Stone Circle In Conclusion: I am a terrible pet owner.

When he caught sight of a dark figure approching from within the territory, Valiant had to hold his breath to try and control the sudden leaping of his heart. It felt as though it was trying to jump right out of his throat, and then it abruptly shriveled up and died when he saw that it was not Steph, but Valette on her way to the scene.

By the time she reached them, however, he'd decided that he was excited to see Valette again as well. "Hi, Aunt Val. It's me, mini-Val!" Only, he was not so mini anymore.

"Valiant," Easy pressed from behind him, and he splayed his ears and gave a hopeful wag of his tail.

"I'm Valiant, and I would like to join Easthollow. I promise to work hard and to pull my weight and to be respectful," he recited, looking mighty proud of himself for remembering all the things wolves had to do to be good pack members. Most of the time, he did them without thinking about it —  Aunt Easy said that he should learn to keep these things on his conscience. "And my dad is here —  is my dad here? —  and I'm probably going to get as big as him, Aunt Easy says, so I'll be a bruiser. For Team Easthollow!"

Behind him, Easy shot Lavender another exasperated look. She came forward, but remained a little behind her nephew.

"Lavender and I are just delivering him," she shared. "I have obligations elsewhere, and I'm still keeping an eye out for Steph." Her orange eyes were combing carefully over Valette's somewhat thin and bedraggled form. She didn't look quite well, and it worried her greatly. "I can come back and help with the hunting, if that makes it easier to take on another youth."