The Heartwood decorate this silence

The Blackthorn didn't actually consider herself a hippie. At least not in the traditional sense. Her ideas were certainly different from what she had come across in the past, though. And maybe there needed to be an island of misfit toys for wolves like her, because none of those other places had ever worked out. She wasn't like Grayson, trying to recreate something she had left behind. Nor was she like Takiyok, who was on some quest to look as badass as possible by living in awful conditions.

I'd love to have you along, she said, her voice settling into a more serious, but still light tone. But I won't put you on the spot, and you don't have to decide right now. And you can always flake at the eleventh hour. That's usually what I do. She gave him a toothy grin.