Stone Circle you must go home again

All was settled rather neatly, then, and Pema and Dauntless crossed the border to join him. It looked as if they had both settled in well enough here, though of course the shadow of what had happened--the boy must be dead, surely--hung over them all like a storm cloud, darkening the stone circle to be almost unrecognizable from the place he had visited once before with Murdock.

His heart hurt for the sadness in Valette's eyes--how hard this must be for her pack, her family! "Thank you," he murmured gently, his voice carrying over the wind to the alpha's ears. His mouth twitched, wavering somewhere between a concerned frown and gracious smile; it tightened eventually into something cold and neutral. "I'm so sorry for whatever happened. . .I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you all right now."

Only he could. It was a platitude. He had lost three children. But no need to speak of that now.

Touching the tip of his tail to Pema's and his nephew's shoulders in quiet passing, he gave Valette a curt nod. "Be well," Shale said softly, then turned to face the mountains once more. He looked over at Pema, then Dauntless. "Let's go home."