Whitebark Stream this banana bread has walnuts

Luke's sigh caught Saena off guard so much that she stopped walking entirely and turned to him with knitted brows. She pressed her lips together and regarded him with utmost concern, and only then did Saena note the slightest hint of sorrow pulling across his face. Her ears fell back against the nape of her neck as he explained that the pack wasn't ready yet.

Saena felt a slight rush of anger in her breast at how long her friend was being made to wait, but she knew it wasn't her place to judge a wolf she didn't even known. She'd at least grown up that much. She wanted to comment on it, but knew it would do Luke no good. Instead, she pressed her nose to his cheek for comfort. It was all she could really do right now to help him.

"I'll keep hoping for you," she said quietly, pulling back to watch him for more signs of distress. "If it gets to that point and you don't know where to go, you'll always be welcome with me." Even temporarily, if that was all he needed. She was learning to let go. There were other places Luke could go, wolves Saena knew that he was partial to as well. She thought with a sickening twist in her stomach of how they'd once discussed Peregrine, and though she didn't want to pressure him to come with her eventually, she found herself hoping and praying to whatever gods might exist that he would not choose Peregrine when the time came.

It might not even come, she reminded herself. His friend might finally found her pack before that ever happened. She sincerely hoped so.