Golden Glade sky fire above, ice below the hearth

She was relieved he didn’t think she was crazy. Her family name had always meant so much to her. So far, though, it seemed that the most pain and heartache in her life had come from her own family. Towhee and Phox had ditched, nearly all of her other siblings had left at one point or another — even Wildfire, much as Raven had loved and adored her, had abandoned them all years ago — not to mention all the shit that Titmouse had put her through. As far as she knew, he was still in league with the pack that was sworn enemies of the Redhawks.

All of this made her question what it was, exactly, that she was so loyal to. If one had asked her a few weeks ago, her immediate response would have been family. But the seeming lack of reciprocation from family to her had gotten her thinking. Now, her loyalty was to herself. Her children. The wolves who still believed in her when even her own brother and sister didn’t.

Bitterness swirled in her thoughts as she considered Rannoch’s comments. She loved his show of solidarity in choosing to adopt the Frosthawk name himself. They would be their own family. ”That’s a great idea,” she replied after a few seconds’ thought, pausing where she stood to paw at an upturned rock with an interesting array of colors and streaks on it. ”Frostfur and Redhawk coming together to forge something even stronger. The Frosthawk pack. I love it.” She imagined her siblings would be strongly against her changing her name or that of their family pack, but she no longer cared what they thought. Their right to tell her how to live her life and run her pack had ended when they’d turned their backs and left with bird fingers in the air. ”We should go find Qui and Liffey and tell them,” she added, figuring they could resume their exploration another time.