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By now Zev had slowed down and was searching the forest for bodies; dead bodies. She knew that the darkness would hide most of the woodlands' hidden secrets and so actually locating anything would be very difficult. Still, it drove Zev mad and so any sort of sign would be of valuable use to her right now. She came to a sudden halt when she spotted a tail, then a paw, then the body they belonged to. Zev sniffed it closely; it was still fresh, no clear stench rising from it. She didn't know who it was, but it looked female. Zev rolled the body over using on of her paws and saw that this person had its stomach ripped right out and bits of it laying around it quite a horrific sight. When she looked at its head, Zev saw that blood had leaked down from the wolf's mouth and one of its eyes were missing. Its left ear was chewed and the right one wasn't in much of a better state. Only one word could describe what had happened to it. 'Dogs'. And this thing here was yet another lone wolf taken care of. This meant that there were more than what Zev had originally thought. More packs had become victim to the wrath of Man; not only Zev and the Diamond Mountain's packs. This was enough evidence to conclude Zev's thoughts and concerns. Her pack brothers and sisters were either deceased or roaming alone.

On her return to the den and the new pack, Zev kept herself to herself walking in complete silence. For now the only thing Zev could do was to continue plodding onwards into the future, praying that Men would not go there. The paw and arm she had used to turn the body over earlier was dripping with cold blood, blood Zev couldn't bring herself to lick off. It was quite a contrast, the left pure white and the right a deep crimson.

"Another stranger," Zev began whilst keeping her tone low so that it would seem as if she was only addressing Kaytar, "dead though. Alone it was... not very nice to look at. I'm assuming that it was the work of the murderers' rabid dogs. There might have been others who got the same treatment; makes me think that we're the last wolves of the Creek..."

Zev couldn't bring herself to look Kaytar fully in the face whilst she told him the rest of her story; including her theory of them being the remains of the pack that hunted on the terrain of the Creek of Death, and that her suspision of Man intruding had been corrrect. Every now and again she would let her eyes wander over to look at the expression on Riyora's face. Zev couldn't tell if it was hate or fear, which was why they snapped back down at the ground and then went for a second or third look sooner or later. So anyway, Zev's tale-telling went on for several moments until she finished with, "There were no signs of any of our own wolves, so I'm guessing we're all that remains. I just hope that those Men do not come back for a second round." Zev spat at the word 'men' with a spiteful nature and cursed under her breath after the sentence.

"No, I had no such luck," the white alpha shook her head with slight shame, "the smell of death around these parts is just too strong; it covers over any other scent, like camoflage. Let's just assume the worst, I mean they're probably around here somewhere, so I guess it's best we watch our guard. Same goes for you two since you're listening in," her eyes darted towards Riyora and squinted a little. Zev was a little angered that they had dared to listen in on such a tactical and private discussion, but at the same time she was almost glad. Now that Riyora was aware of the threat Zev could use it to put her in her place if the need arose. After a while Zev went back to looking at Kaytar who surprisingly had sounded slightly fainthearted when he'd mentioned the dogs. Zev gave him an innocent and fretful look that seemed to say: 'We'll defeat them, you'll see. Right now we have to be strong in front of these two.'

Zev then moved away from Kaytar and went to greet Faolán. He seemed happy enough and completely oblivious to the discussion that the other two had listened in on. She plonked her backside carelessly down beside him to which she found him soon snuggling up to her. He was silent for the moment and it looked like he didn't have anything to say for himself. For the time being Zev didn't want Faolán in the know and she thought it best that way because she was unsure whether he would be able to handle the situation or not.

Zev only just managed to stop herself from laughing as Kaytar gave Riyora a mouthful. That got her good... she thought to herself with some pride. She wasn't in the mood to start an argument but no matter what any of them said, Kaytar was right. They weren't the majestic gods of the world and it didn't matter whether they be cubs or adults all of them could easily be taken down if they were outnumbered. Still, Riyora was on the right track - if a little out of place - when she mentioned taking out their enemies. If they were going to discuss such subjects, Zev decided it best that Faolán should go inside since it wasn't something he should get involved in. She nugged him for a while and as she expected he was a little stuborn, but eventually he went back inside the den.

"Attacking them would be a waste of time, Riyora. We need to see what they do first, and how they do it. We need to find their weak spots and their strong spots. And then..." Zev paused for a moment so that she could think her speech through and get it to a high point, "...how to counter-attack with little or no cost. They must think about it, right? Why is this place called the Creek of Death, hm? How do we wolves survive here? If we can live here then surely we have some strength and intelligence? They're stupid if they think that we're going quietly...
"No, we're not going to them. If they want to battle, they're coming to us. If they do, we'll show them how we survived so long here."

Zev nodded her head in agreement; to make an example of a corpse would be the perfect way to strike fear into the hearts of all their enemies; including other wolves. "That's brilliant, Kaytar. Perhaps it would also be a good idea if we made our presence known, but far enough away from here. Still, they'd be able to follow our scent back to here so maybe not. This is tough for all of us... They'll sniff us out in the end anyway..." Zev let out a huge sigh; either way the dogs would get to them. "Wait, what about killing the dog first and then making ourselves obvious?"
Zev then turned her head around towards the den's entrance to ensure that Faolán wasn't trying any of his tricks and listening in, fortunately he wasn't. Faolán was so small and yet he fancied himself to be a big, brave wolf. Perhaps one day he would be; perhaps he would be able to show his courage and determination during this hell-like situation. Zev grinned to herself and then pondered on her strategy for some time.

Zev now understood from what Kaytar had said was that seeking out new dens was the only option available to them right now, and so she agreed to this. As for random attacks, this thrilled Zev to some extent. By doing this it would make their battle against the darkness more like a sporting game... whereby the losers would pay with their lives. "Sounds good to me. We make our first moves tomorrow during the hours of daylight we have. Night-time will be no good to us: yes we could hide more easily but then we need to find somewhere to camp out and be able to trace back to it if we have to. We might not but you never know..." Zev then grunted softly to herself and grinned menacingly. The small but vicious pack's scheme was taking its shape and it gave Zev a little renewed pride. There was still hope for the group and they would cling onto it with all strength they found within themselves.