Twisted Slough not gonna let you get away so easy

The man looked so downtrodden, Shale almost gave the whole deer to him right then and there. But he hardened as he thought of Dauntless, the growing boy, and Lav, her thin pelt barely warming her slim frame. There was no room for kindness toward strangers, outside what was necessary. It was the dead of winter.

But the man's question had his ears perk up, and he gave a small shrug. "I don't know about around here," Shale said, gesturing to the swamp and its immediate neighboring territories. "My brother's pack lives a few hours' run to the north."

He regarded the burly male, casually sizing him up. "Our numbers are good, and our territory is secure. It's a nice place." Shale's mouth quirked in a half-smile, no wryness to be found in it. "We're on a plateau at the base of the mountains. Not the nearest range. . .the ones past those."