Blacktail Deer Plateau your scent is a sweet felony

Once the initial frenzy of their reunion subsided to an eager hum, Coelacanth inspected her cousin in turn. Though her tufted ears turned eagerly toward the Spiritwalker as she began to speak, Seelie busied herself by burrowing her sharply tapered muzzle through the cream-and-ginger fur with unfeigned interest. Her feathered tail continued to whip heartily against her hocks and a kittenish purr fluttered in her throat. As a puppy she’d always enjoyed the slightly squished feeling of being at the bottom of the dogpile composed of Amoxtli, Catori, and Chelan — so when Catori snaked her body against the sheepdog’s, Coelacanth uttered a blissful grunt-groan and turned to jelly. She flopped down on the ground, rolling onto her back and exposing her abdomen.

News of Catori’s marriage — and impending motherhood! — buoyed the tiny Groenendael back to a hasty sitting position just in time to catch that kiss against the velveteen of her cheek. “Congratulations!” bespoke her exuberant body language. She couldn’t sit still! Catlike paws brought her in a dancing circle around the taller female, and as she pirouetted haphazardly and inevitably lost her balance, she braced herself against Catori’s hips — and then she fell over anyway. She didn’t harbor any resentment toward the Spiritwalker, and she knew the rest of the family wouldn’t, either. One of the unofficial tenets of the Corten bloodline was a certain independence; you loved and cherished your family, and sure, you stopped home when you could, but if your path led you elsewhere, well, you followed it. Chelan’s place was the island, to preside once Crosscurrent stepped down. Undertow had no interest in the throne, but Chelan?

Chelan was literally [and figuratively] born for the job.

There was something familiar about the scents that lingered in Catori’s fur, and Coelacanth pressed even more tightly against her cousin, a questioning whine interjecting itself into her rhythmic thrumming of happiness and contentment. Just who was Cat hanging around with these days? One scent threatened to cleave the girl’s heart in two, for she didn’t dare believe her own nose — Amoxtli?! — but she couldn’t stop herself from hoping. Please let it be true!