Redhawk Caldera On into the gold river

Blackfeather. Had she not heard that name uttered from her father’s lips with contempt? She studied Elwood with hesitation on her slender features – a confusion of her distant memories and dots that she could not connect, nor would ever be likely to, given Scimitar’s untimely death.

The thought of war stirred her ears to flatten to her skull, her eyes shifting from the Alpha to regard the girl beside him, and then her mate. They should have returned to Neverwinter Forest – resurrected it. Sought elsewhere. But she knew Shrike had ached to return to the Caldera, a place he believed to be home. It hadn’t been so for her – the wolves, spare the silver man who now led them, had been distant.. cold. But her family was Shrike now – and she would work to gain their trust.

Tipping her muzzle down to gently nudge his cheek, she allowed her lips to drift closer to his ear, soft, words meant only for her mate – “I’m with you, whatever you decide.”