Sunbeam Lair Wind

Heedless of him, Kirain zigzagged around clumps of snow and nosed about the greenery still clinging to life in this dank underground. She birdcalled at each of her findings, trilling her excitement for the entire cave to hear.

Winter’s Wake looked on with amusement. Her youthful energy was infectious, and he was glad to see that she’d gotten a lot of her strength back during their days together. This level of enthusiasm was a far cry from the overtaxed wolf he’d found in the willows.

He let her go on and on about her trade, only partly listening as he came upon a pile of mostly cleaned bones half-buried in one of the snowdrifts. He sniffed at it, then slowly lifted his head, a grim look on his face. Kirain, he said sharply. A mountain cat has fed here recently. And the bones it had left were lupine in shape.