Bearclaw Valley only then i am human,

That’ll be nithe, She said, approving of the gifts he had pooled to take to Swiftcurrent Creek. It was a new year, now- Spring was coming, and with rebirth came the renewal of trust and bonds. If they expressed their thanks now, they might continue on in good will throughout the summer.

The little ones squirmed at her side. She shuffled slightly, so Cole could see them better. That one’th Asura, she said, as she gestured to the boy, whose baby fur hinted he might look like her when he blew out his coat. Thith little girl ith Arlen, She said, hovering her muzzle over one of her paler children, before gesturing to the fever-coated girl beside her. An’ her thith-ter, Ahni. She said. 

She glanced to Cole, who still held Aurelian. She considered what his reaction might be next, but chose to trust that he wouldn’t endanger the child he held, when she lifted her forelimb, and revealed the fifth child, the darkest and largest of them, and pulled her gently to her chest where she sprawled between her forelegs. The cub yawned and rolled over onto her back and crossed her large, bear paws over her round belly. She smacked her tan lips together. She looked for Cole’s reaction, but her voice was no different when she spoke of the fifth child. An’ thith ith Auberon, but…We call her ‘Alf,’ for short.