Bitterroot Valley I’m awake, let me be.

This looked lonely. It can remain back-dated, if that fits you.

Nelly Blackthorn had literally been the black sheep of the litter, where various shades of grays and agoutis were predominant features in terms of coats. Apple had scratched her head and looked back at the known ancestors from her side of the family and found no one, who had looked alike. And her then - mate - she had forgotten, whether it was the third or the second, had come from a line of ivory and alabaster coated beasts. So the only explanation could be that... that the passionate fling with a dark stranger had not been as innocent as Apple would have wanted to believe. 

Nevertheless the young mother was a smart woman, who knew, when to keep quiet, when to bend the truth and not ask too many questions. And as a result, while Nelly had grown up to be very different from her parents and siblings in terms of looks, she had been headstrong, smart and tough as nails. And fate would have it that she would be her father's favourite kid of them all (and Apple's too, though she loved all her children dearly). Eventually she had founded a pack of like-minded fellows and had achieved in life great things.

Apple was reminded of her offspring, when she spotted a very similar looking wolf sleeping. Had it not been for the gentle sound of steady breathing and the warmth the wolf radiated, she would have tripped over her lying form and woken her up rudely. Now - with things being as they were, the older wolf settled down on the ground a little distance away and waited for the other to wake on her own.