Blacktail Deer Plateau lost in the backwood

Mordecai shared his lack of news as he laid down beside her.  She could tell how it troubled him that their packmates were still missing.  For a moment she wondered if it was just Dante he worried for, or if there was a relationship he had with Osprey that Harlyn was unaware of.  It had never before occurred to her that Mordecai might have found another woman in her absence.  It was an unwelcome thought, but one that Harlyn could make peace with under certain circumstances.


"I think tomorrow I'll be ready to leave the den again," she said after a moment, "I'll go beyond the borders to look.  Who knows, perhaps the fire spread further than we thought and they had to run far to escape it.  They could be injured and holed up somewhere recovering for all we know."