at Blackburn, going to say something before he spoke.

"I think this evening I want to send you out with Darkheart..."

Torrin would be slightly confused until he continued speaking, saying he wanted her to patrol with him. Nodding, she'd happily accept. "Alright, That seems like it'd be fun getting to know the beta." She smiled at him before looking back out at Dahlia. "I'll be back." She told him softly, walking out of the den and out toward the smaller female.

"You alright, Dahlia?" She questioned softly, wanting to try and make it up for their last few run-ins. Even though they were mainly because of Dahlias actions. Torrin sat there for a few moments, Dahlia just glaring and not giving her a second thought. Giving a small sigh, Torrin would get up and begin to walk away before she heard Dahlia speak.

"I'll fight you for him.." The smaller female spoke.

Torrin froze where she stood, her crania whirling around along with the rest of her body as she stared at the female in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" She asked. "You're a grown wolf, and you're acting nothing more than a pup." She stated, seeing the other wolves turn toward them.

"I've never been more serious in my life."

Torrin blinked a few times as she could feel the adrenaline start pumping through her veins. She didn't want to fight Dahlia, at all. "I'm not going to fight over him when I know his love for me is true." Torrin stated simply before turning to walk away. It was then she felt a searing pain in her hind end as Dahlia had brought both of her front paws down onto it and drug her claws through her skin. A loud snarl sounded from Torrins maw as she whipped around, snapping her jaws at Dahlias leg, purposely missing for now. "You have one chance to back off.. This won't end nicely for you." Torrin stated, flicking her tail as blood seeped into her pelt and down her hind end from the small scrape wounds Dahlia had left on them.

Blackburn felt his heart grow warm as Torrin expressed her interest in leading beside him. He couldn't stop his tail from wagging as he licked the insides of her ears in a loving grooming. The beautiful black and white wolf agreed to patrol with Darkheart later, which made Blackburn happy. He had high hopes that the two would work together extremely well in the future.

He watched as she excused herself, crawling out of the den. He nodded and rested his chin on his paws, his eyes fluttering closed for a nap.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you alright Dahlia?" A voice rang in her ears. The golden-brown female paid Torrin no mind, continuing to gnaw on a leg bone, stripping the last of the meat off. Her dark eyes stared forward, avoiding eye contact with the new Delta. Annoyance was flaring in her chest at Torrin's presence. How dare she just show up and instantly recieve such a high rank and speak to Dahlia as if she was a pup??

Blackburn had been the wolf she'd dreamed of being with her entire life, even as pups. Her parents had been the strongest Betas the Baxtara's had ever seen, and everyone knew that Dahlia would have been picked to at the very least carry the new heir. But now everything was changing.

"I'll fight you for him." she said, just as Torrin turned to leave. Her voice was cool and calm, but a sinister lilt laced it.

"You're kidding right?"

Dahlia smirked ever so slightly, her dark eyes glittering.

"You're a grown wolf, and you're acting nothing more than a pup."

The huntress could see other wolves turning to look at the scene, which only fueled her. She would let the pack see that she wasn't going to just accept a packless. She loved Blackburn, but he had made a stupid choice by bringing Torrin into the pack.

"I've never been more serious in my life." she said, her blood beginning to boil. She wanted to fight the other female. Maybe if a fight broke out Blackburn would get rid of her. Torrin told her that she wasn't going to fight her.

"....I know his love for me is true."

Dahlia growled, lunging forward as Torrin turned to leave, digging her claws into her hind end. Torrin snarled, whipping around to warn her to back off. Dahlia peeled her lips back into a snarl, revealing sharp canines. With no word of warning, she lept forward, snapping her jaws at Torrin's face and letting out the snarls of a wolf in battle. The small huntress sunk her teeth into Torrin's neck ruff, shaking her head from side to side violently.

The snarls and barks had alerted the entire pack, wolves crawling out from their dens and watching with their tails tucked. Dahlia noticed Jax hurriedly crawling out from Rift's den, trembling next to the Healer. She wanted to scoff, he was a pathetic excuse for a wolf.

