Redhawk Caldera rather be

Elwood smiled faintly at Eljay's promise. The boy's voice was as watery as his eyes, but Elwood knew that he meant it. Now that they were safely back within the confines of Redhawk Caldera, Elwood lowered himself to his haunches, indicating for Eljay to do the same. He wanted them to stay near the borders, at least for now, though he was done trying to convince his son to venture beyond them.

"Did you know," he began after a moment of silence, gazing out over the wilderness past their paws, "that I wasn't very brave when I was little?" He nodded to emphasize his words and glanced down at Eljay before continuing. "I lived in another pack a long way away from here, and I never wanted to leave, either. I would've been happy living there forever with my mommy and daddy." It was the way of the Grove pack; there were multiple generations residing there at the same time.

"But one day I had to be brave even when I wasn't expecting it. My sister ran away, and I left home and tried to find her," he said. Avery was Eljay's aunt, although the chances that he would ever meet her were slim to none. He still missed her, but he liked to think that she had settled down with a new family somewhere -- just as he had.