Swiftcurrent Creek I am not a legend, I'm a fraud

No bother, Mae countered easily, relaxing somewhat now that she could smell the woman. I'm marking borders. Place ain't what it used to be, not yet, but I plan to build a pack here. The gleam in her eyes as she spoke was more than ambition; there was hope there, too, though she guarded it well.

And you? Don't think I've come across you before. I was raised in this valley, she lifted her nose slightly as she spoke, catching more of the scents on the woman's fur. Scents of the wilds, and nothing more. No others. A wanderer, maybe — or a fragment of a fallen pack from elsewhere.