Foggy Bottom Way kohara

Her mate, gone.

The priestess did not allow herself to think of it. Her duties came first. Each day she set about securing the new place of coyotes in the desert, finding the hidden places and marking them as thoroughly as the open ones.

She was not surprised to find another of her kind. Male, young and healthy. Perhaps he would sire the new children of the spring.

Blinking back sudden tears, Candle yipped to the unfamiliar man and moved to greet him.