Overture Downs It's Foregone

He could not help but pick up on that thread of tension that rose with the mention of the cougar. Mordecai came to a natural pause, though it was hardly on account of the trail he followed across the snow pack. Instead his solitary gaze swung around to the lanky form of Reek, and his ears fell back apologetically at the mention of their loss.

"I am sorry to hear that," he murmured, "we have been more fortunate, but not without cost." Their herb stores that Harlyn had built so late in the season were one, but the scars he and Luke bore were another. Still, it was prompt enough for him to divulge what else he knew about it, wondering if they had dealt with the same feline so recently in their past.

"It attacked one of our own to the north of our territory, and I had my own run in with it along our borders one day a few weeks ago." What he left out was the sensation that perhaps they were being stalked in their own right, but it almost felt a foolish notion. But he was uncertain whether to chalk it up to his own fear, or consider it a viable reason.