Wheeling Gull Isle they are two alone

The broken sound of her voice drew him close. Mou wanted to hold her, to tell her it would be alright; he could not say those things and know it to be true, so instead he brushed a kiss to her cheek, draped himself around her carefully.

The thought she voiced was one he had not yet considered; and to think he was a tactician! He did not doubt the Redhawks might pull such a trick on them. They would want their children and they would take anything away from the pair, whether it was the truth or not.

You're right, he murmurs in to her fur. There was no winning here, not according to the weighted system that worked against them, always.

I won't let them. I won't let them take Blueberry, or any of them, if that's what you want. Even if he could not find it in himself to love the other children, Mou had to be a father to them. They deserved stability and care, and he could do his best.