Heron Lake Plateau machines just got workings, and they talk to me

She swallowed a mouthful of tender meat and nodded in agreement with his comment. "Yeah, I think they're literally on the other side of the galaxy from us here. But I'll tell Tegan to take a friend or two with him so he won't be alone." She didn't know the boy as well as she'd have liked -- mostly she just had the standard medic and midwife's acquaintance with him, having assisted Finley with the pups after their birth as much as the elder female would allow. She knew he was young, but he'd proven himself an able scout thus far and seemed to have a reasonably good head on his shoulders in spite of his goofball ways.

Truthfully she would have gladly gone herself, but given the shake-up in leadership as well as her potential pregnancy, now wasn't really a good time for her to go on an extended trip across the wilderness. Plus, her track record for getting lost in her youth made her wary of lengthy journeys despite the fact that her sense of direction had improved quite a bit as she'd gotten older.

She found herself agreeing with his next comments as well. Despite his self-doubts, she thought Quixote might make a pretty good alpha after all. They were both going to have to figure this out as they went, but so far they at least sounded like they knew what they were doing. "I think a hunt would be good for the pack. I'm not positive, but I don't think we have any good caches established yet."