Phoenix Maplewood darling, a bad romance

He was right. They were family, but not in the traditional sense. She had nothing left of her true family—Pied was dead, Kisu was long gone and Pura might very well be dead as well—and the rest of her family minus Peregrine and his branch was a fabrication, but one she took some comfort in, even whilst denouncing them. She was moved to rekindle her relationship with Lasher but knew it probably wasn't possible now. From the sounds of things, he was far away and she wouldn't be going far any time soon.

"Of course," said Saena, extending to Casmir the privilege that only her closest subordinates would have. There were only two, and now three, wolves who would have the privilege of meeting them in their very first days. "Let me help you, too," she insisted, "when you need it." She wanted to tell him she had endured a lot of loss in her life as well, but somehow didn't think it amounted to what he'd been through and was too ashamed to compare them. Even the loss of Junior paled next to the loss of a partner and, knowing nothing of Casmir's dual interests, she assumed his had been the for life sort.

"C'mon, I'll show you the forest's heart," she said with a gesture. There was nothing special there except Saena's half-dug whelping den, but it was the center of the territory and from there he could determine what he should do next, and where he should go.