Bearclaw Valley ocean of gold

"merrick was the first bearclaw, i think," ancelin murmured, pleased to see his eldest joining them. avalita and adalynn squabbled with sharp puppy bites over the femur, and he grinned. "maybe we should worship bears."
a joke. a jest. was it? was it?
when adalynn returned, ancelin regarded her with a somber look. "merrick and astara, your grandmother, had at least two kids. my aunt avicus was one, and my dad, aventus, was another."
he kept his teeth closed over arielle and atreus. they'd left. the only reason he mentioned his father now was the keeping of glaukos as some sort of slave, a thought which appealed to the bruinman's own darkness.