Noctisardor Bypass any other phase

She didn’t even realize they were gone until her mother told her. Although Druid trusted Sequoia implicitly, she couldn’t help but go and see for herself. She traced Mahler’s scent, which indeed blended with Wylla’s and Phaedra’s, all three leading away from the bypass. She halted there at the borders, staring out into the wilderness, then turned back toward the heart of Rivenwood.

Druid sought her mother’s company again, raising her snout skyward when her dam called. “I’m on my way,” she howled in return, voice quivering slightly. She picked up her pace a little and arrived simultaneously with Witch. Druid gravitated toward her sister, both of them looking to Sequoia.

Witch would probably insist he hadn’t left them willingly, giving Mahler the benefit of the doubt. But Druid saw the writing on the wall. The man who’d raised them like a father had packed up his wife and real daughter, then left without so much as a word of farewell. He’d abandoned them.

This also meant he’d foisted the problem of Laurel onto the mother and sisters. Druid would’ve preferred Laurel leave too, though she knew Sequoia would never stand for that. Although she cared very little for the woman herself, she now understood that Laurel was important to her mother.

Druid found herself at an impasse: she didn’t want to leave Rivenwood, yet if they stayed here with Laurel, it was only a matter of time before Ursus came along and finished the job. They were like sitting ducks.

Mama, she said before Sequoia could say whatever she’d called them here to say, I think we should leave too, but only until it’s safe to return. I don’t want to join another pack or live anywhere else. Rivenwood is my home. It will always be my home.