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Others quickly appeared and moved toward the abomination. Towhee began to close rank herself, gulping a little when Killdeer flanked her. She knew he was pretty much a grownup now, with the same expectations as any other soldier, but it was still a little hard for her to see her beloved grandson headed into a risky combat and/or hunting situation.

Right around the time Kallik lunged at the strange ungulate, Germanicus strode onto the scene with all the airs his title afforded him. Towhee did not hear his command, though she could read it in his stance. She halted, throwing out her good foreleg for Killdeer to do the same out of pure reflex. Licking her lips, she watched Germanicus approach the strange creature, nothing about his bearing indicating a predator closing in on prey.

Her brows rose when she realized Germanicus was speaking with the mysterious beast. Towhee’s eyes fixed on its tail, realizing with a jolt that it was a canine of some sort. She had never seen anything like it, though the wounds to its face reminded her of Maegi’s leer. Now that she recognized her own kind, Towhee could only think something along the lines of, Uncanny valley…

From this angle and distance, she had no hope of following what was being said. Hell, as she continued staring at the weird “wolf’s” mangled lips, she realized she probably wouldn’t be able to follow even if she was only inches away. That might’ve been the case even before someone or something had evidently turned its face into ground beef.

Towhee drew in a deep breath and peered around at the others, legs still braced where she stood watchfully. She had no idea that this was Diesel and that she was informing Germanicus of her estrus. But it was like some strange cue. The scent of it wove into her nostrils—not Diesel’s heat but hers. She inhaled sharply as she felt her own blood on her leg.

Wow, she’d really just started her period in front of half of Mereo. And her grandson. And this weird steak.