Moonspear Med blinde augo vil du vegen finna.

She had liked it there, even if the heights had been a bit much for her youngest son. Towhee exhaled and plodded forward, thinking about that crazy hunt with Alaric and how much he had reminded her of Maxim. That thought made her chest pinch but she let her mind wander rather than quell thoughts of him, as she had been doing much of the time.

Despite the conviction she had shared with Phox—Maxim was dead and there was no other explanation—life in these wilds had taught her that you really never could say “never.” Sometimes the most unexpected things happened. Wolves disappeared and reappeared suddenly and, sometimes, without any real explanation. Case in point: her own brother.

What if he did turn up back in the vale? Towhee wouldn’t be there. But that was part of the reason Jack had stayed. Besides that, Tamar and everyone else there would notify her as quickly as they could. But what would she do? Would she go there and see him? Would she get back together with him? Towhee couldn’t see how that would be possible, though she had the feeling everything would be different, should it actually happen…

She paused, blinking to a focus and looking around. The forest was still and silent, although they all were for her. Towhee’s fur prickled as she sensed someone nearby. She felt eyes on her, though as she scanned the underbrush, she didn’t see anyone or anything at all out of the ordinary. Her jaw set, though whatever presence she sensed, it didn’t feel threatening.

Show yourself, please, Towhee demanded in a gravelly voice, eyes narrowing.