Morningside Cuesta traveled a million miles too far

a low chuckle rose to terance's throat as the wolf neared, seeing now she was a bit younger -- older than his current litter, but perhaps near ibis' age. actually, he thought, this wolf looked strikingly like his daughter and former mate -- but most pretty little sandy colored females did from a distance. his tail waved gently again, nose twitching. no pack, to his surprise, most of the wolves in the valley seemed to be claimed by one pack or another. 

kitten, he repeated with a flick of a ear, as if charmed by the name -- it was much cuter than anything arbiter would choose to nickname their kids, so it struck terance with a bit of humor to think of calling brou something like kitten. granted, he did call ibis much sweeter names -- god, what juxtaposition -- and god why was he thinking so intensely about this? i'm terance, he introduces with a small smile, i used to lead a pack a bit south of here, but we're moving north to find more plentiful prey. his nose dipped, and he added, are you from around here, kitten?