Heron Lake Plateau The Indie Queens are Waiting

For some reason, Niamh's overreaction tickled Towhee's funny bone instead of irritating her. "Yes, to both of your questions," she replied. "I can read lips, no problem," she explained, "most of the time. I have no trouble reading yours. But you have to be facing me, naturally. So, you were saying...?"

After she presumably repeated her story, the Alpha quipped, "I met him in the womb. And he's been a shitbag as long as I've known him." Towhee's eyes twinkled and her lips twitched, indicating that Niamh needn't take offense at the (granted, quite serious) sibling rivalry. "I wonder if he remembers anything about ptero. It's a sign language my sister and I developed when we were kids."