Heron Lake Plateau Norupo.

A second blow didn't come, if you didn't count the shove as he pushed away from her. Towhee's sharp eyes went immediately to his mouth, not really looking for words but wary of another attack. But she got the words, after all, and if the circumstances had been different, she absolutely would've relented and tried to make peace with him, whatever it took.

But he'd killed Z and Towhee knew in her heart that X would never return to the plateau. Why would she, after watching a longtime ally slay her offspring in cold blood? If someone ever hurt one of her babies, Towhee would never forgive them. Hell, she would absolutely kill them. She wasn't going to be able to forgive Tegan this, at least not anytime soon.

She didn't want to answer to him and wouldn't have except that she figured it was probably safer for Fig and Fen if she delayed him by engaging. "I didn't realize I needed your permission to move my blind daughter off a fucking plateau," Towhee said in a dull voice. "We're planning on settling somewhere nearby, somewhere where we can raise our kids safely, another sister pack." Glancing off where the pups had presumably gone, her ears folded backward. "Once you're a parent, you'll understand what it's like, when your kids become more important than anyone or anything else."

The Beta suddenly flinched toward her shoulder, which was bleeding so badly it was running down her leg and making her fur hot and sticky. "I'd like to go be with my family now," Towhee said flatly, waiting to see if Tegan planned to continue his assault.