*
Alpha Clark had thought nothing of the abrupt departure at first. It was odd, yes, but certainly nothing to cause him to scrutinize his beta's actions too much.
But then, he felt something shift in him. And it was a feeling which he knew quite too well. During the first years of his reign as Alpha, he hadn't gotten used to it at first. But now, with age and experience, he recognized it at once.
Someone was trespassing in his territory.
Every few weeks, he would travel to all four corners of his territory in his wolf form, and he would leave his imprint on anything he could find, be it a tree or a rock. This created a sort of protective barrier around his lands, so that if any outsider were to pass through, he would be able to detect it immediately.
Sometimes, it wasn't necessar
