Sunbeam Lair It’s not so hard now, you’ve got it all

A friend?

Ukko snorts but doesn't break his gaze from the stranger. He'd never heard of him, if he is who he says he is (and he's sure to be), what proof did he have? Why hadn't there been anything prior to this day? His jaw tightens and sets but he doesn't move. There isn't a thing in the world that will move him, no matter how close.

"Some friend," he comments smoothly, "considering her mate doesn't have a clue who you are."

Perhaps—an afterthought—that says more about their own relationship, if Asterr were to keep something from him. Nor will it surprise him, should it be the case, but the facts didn't change. Asterr is his mate and those are his children and some random wolf he doesn't know, from some pack he has never heard of, isn't going near his family. And whatever Asterr speaks from the birthing den, quiet and hoarse, but he does not hear.

"You may offer your support," he tells him glancing down to the ground between their feet without so much a rodent to offer the mother for sustenance, "however meager that may be."