Swiftcurrent Creek but anything is preferable to the pain

the mind of something with sharp wings and sharper teeth. merrick saw now the amalgamation of himself and astara in the simmer of aggression that aventus had retained. had he known the boy's thoughts about his sister, he might have sought this to be a teaching moment — but — 
"we are small now, bruin-jaw," he reminded. "i do not doubt that we could kill him. only that he must be alone."
a low flare of his nostrils. "the time for children to be born has come. he travels with his leadership. he will not leave his lands unattended, but he will leave them." the beginnings of a further plan starting to kindle beneath his fur.
his redgirl and rogueboy; hm, hmm. what to do there; and for all his power, merrick could not see into the near future.