Hideaway Strath More today than yesterday

Towhee seemed off, which was probably fair. Unlike Phox, she'd spent one hundred percent of her life with the same group of wolves. Phox felt like he'd spent his life in three separate stages. Once as a child, second on his own as a juvenile, and thirdly coming back to Towhee. Sure, Raven had been there as well, but Towhee was always the wolf he had come back for. He had a pretty good feeling that the weight of that was finally dawning on her. Phox had been the more hesitant of the two during their planning, but Towhee had pushed them to tell Raven right away, to move right away, and now it seemed it had caught up all at once.

Fennec asked her question, and Phox moved over to lick the top of her head. You're too old to sleep in the den, he replied, which wasn't false. At their age, there was no need to keep them under constant surveillance. Fig seemed to be the only one raring to go, but even he was worried about Towhee (something Phox couldn't fault him for). Phox had known this would be a difficult transition; he'd done it before. Twice before, really. Once on his own, once coming back to win Towhee over.

The black Redhawk laid down next to Towhee, bringing Fennec in close, too. With the four of them here, Phox couldn't think of anywhere else he'd rather be. They were his family, they were what was most important.