Blacktail Deer Plateau I will remember your face

Malachi felt his shoulders unravel when Lasher confirmed the children were safe, but the relief was short lived. With a tight jaw, he again allowed Mordecai to answer for Dante's accord while he himself remained silent. The larger man answered with a control Malachi wasn't sure he could deliver himself, and Malachi was thankful he hadn't been the sole member to see Dante before the Alpha had leapt into the flames. Though the crisp air cooled the burning of his throat, his voice was still stolen by the sharp imagery of fire, and the greyscale man disappearing into the smoke.

The young man swiped his tongue around his parched mouth when Lasher inquired of others, and he glanced to Mordecai, shaking his head. "No," he steadied his voice, and he turned his eyes back on Lasher, "No one." No others had joined them or responded to their call, and he prayed they had holed up for the storm, or had found residence off the Plateau to wait it out. He stifled a tremor of dread; the alternative was too heavy to think on.