Qeya River over the hills and far away

"I believe you," Shale said, meaning it. This was no doddering old wolf; she was sharp as a fang, still, and witty, too. No doubt she had the kind of mind that remembered every stranger she came across. Alas, Shale hadn't been blessed with that talent, though he tried to bluff his way through it. His smile grew wider as she gave him her name. "Apple. Pretty."

He inclined his head the way he came, toward the plains (though not visible, from this distance). "Morningside," he said, looking back at her. "My family's pack, out on the plains." His family's pack, indeed. He had never felt that way, really, until the pups came along. Sure, Dawn and Sunny were there, as well as his myriad nieces and nephews, but it really had been Grayday that kept him around.

But Grayday was gone, now, and his children were there. It had changed for him, if only slightly.

"You?" he inquired, pushing those existential thoughts to the back of his mind.