Stavanger Bay water laps

To and fro the foam raced, up over sandy paws and down again, dragging lines in the sand where his toes sank in. Brine in his nose, sea wind in his fur, the sound of arguing gulls in his ears just above the distant din of sea lions. These were the things Sobo could live for. These were the things that soothed his hurt soul.

His dark ears twisted automatically when a new sound rose above the rest. Sand shifting underfoot. His heart rate picked up instantly, the way it always did when there was the possibility of meeting someone new, but when he shifted to his hip and elbow so he could look at them, it was sun-limned Chacal he saw.

She still made him nervous, but not so much as a stranger would. His smile was wan and shy, but he thwapped his tail against the wet sand twice in invitation, not once suspecting that she was out here looking for him because he had failed to let anyone know he was leaving.