"I'M the wolf he's supposed to pick!" she barked, blood dripping into her eyes. "My blood is from this pack, I was born a Baxtara and MY blood will pass on to the next leader!" She stopped attacking for a moment, her ears pressed tight against her crania and her hackles bristling. "You are not welcome here!" She lept forward once again, diving to clamp her jaws around Torrin's hind leg.

"You've made a big mistake..." Torrin growled out before dodging the others attack and practically jumping on top of her, burrying her fangs and claws into Dahlias shoulder and neck scruff. As she began to tear, Torrin would force all her weight onto the other, trying to take her to the ground. It was obvious the female was aggravated now.

Everyone around them watched in horror and surprise. Even they knew not to mess with a packless wolf, even if that packless wolf had turned into a pack wolf.

Torrin soon backed off, her hackles raised as her tail was held high, the others blood dripped from her canines as she stared at her. The black and white female had never been enraged this much at anyone since her and her brother got into it. Her brother died from his wounds. Flicking her tail, Torrin began to circle Dahlia. "I could care less who's blood you carry in those veins.. Obviously Blackburn doesn't care either.." Torrin circled around the entire way before stopping. "Now.. Are you done? Or do you wish to continue and fail at your miserable attempt to win?" She asked.

"You are not welcome here!"

Torrin soon noticed Blackburn stepped from his den and glanced at him before focusing on Dahlia. Blood now ran across Torrins white fur from the wound on her neck. She wasn't going to be making first moves, If Dahlia wished too continue, she would too. But, she wasn't one to back offensive moves, she'd wait and see what her opponent would do. "I am welcome here, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Torrin snarled, staying where she stood.

Dahlia yowled as Torrin buried her fangs into her shoulder. She could feel her skin ripping and tearing, now painfully aware of the warmth of blood soaking her shoulder. She felt almost crushed beneath the larger female's weight. She twisted, spinning to press her hind paws into Torrin's underbelly, beginning to kick and dig at the exposed area until she had enough leverage to slide out from under her.

Her dark eyes stared in anger at Torrin, seeing her blood soaking the other wolf's maw. Her gaze followed her as the larger female encircled her, growling her words. She shouted at Torrin, her body stinging with the pain of her wounds. She could see Blackburn emerging from his den, and she lashed her tail, unsure now of what to do.

"Mark my words," Dahlia growled softly so that only the two of them could hear. "I will not tolerate a packless as my leader." She glared, her brown eyes filled with bloodlust. "One of these days he'll see. He'll see he made the wrong choice." She snapped her jaws at Torrin, a pathetic attempt at having the last word, before limping away, blood soaking her coat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blackburn's eyes flew open as he heard the sound of fighting outside the den. He scrambled out into the open, his heart beating with worry. What was going on? Were they under attack? His icy gaze rested on Torrin and Dahlia at a stand off, both covered in each other's blood. With a deep growl of anger, he approached them, arriving just as Dahlia was limping away.

The large brute's hackles were raised, his tail held high. Wolves were now shakily beginning to come forward, warily approaching Torrin to sniff her and the ground where the fight took place. Blackburn snarled, snapping his jaws at the approaching wolves. "Get back!" he barked, his voice loaded with anger. He whirled to face Torrin, his icy eyes ablaze. "What happened here?" He demanded to know.

Rift quickly approached the scene with Jax at her side, coming up to Torrin with a bundle of herbs in her mouth. "Jax, fetch me cobwebs." she said quietly. The apprentice nodded and darted off.

"Well?" Blackburn pressed Torrin, trying not to yell. "Explain this to me immediately."

"I will not accept a packless as my leader.."

Listening to the rest of her words, Torrin didn't care. Though, Dahlia not accepting her may cause problems in the future. Especially if Blackburn and her were too have pups. Though, Torrin kept her eyes trained on Dahlia, even as Blackburn walked up. At least until he spoke.

