Bitterroot Valley lewisia

She did not trust the cougar to let her be. Though her routw to Stone Circle was clear cut, how could she risk leading the cat to her daughter and sons?

With this many packs around her, this many in the heat of spring, she found her paws tracing northward again. She would not be responsible for leading the cat to any of the families that built themselves a refuge here, so she surrendered herself to lonely spaces, setting herself at risk to protect the rest.

Taktuq came upon the river at midday, as the Bypass rose as an impressive peak upon the near horizon, but still out of reach. She plunged into the shallows without hesitation. Glacial water shook the breath from her lungs, and she gasped, but did not rise from the steam.

She had not seen the cat since leaving the Maplewood. Either the cougar truly had let her go, or she was giving her berth to follow her trail when her hunger roared again. If that were the case, Taktuq would lose her here.

The cold did not yet reach her bones, but her northern blood came wrapped in the furs of the south. She would feel the bite of winter soon - but until then, Taktuq swam.