Redsand Canyon mollis

Atreus hunched his shoulders against the biting wind that swept through the canyon, his eyes riveted on the Imperator. He’d had his misgivings about Mereo lately but he hadn’t expected this. And he didn’t really understand. Was the pack being disbanded? Germanicus invited someone to step into leadership and in the very next breath, bade them go out into the world. “This is your home,” he said but actions spoke louder than words.

His eyes cast around at the gathered wolves. The only ones he really knew well were Alstroemeria and Tierra, though Atreus had never gotten close to either of them. Fennec was absent and so was her son. His loyalty had belonged to the Imperator and the canyon. Was going with Germanicus even an option? He hadn’t given any details about where he and Fennec intended to go from here.

Atreus’s lips pressed into a thin line. He didn’t really know any of these wolves, not even Germanicus. If Mereo was no more, he would take this opportunity to lean into his scouting skills. Perhaps he could use some of the intelligence he’d recently gathered and make a home in one of those packs. Or maybe he would go to Brecheliant and stay with Amalia a while.

He didn’t really feel the need to make an announcement of his own. Atreus merely dipped his head to his former leader, an acknowledgement for everything Germanicus had done for him, including taking him in as a small, starving boy. And then he left, without even waiting to hear Mereo’s ultimate fate.