Redtail Rise other loves, other vices

The woman recoiled slightly at the sound of that familiar name, but ultimately accepted the touch of the other wolf. He smiled like home and sunshine, but also like long, slow sorrows. Puppies, too. Blackbear stood stiffly in his embrace, the only sign that she did not entirely oppose the contact was a brief brush of her muzzle against the back of one of his black-tipped ears.

"You're not crazy, Aditya," she said, and her voice was not Easy's yapping bark or Ishara's crackling burl. In her months away, it'd evened out into something low and velvety - somewhere between Khoe's sweet, clear tones and her father's rumbling bass. "I didn't realize how close I was," she said lamely, speaking more to herself than to the man.

Uncomfortably, she extracted herself from her brother-in-law's embrace, her expression apologetic but worried. Already, he would be carrying her scent back to them. She knew at once that she had to convince him not to - to bathe before he left, and roll in something smelly before he returned to Dawn, Catori, all the wolves she'd let down.