Shaking her crania a bit, the pain from the fight would rush through her body. Torrins legs would shake as she growled slightly at the pain. Afterward, she saw Rift rushing to help after Blackburn told everyone too get back. Torrins muscles were rigid as she stood there, slowly lowering herself too the ground. It was then she heard Blackburn asking her too explain.

"I tried talking too her.. Tried seeing if she'd possibly want to be friends or something.. But, she ignored me so I walked away." Torrin began, looking up at her with sorrow-filled eyes. "Then, she told me she'd fight me for you.. I told she couldn't be serious and said she was acting like she was a pup.." Torrin's breathing was a bit heavy now, so she stopped talking for a moment too catch her breath. "After I told her that, I walked away and that's when she attacked, so, I bit at her, not causing harm too a hair on her head and told her she had one chance too back off.. and, she didn't." Torrin then whined as Rift appled something too her wounds, shifting her weight a bit as some sort of recoil. "She told me she was going to be the one too carry on the bloodline of this pack.. That I wasn't welcome here.." Torrin explained.

The black and white pelt of the beauty was now covered in crimson. Torrin felt absolutely terrible for hurting Dahlia, but she wasn't about too sit there and let the female kill her. "I'm so sorry, Blackburn.. I trule am.." She told him, looking back up at him. "But, I wasn't just going to stand there and let her get away with that." She added.

Blackburn listened to her explanation, his mind reeling. What had he caused? He growled softly in the back of his throat, turning his head to stare sharply at the limping form of Dahlia on the other side of camp. "Rest up." he said to Torrin, his muscles rigid and tense with anger. "We'll speak more later."

He was not angry with her directly, for Dahlia had indeed caused the problem. But as Delta, he expected more of her. But he was also angry with the rest of his pack for not stepping up and trying to de-escalate the situation before it got as far as it did. He nodded at Rift, but kept his gaze on Dahlia, who was now laying down under a tree to lick her wounds. "Torrin, go with Rift and Jax until they say you're patched up enough. Then find Darkheart and tell him what I told you about the patrol this evening."

He felt a little bad, feeling as if it was a bit harsh to still make her go on patrol with the Beta this evening after being in a fight. But he reasoned that she was higher in rank now than Dahlia, and so she should have at least tried harder to defuse the situation and act more responsible. He also knew that there may be times in the future where she would be wounded and still have to carry out her duties, her rank did not excuse her from that.

His ears flicked as he heard Jax approaching with the cobwebs Rift had asked for. "Jax, stay with Torrin until I say otherwise please. If something else is to happen come and get me." He didn't distrust Torrin at all, but if there happened to be another fight he wanted to be notified right away instead of being too late like he had been today.

As soon as the trio began heading to Rift's den, Blackburn turned sharply and made his way over Dahlia, prepared to ask her the same questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jax rummaged through Rift's herb baskets, sniffing for dandilions. Blackburn had told him to stay with Torrin until he said otherwise. Rift had brought the two back to the Healer's den. The Healer was busy gently stuffing Torrin's deeper wounds with spiderweb to help slow and stop the bleeding.

"I really didn't think she would attack you like that," The young grey male said, carrying a mouthful of dandilions over. "I know she was mean to me, but I really didn't think she was a bad wolf before now." He laid down next to Torrin, licking some of the smaller wounds and working his way up to the backs of her ears.

"What do you think Blackburn will do?" he asked her, worry in his golden orbs. "He won't kick her out, will he?"

Ignoring the pain she felt in her chest, she heard him say that he still wanted her to go on the patrol with Darkheart. Nodding, Torrin would fall silent then get up, beginning her way toward the medics den, her audits laid back against her crania as her emerald orbs stared at the ground.

Once in the den, Torrin just laid down and stared off into space, letting Rift do her job. After a few moments, Torrin was brought back from her thoughts by Jax's words of worry.

"I know she was mean to me, but I really didn't think she was a bad wolf before now."

