Blackfeather Woods Once a year we celebrate

The boy's displeasure with Blackfeather Woods was evident, and Damien feared that, like his own sister, the pale yearling would one day find out that the dark of the forest could be hard to fight. It made the heart cold, the thoughts cold, and sooner or later it brought pain to each that called it home.

But Xan was still easy to sway back into the good side of the pack. He'd been given shelter there, and a chance to make something of himself. It was only his choice whether he wanted to take it, and so far he'd done nothing in his favor. He'd said it, Meldresi had wanted him there, and if she did it was because she saw the potential that existed in a young soul. Damien and his siblings were there to continue what she started, and he too saw the promise that existed in a younger, malleable wolf. But, had Xan come to Blackfeather Woods too late?

"Burke sure didn't," Damien assured, responding to the yearling's claim that no one ever wanted him in Blackfeather Woods, "but he's gone," he added, suggesting that everything had changed since the traitor banished. "He was no replacement to my mother, but my siblings, your parents and I know what she saw on you, why she allowed you to stay. You were promised to The Brotherhood, but it's only in you to decide whether you're willing to do what it takes to become," he spoke encouragingly, looking intensely into the Inuit's strange, bi-toned eyes.