Overture Downs Set the Sails

Instead of beckoning a king, there came a boy - not even a prince - to answer her calls. He was old enough, surely, but Thade was inexperienced in the way most boys his age were. He didn't know how to lead, and he wasn't brave enough to fight without support. He could barely take care of himself as things were. And he certainly didn't know anything about procreation. In fact, he actively avoided females on principle. If they weren't his packmate, she-wolves simply could not be trusted.

But all his misgivings about the fairer sex were thrown out of his mind as he followed the voice and came across the scent of her. He was immediately driven to track her down, effectively abandoning his journey to the Bypass, where he knew his father to be. Thade howled a return, hoping that surmounting the next dark hill would reveal her to him.

His stomach clenched with anticipation. For what, he couldn't be sure.