Phoenix Maplewood got what it takes to make a mountain man leave his home

She nodded in relief when he agreed she should leave it be; it would be bad to let the wound fester (she knew that much) but still - yuck! It was much more fun to lie by Shale's side and lick absently at his uninjured paw, her tail wagging idly as he spoke. He had a nice voice - it was especially nice when she could feel the vibrations of his words against her own ribcage. Skraeling settled closer and bumped his chin with the flat topside of her muzzle.

"Oh, just with my family," she replied, sighing a little when she thought of those pesky little siblings she'd left behind. Her elder brothers had departed earlier that autumn, and Antonia had gone away with that boy from the river. She and Skadi had never gotten on very well, and there came a point when Leto had stopped being company enough for her. So she'd left.

"I haven't been here long. I was with my parents and my brothers and sisters just last month. But I wanted to go somewhere with more wolves to play with. It was just my little family at Ivarstead," she explained, laying her head down on her paws. It was still sad to think about her parents and Antonia, and even about Husk and Jar. But she liked Sunny and Aliac, and she liked Shale a bunch, too.