Phantom Hollow We're only about twenty miles from Ravenscar here.

Whoa, what? Meerkat met his statement with a slow blink, her muscles tensing. Naturally, she wondered what he'd done. It wasn't necessarily difficult to earn Towhee's ire but something truly ugly must've happened for the Sovereign to give her own mate the boot a second time.

He didn't leave her hanging on tenterhooks, explaining how he'd arrived home to find his kids missing. Meerkat blinked again, then realized it must be because Towhee had relocated them during his absence. They hadn't gone far at all, just to the hilltop over the Hobbit Hole. But that was irrelevant, especially in light of what he said next.

The way he phrased it didn't indicate foul play, though Meerkat had trouble picturing what he meant. He'd grabbed Caracal? With his teeth? With his claws? Even if it had been an accident, something about it had prompted Towhee to exile Reyes. The yearling felt her pulse accelerating, wondering just what he'd done to her little brother.

"Caracal?" she questioned a little inanely. "Is Caracal okay?"