Ellie grumbled a little, but she remembered they'd been through this all before. He was already senior to her. She dipped her head a little and relaxed her ears, stepping up to snuffle him in greeting. She wasn't quite as submissive as might be proper, but she was a puppy. She had some wiggle room.

Ghoul's tail smacked Ellie in the face. Without thinking, Ellie grabbed at it with her mouth, but didn't bite down. Instead, she just gave it a little tug and then whirled away, trying to entice him into a game of chase.

Chase, of course, did mean having to maneuver around the other wolves. Ellie was surprisingly agile, though, ducking under heads and jumping over tails easily.