Redtail Rise way of the wilds

A whole host of information is exchanged when their noses examine each other. Riley learns her age, her sex (though this was mostly obvious to begin with), the last meal she’d eaten, her general health, and comradeship — as well as the places she’d passed through just before.

It’s enough to tell him what he’d already assumed to be true: she was knitted into the fabric of this pack, and likely shared blood with other members.

As he scratched at a leaf, he noticed her loosened jaw. His own posture seemed to melt, to signal his good will.

A skittering of leaves behind them causes his head to jerk. There, perched on a limb of rough beech was a squirrel staring straight at them — with an acorn wedged between its mouth.