The Heartwood not this year

Nab was already shaking her head. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Brechin. It sounds like you nearly gave your life to save those girls," she told him, with feeling. "I think we're both putting a little too much pressure on ourselves - let's make a pact. If I help you keep your harem safe from harm, would you let me raise my young among your kind?"

It was quite a step from simply keeping each other company, but Nab felt that it was a good eough deal. She liked the young male, and thought that they could help each other greatly. She would offer him what help she could, and he and his herd could provide her with the sort of safety net she'd never before experienced.

"I'm a big girl, after all, as well as another set of eyes. But I have to sleep and eat like everyone else, and it would be good to have more than just myself looking after any future children I might have. As you well know, this land is riddled with wolves."