Hushed Willows tangled hills and tiny verio singing

THIS WAS ONLY TEN DAYS LATE. WHY DOES IT FEEL LIKE TWO YEARS WITH AS MUCH STUFF AS HAS HAPPENED??

For Stark his thoughts didn't question that things would improve. He had to believe it. He had to buy into it. There was no other option for him than to have growth and progress for the sake of their pack and their families. They were not both fathers, not in the truest sense, but Stark had been there since only a few days after Tambourine's birth and he had taken up a mantle that he'd never asked for. 

"We'll be smarter for this winter...store even more. The pack barely had a chance to get things together before the famine hit. It's a wonder we didn't lose more people." He said quietly. That had been something he had anticipated but had passionately fought against. He couldn't do everything for everyone no matter how much he'd run himself ragged. "I don't think I've ever been so happy about a rainstorm." He mused with a small smile - it just meant that they would have more plants growing and feed the ones already trying so hard to recover.