The Heartwood Feel It All Without You

sorry for holding this up.

It would turn out that Harlyn wouldn't have to do any introductions; the slender she-wolf moved this turn of events forward. His attention shifted back to her smoothly, taking in her voice and the weight of what she said. Though the real weight of it came more from what was unspoken through mere body language. The fact that there appeared to be another Ostrega residing in the wilderness surprised him, but perhaps not as much as he would have anticipated. It was as though they had been there all along, perhaps nestled away in woodwork and waiting for the opportunity to come writhing out. Yet they were slightly more prouder creatures than that.

He studied his niece for a few more moments after she had introduced herself, supposing in some way that she could have easily belonged to the same bloodline as any other. Her colors were more mute, but that wasn't an indicator of anything. He had lightly and darker colored siblings. They all fell along some astral spectrum of some sort. "It's nice to meet you," he offered, smiling thinly. "I'm sure you have questions, unless Harlyn was able to answer them all." He imagined there were few other reasons why she had called him in, and as it had been with some of other Ostregas he had encountered, they always had their questions.