Mount Apikuni Mermaids and Crabmen

Artyom's expression softened, and his brow furrowed in concern as Reiko made a sharp accusation: her pack-mates abandoned her and their comrades. Initially he did not want to believe it and, in a sense, felt that he could not. Perhaps the alabaster she-wolf did not know what he did and, although it was not his responsibility to set it right, he did feel a desire to defend his newest pack-mates.

"I am sorry," he made a tentative step forward, unsure how Reiko's opinion of him might swiftly change as she learned of his association with the wolves she once considered her friends, "they have an unborn litter to think about. I could not turn them away."

Artyom wasn't sure he could live with himself by sending the pair into the unknown, dooming puppies to die without the care of a pack. Soon he and Dawn would have his own cubs to feed, but he felt Whitebark would do their best by all of them. "If I offered you and your companions a place with us, might you consider it?" Artyom doubted she would, but wanted to provide the option to show his support; her disagreement with the nature of Kavik and Grezig's departure was not his business.