Moonspear you’re the voice

She dearly hoped he would open up to her, though Stingray was at an age where he might not want to pour his heart out to his mother. In that case, maybe he wouldn’t mind sharing his plight—assuming Meerkat wasn’t simply mistaken—with Njord instead.

Her train of thought didn’t get much further before her son admitted to feeling out of place. Naturally, Meerkat instinctively wanted to refute him. Of course he fit in here, she wanted to insist. And they could find his role if they worked together to discover his hobbies, interests, etc.

But she pressed her lips together, hearing him out. Her eyes cut to his face in mild surprise when he brought up Moontide. He mentioned Moonspear’s relatively crowded village in comparison. Meerkat wondered if she was getting ahead of herself but it kind of sounded like her son wasn’t a fan of the crowds here and wanted to live someplace smaller, like their sister pack.

What do you keep thinking about? she asked, careful to control her expression and her tone.

But Meerkat couldn’t do anything about her thoughts. They ran rampant as their feet continued carrying them westward along the slopes. Was Ray going to disperse? She wanted to clutch at him, though Meerkat reminded herself she’d always intended to raise her kids to go their own way when they were ready. Just because she wasn’t ready didn’t mean anything. If Ray was unhappy here, then he should absolutely pursue happiness elsewhere. The thought put a lump in her throat.