Just close your eyes, dear [J]

“Mountains are surprising that way,” she added to his observations. It was true that mountains were chillier than the warmer lowlands, but they were also capable of buffering the winds from its back, sweeping them instead into the flatlands below and keeping the wolves on its slopes comfortable. “I'd previously lived on a mountain all my life, and it has its good days and its bad ones, like anywhere else.”

She was interested in a hidden hot spring. Although the water would likely be sulphuric and incapable of supporting much plant life around it, the warmth would draw prey seeking shelter from winter storms. At her core she was a hunter, and considering these things was quite literally her life.

“Best we find a way up before winter comes,” Viatrix suggested, peering up briefly from the treacherous slope to her new Alpha. “It could be a haven for deer that could sustain us through the coldest months.” It could, of course, be nothing of the sort, but the DeMonte female couldn't say until she had a chance to see it herself. Which, if Ferdie's account of the rock wall was correct, might be never.