Hideaway Strath when we arrive, sons and daughters

Mallaidh's spirited nature pleases her gunmetal-and-steel mother most of the time, but the little growl is a warning signal that the alpha female does not appreciate. She can't afford to ignore the insubordination even if Mallaidh is her favorite daughter — a fact that she conceals moderately well, though the snowdrop has felt the distance and responded to it with distance of her own. "I love you, my girl, but you do not growl when your alpha — mama or not — commands you. I said come away." She punctuates her tightly uttered statement with a snakestrike of her broad muzzle, seeking to close the girl's scruff in a controlled grip and hold the little spitfire until she stops trying to make a beeline for the food.