Heron Lake Plateau If you get lost you can always be found

For Niamh, he would do it. Kaala he was less impressed with, but perhaps he was being unnecessarily hard on her. And why shouldn’t he be? She came to their borders seeking a place to call home. It was very unlike the situation Camilla was in. Kaala was not in need of a place to shelter her. To her comment about family that was not blood, he disagreed. His blood relatives had always been held in higher regard than anybody else. Even the Blackthorns weren’t equals in the Redhawks’ mind. But alas, that was not what he had been asked to do. It was Niamh’s job to decide if Kaala should or should not be allowed to stay.

Phox followed, and he played his part, but he remained unimpressed. It was not the tactic he would have used, although it did get the job done. The doe lay at their feet now, lifeless and eyes open. Phox licked his lips, eager to eat, but knowing that he would wait for Niamh. Silently, he gave thanks to the deer that would be their food. The rest of the pack would be rewarded, too. Whatever the three of them did not eat here and now would be distributed to the various caches around the pack.