Bearclaw Valley I don’t want anything more from you

Normally, there was no need to check on the exterior walls of the valley, given just how sturdy they were, but he had to keep busy somehow—besides, the more done meant the less likely anyone else was to get hurt, which prompted him into action more so than just needing to keep in motion. As soon as she agreed to walk with him he was on the move, having turned right outside of the valley’s entrance. Honestly, he’d expected meaningless small talk, despite not really wanting it—but it was better than delving into his past, as the topic wasn’t one that he visited with others too often.

He slowed and glanced her way, considering the questions as they came before resuming his previous pace. “I was born here, yeah,” he said, seeing no harm in telling her the basics. “My parents led a pack here at the time—that’s what I’m trying to rebuild. Eventually, everyone went their separate ways, though. I was taken away from here and grew up farther south, on the other side of the mountains.” The finer details were left out, such as names and everything that had happened between then and now. “Stuff happened and I found my way back here,” he finished with. “This was always home, so I guess I’m glad that I have others sticking with me here.” Like Laurel, he noted silently. Her, her sister, and everyone else—they were breathing life back into the valley.