Dragoncrest Cliffs Say, could that lass be I?

She nodded her affirmation. My grandparents—my mom’s parents—Peregrine and Fox founded the original pack and named the land after themselves. Meerkat would have to tell him their love story sometime.

But right now, she was focused on theirs. I guess you could say that, she said, heartened by his smiling response. I like the idea of belonging to one another, and sharing a name with the children we make together. And if there was any doubt she was referencing him in this hypothetical, it was put to rest by the smoldering look in her eye.

Meerkat Sveijarn-Corten, she thought to herself, almost feeling bold enough to say it out loud, then losing her nerve. Anyway, Njord wanted to know more about her family, her childhood in particular.

They were approaching a piece of driftwood washed up on the beach. Meerkat moved closer to it, taking a seat facing the water. She patted the spot beside her and grinned at Njord. They could walk again soon, but she was feeling a little achy (in the best possible way) and she wanted to give this line of inquiry her full attention.

Well, my mom definitely isn’t what you’d call traditional. She wasn’t really the romantic type, so when her season came around, she sort of… well, slept around. Meerkat chuckled, wondering if Njord knew what he’d signed up for by asking this particular question.

Her eyes roved from his face out to the horizon. She didn’t know who my father was for sure—Kaertok was her best guess, but I didn’t learn that until much later—and she didn’t even know she was going to have me until the moment I was born. She didn’t think she could have kids at all, so I was her ‘meer-acle.’ I was raised by her and my uncle, Phox, but I think of him as my dad. His mate, Niamh, was sort of a third parent and their kids were more like my brothers and sisters than my cousins.

I had a very good childhood, she continued, and I quickly grew to love the idea of becoming an ambassador for my pack. At the ripe old age of five months, my older brother, Bronco, and I moved to our sister pack, Moonspear. She paused, wondering if he had heard of it. When they branched out into a third pack, Firefly Glen, we went there. By the time tragedy struck, I guess I wasn’t really a kid anymore…

She wouldn’t mind telling Njord about that someday, either, but Meerkat didn’t want to dwell on such things today. Instead, she gazed at him, hoping her answer had sufficed, before querying in turn, And you? Tell me about where you grew up, what wee Njord was like.