The evening tread on, the moon pacing the lower parts of the sky on its way down.
The pack members were fewer and fewer on the howling rock as the hours passed. One or two would leave at first for whatever reasons, some alone, some in small groups, and those lucky few who left with that special someone, but as the night went on and on, the mga lobo all packed in until only two or three remained, and even then, they had trailed off just before the sun rose.

It was a late night for the entire pack, even Stern and his crew got their play, despite having to run the standard perimeter checks earlier on in the evening. Come sun up, the majority of the clan were still sleeping, which was uncommon to say the least but who could blame them? They had their fun for the first time in a month, it certainly did no harm to enjoy the araw once in a great, long while. After all, what good is all work, when a reward doesn't follow? The entire pack knew that lesson.

The morning hunt packs were up and about only slightly later than they normally were. Even though they left the Moonlight Howl earlier, sacrificing the later parts of the evening for the earlier parts of the morning, they still took their time rising, even being well rested as they were. They could afford it during this season, for the first time since any of them could remember. A certain Beta and his Cougar friend had struck a deal earlier on just days before, a part of the herds was guaranteed to be occupying their territory even in the late months when their migratory patterns should have taken them on to greener pastures and warmer weather.
The sun had peeked over the horizon, and it was time for the hunt parties to bring in the daily kill.

Across the land and away from the edge of the treeline, Eight slept in his dugout along with his prize of the evening, Lilac.
The night before was an indescribable series of events, especially for the shaggy topped Beta. He had found everything he ever wanted since he arrived as a stranger on the Clan's land. The took him in and let him earn his keep and he made a name for himself here over the weeks. But nothing he did, no mga kaibigan nor good words from others, nothing could have been as wonderful as last night was, and he had an ever-present reminder sleeping just susunod to him.
They kept each other warm through the night, even as their body heat dropped in their slumber and the coldest of nocturnal chill crept into his little dugout den. They curled up as close to one another as they could, but only partially because of the cold.

Eight's yungib faced away from the sunrise, so sleeping in shouldn't have been a problem for him. They operative phrase, "shouldn't have" being key here. Only an oras and a half after sunrise, he was awake and feeling as though he had slept for days. He thought about it for a moment's time, but his thoughts were quickly drown out sa pamamagitan ng the flutter of his puso when he realized that last night was thankfully not a dream. There she was, sleeping as peacefully and beautifully as could be. So cute, so vulnerable, so... perfect. A sinag of light that shone down from the moon the night before, a gift from the heavens that came just for him. This beautiful visage - she was a piece of the moon itself. He thought to himself, she could easily have returned to the heaven and stars as the sun came... but she chose to stay on earth with him. In this moment, in this thought he felt blessed. Truly lucky.

He made not a noise as the araw grew brighter, not a peep nor sound or even heavy breath. The time he spent there in silence was perfect. Her scent filled his nose, lifted his spirit, made his head swim. Everything about her was intoxicating.
He simply smiled on as she slept.