A friendly facade

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♀ A s t r a

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Rays of morning sunlight filtered into the betas den and outside she could hear wolves moving about going about their business talking to each other and making noise. Astra was still trying to sleep but the suns brightening of her den and the noise of the birds chirping outside really weren't helping at all. When the stars came out at night, Astra would often still be awake either outside or in her den trying to sleep. However no matter how hard Astra seldom managed to fall asleep until late night or evenearly morning. One could say that she is nocturnal, she definitely does prefer the night to day. Less other wolves around to bother her while she's going about her business.

The black she-wolf lay for another few minutes before giving a sigh and rolling over. She got to her feet and stretched. She ambled forwards out into the sunlight squinting due to her eyes not having adjusted to the brightness yet. An overpowering scent hit her nostrils, it was the scent of deer. It might have made her mouth water if it had not been for the scent of decay so she wrinkled her nose in disgust. Other wolves might have no problem with eating ever so slightly rotten flesh but Astra was picky, she had to have her meat fresh or not at all. Someone really needs to clean out the kill pile and the hunters better go get some fresh meat she thought with a hint of a frown upon her face. Maybe she would organize a hunting party but it was too early, the black she-wolf didn't think she could endure the amount of socializing a hunt would take just yet, anyways it wasn't her job. She was the beta not a kappa leading hunts was their job. 'If they don't do it I will later but not now' she thought.

Not pausing to greet anyone the black she-wolf moved through the camp towards the trees. Pines loomed up ahead of her swaying slightly because of the wind. She disappeared moments later in the shadows of the trees a slight smirk upon her face she was pleased to have managed to avoid interacting with her pack mates. She moved through the dense foliage at a walk until the noises of camp faded behind her. She picked up her pace to a trot, she was moving forward swiftly now. Occasionally a bramble would tear at her coat but she managed to avoid most of them. With it being winter her coat was thick so the brambles where unable to get at the vulnerable skin beneath the layer of fur.

Astra continued on until she was almost at the place where their territory ended. Of course she wasn't as foolish as to think of trespassing and venturing too near the Naharis wolves, she was here for another reason- to hunt. The last time she had eaten was yesterday around midday. She knew of a small clearing near here where rabbits always seemed to be plentiful if one was lucky they might even find a hare. She headed towards that clearing already her mouth was watering at the thought of a plump rabbit beneath her jaws.

Slowly and stealthily she approached using the shrubs to hide herself from view. Astra couldn't see the clearing yet but her nose could smell them. It had been rabbits she came for not deer. A small herd, a buck and two or three does no more. She gave an audible sigh, on her own she couldn't hope to take down a deer. The buck might go for her if she moved into the clearing, he would think she was after his does of course. She couldn't hunt a rabbit and fend off a buck at the same time so she moved away from the clearing. This wasn't the only place where rabbits where to be found she'd go somewhere else.

Astra turned her back on the clearing and started to move forwards at a slow trot. At first her plan was to go find rabbits in another clearing but she changed her mind. The sound soft of water tinkling came to her ears so she changed her course and steered towards the stream the sound was coming from. Maybe she could try a bit of fishing, she used to be rather good at that but she hadn't tried in a while so her skills might be a little bit rusty. I could go catch a fish before it freezes over she thought, with it being winter the stream would soon be covered in a layer of ice this could be her last chance to fish for a few months. A beaver would be easy prey if she managed to get it out of the water. She mulled over her options as she trotted towards the stream. In the end she decided to go for the fish. Beavers weren't especially tasty compared to fresh fish. So fish it would be. There were bears about but hopefully they wouldn't be bothered by the wolf as long as she didn't venture too close.

The black she-wolf reached the streams edge a after a minute of brisk trotting. She surveyed the water so a moment then began to move again. The water was too deep here she wouldn't be able to stand. It took her around 5 minutes to reach a nice shallow spot. Astra tested the waters temperature by dipping in a paw. She shuddered it was freezing cold. The flow of the water was slow, in a few days it might freeze over. The beta forced herself to step forward despite the cold. She moved slowly through the water trying to avoid any unnecessary stirring of the river bed which would alert the fish of her presence. Near the rivers center she came to a halt. Fishing required a lot of patience. Still as a statue she stood eyes focused on the river. It was a good thing that the water was relatively clear here if a fish was around Astra would see it.

It seemed like an hour though it could have been no more than 10 minutes until a fish swam by. A trout though Astra thought but she wasn't 100% sure about it. The fish swam closer and closer but Astra remained motionless. The fish had almost swum past her when her black paw shot forwards. She brought her paw up underneath the fish throwing it into the air. A flash of silver it thrashed as it flew through the air. The she-wolf wolf leapt up to meet it deftly catching it in her jaws. Fish were slippery things and this one almost managed to slip from the wolfs jaws but she tightened her grip just in time to stop it escaping.

The fish continued to thrash wildly between Astra's jaws but gradually it became more and more feeble until finally it just hung there limply. She waded through the water back towards the streams bank. With a quick nimble movement of her head she let the fish slip out from between her jaws so it fell at a distance from the bank. She gave herself a shake sending droplets of water flying through the air. Her pelt was still damp and sticking up a little but she didn't really care, it could wait till after her meal.

The black she-wolf turned her attention back towards the fish which had begun to flop about once more now that it was free of the wolfs jaws. Firmly she planted her left paw down on it to stop it moving then turned it over so that its stomach was showing. Using one sharp claw of her right foot she sliced through the fishes tender stomach. She lowered her head and gave a sharp tug to remove most of the bones. She could just as easily eat the bones but she had seen a wolf choke on them once so she preferred not to.

A few seconds later the last scarp of her meal slid down her throat and Astra found herself wondering what to do next. Her stomach could easily fit another fish inside it but she didn't have the patience anymore. Astra knew it was she had duties to do, it was time to gather the hunters. Her paws carried her back towards camp. She didn't move as swiftly as she had on the way here. The fish had been enough to satisfy her for the time being but the ebony she-wolf was still hungry. Another fish would be nice but she lacked the patience to stand there and anyways a bear had made an appearance. With the bear about the onyx wolf didn't want to linger by the river any longer. There was other prey in the forest a hunting party would surely be successful in bringing something down.

Soon Astra was back where she began that morning, at camp. Before she stepped from the shelter of the trees out into the clearing the she-wolf put a smile upon her face. She wanted to look friendly and approachable to her pack mates. Of course inside she felt very differently but until she managed to overthrow the alpha her true self had to remain hidden. One day she wanted this pack to be hers, one day the true Astra would have her chance to rule or so she believed anyway. There was a strong lust for power locked deep within her, if it had not been for that she would now still be a kappa and not the beta. She knew to be a leader you either had to make the pack like you or you had to be strong enough to make them fear you. The ebony she wolf might not have to strength to do that but she had intelligence so so far her brain had not let her down.