Swiftcurrent Creek but anything is preferable to the pain

The boy bobbed his head. He felt that Ursus was small, but mighty, and more than capable of felling the great Donovan. But perhaps Merrick was right: they could only hope to do so if they caught the man alone, and Donovan was not the sort of wolf who traveled alone.

A boastful man with an arrogant air, but always surrounded by his pack; a coward at heart, thought Aventus, who valued solitude in a way. He knew his father wandered alone and invited trouble often, and loudly. A better wolf than Donovan could ever hope to be, Merrick.

He added nothing, only tilted his head at his sire in a silent question. If Donovan would leave, but not alone, then what hope had Ursus of dealing with him? Merrick was far more clever than his son. If anyone had the answers, it was he.