Ankyra Sound ocean death

wolves had come and gone from his life, but the core members remained—one of them being papa val. that was why, when the dark-furred man went missing, he knew something was deeply wrong here.

lucette had decided to look for him herself, and of course he would follow. 

she went on ahead while lafayette nosed at every nook and cranny of the neighboring sound, trying to pick up any trace or hint. though he was able to find a few tasty morsels in the rocky tide pools, none of them offered answers pertaining to their quest.

he had just swallowed a slippery oyster and was licking the salt from his chops when he saw lucette pause, way down the beach—something dark and limp at her paws.

driftwood? or perhaps something dead, from the sea. 

onward he went, and when he reached his sister's side, ice replaced the blood in his veins and every part of him froze in shock.

papa val? he said blankly, half-expecting the man's ear to cock and his heavy-lidded eyes to widen in recognition.

but this wolf was dead, dead as the one he'd discovered long ago, and grief burst from him like a summer storm, sudden and savage and frightening. lafayette cried out, a guttural moan, and fell to his knees in the wet sand, his tears pattering down upon val's vacant face.