Torrin frowned, "Dahlia isn't bad, She just feels betrayed by her own feelings. What she thought, isn't." She stated, lifting her crania and looking at the young wolf. "I'm unsure of what Blackburn will do.. But, I'm not too sure If I'm fit to be an Alpha.. I'm not going to be able to just sit there and let another wolf attack me like Dahlia did today." She told them both. "I'm not the kind of wolf to just let that happen." She added.

It wasn't much longer until Rift was done with her wounds. Torrin stood up and exited the den after thanking her.

Coming out of the dark and into the light, Torrin squinted a bit. Her crania pounded as she took a few steps forward, looking around. Darkheart. She thought too herself before spotting the dark male and walking over too him. "I was told we needed too go on a patrol.." Torrin spoke, her tail flicking. She then looked around the camp, spotting Darkheart scolding Dahlia as he led her too the medic den. Though, before they made eye contact, she withdrew her gaze from him, looking back toward Darkheart.

Jax frowned a little in confusion. Why had Dahlia been so angry? He wished Blackburn hadn't have gotten mad at Torrin, he knew that she was simply defending herself and teaching Dahlia a lesson. He didn't like that Torrin was unsure of herself being an Alpha now. If anything he thought she was more fit now than before.

"I think you'll be a great Alpha," he encouraged, leaning up against her. "I'm sure Blackburn is just upset, and that once he calms down he'll explain himself more." Jax licked her head between her ears affectionately. "I don't think you have to worry. I think you were right in what you did with Dahlia." He watched her leave the den, and rested his chin on his paws. He knew he was supposed to stay with her, but he didn't want to interrupt her speaking with Darkheart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Beta male was sitting in the shade under an oak, watching Blackburn scolding Dahlia from a distance. He figured Blackburn would want to speak to him later today about the incident. The soft sound of pawsteps approaching alerted him to Torrin's arrival. He swiveled his head to meet her gaze.

"Hello Torrin," he greeted, his tail thumping softly in the dirt. She told him that they needed to go on patrol, and he tilted his head. "Oh really? Okay then." He wondered what Blackburn's plans were, he was acting a bit different than usual. "How are you feeling?" He asked Torrin, curious about her wounds. Dahlia wasn't a wolf to mess with apparently, and neither was Torrin.

"Oh really? Okay then."

Torrin was slightly confused by his reply. Had Blackburn not told him? Mentally shaking the thoughts away, Torrin looking back at Darkheart before she turned and waited for him to get up. Hearing his words, she laughed. "I'm fine, I've been hurt much worse than this." Torrin told him. "We'll head west first, The wind is blowing east.. So, we'll smell something before it smells us, unless it's behind us." She laughed a bit before beginning toward the exit of the den when he got up.

The walk to the border was silent, Torrin not knowing what to talk about. She had hurt his niece rather bad. Not that she wasn't deserving of it. Though, as they got to the border, she raised her nose to the air. Nares flaring, Torrin didn't pick up anything in particular. "Smell anything?" She asked.

Darkheart was glad to hear that she would be fine. He hadn't expected Dahlia to snap like that out of seemingly nowwhere. Torrin suggested they head west first and he agreed, standing up and beginning to head out. The walk to the border was silent other than the sound of their paws in the grass and undergrowth.

"Nothing too unusual," he replied, sniffing as she did. He paused, looking over at her. "I hope you know I don't blame you for what happened today with Dahlia." The Beta told her reasurringly. "I've never seen her act like that before. I suppose she was more eager to be chosen by Blackburn that I thought." He remembered her when she was a pup, and always hearing the rumors about her becoming the next queen.

"Her becoming the next Alpha Female was never set in stone," he said, shaking his head. "She's pup-minded if she thought that the rumors held promise for truth. Things change, and the decision isn't hers to make." He continued walking through the forest, more relaxed than Torrin had ever seen him be. Although he was older than her by a few years, right now he looked youthful. The only signs of his age was the greying fur around his muzzle and eyes.

"You've done well for your first day here, Torrin." He complimented. "Blackburn was right to bring you here. You do belong with us, I can assure you that." He looked around at the shadows among the forest floor. "No wolf should have to endure life alone, separated from a pack."