Bearclaw Valley I need time to replace what I gave away

This time around, his unvoiced assumption proved to be fact. She sought a home, a place within his ranks, and claimed to have skills that might deem her a worthy candidate. He was used to this now, listening to others speak about themselves and tell him what they could do, even if it was a skill as basic as hunting. Were they not all born with the ability to hunt and fight? The former, usually, but lately he’d seen things that might suggest the latter to be false; it was disappointing to know, but he didn’t dwell on the thought for long—he had someone there to speak with him, after all.

Alexander considered testing her claimed abilities, perhaps by sending her off to hunt or engaging in a brief spar. But as he decided which route to take, another question rose up from the depths of his mind and forced its way to the forefront of his mind: “How are you with children?” Although his companion showed no signs of pregnancy—how could she, when it was still so early after—he knew she was in heat and he knew what they’d done could lead to children. Knowing nothing about puppies and doubting that Reigi did, either, he felt the need to find someone that did; perhaps it would be easier to ask those already within his pack, but each were still youthful, it seemed, and he doubted their experience (aside from Blondine, of course, who he knew to be familiar with caring for those that could not care for themselves).