Golden Glade savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park

Phox seemed oblivious to what he meant at first, and the tawny Ostrega noted with light amusement as it dawned upon his darker comrade. There had been a time he would have followed Towhee, Phox and the family loyally. His first real glance at Towhee’s true nature had quickly averted that and it was finally clear to the golden wolf what he intended to do—strike out for himself.

He was about to quip out a response when his bright gaze burned upon the newcomer. Meerkat had grown substantially since he had last seen her, and he felt the pang in his chest at the knowledge. She greeted Phox in a way he had longed to be greeted—had a right to be greeted, really, but Towhee had completely railroaded that.

No, according to the dark she-wolf, he was only allowed to be part of her every day life just as a normal pack member.

Anyone closely looking would have noticed the tightening of his jaw or the flash of his eyes. But years of disappointment had given Pip a solid foundation of withholding his emotions from everyone.

Instead, he offered her a grin as Phox gave his gentle approval, his eyes skimming over her with curiosity. “Hey,” he greeted, before turning his eyes back to Phox. “There’s a basin near here I’ve got my eye on. We’ll see how it goes, I guess. Maybe back over the mountains… I don’t know yet.”