always seemed to hit me like a lightning from above

Where Larus ordinarily spent his days amongst the trees, Kevlyn spent most of his on the beach. The triangular sound was enclosed on all sides by towering cliffs, so this was the most private part of the Nereides' territory, and perhaps for that reason it appealed to him more than the windswept clifftops of of the northeast and the sequoia forest of the southwest. In the forest, he was exposed to trespassers, though just days ago it'd been proven that he was exposed even in the territory's heart.

The boy was thinking about these things, and also trying to push down sudden thoughts of his siblings (and whether they were still alive), when the sound of paws on the packed, cold sand underfoot drew his attention. He turned to see Caiaphas loftily padding toward him with something in her teeth, and automatically he assumed the correct posture of a consort by rolling onto his back and giving her the opportunity to examine him. Ultimate submission was the name of the game, and Spyridon had taught him well that it was safest to show it to any female, but especially the queen of the sirens.

Kevlyn was happy to serve, and of course even moreso to submit to Caiaphas, who was not only his Alpha female but his foster mother. His original opinion that she was an imperfect specimen was changing lately, possibly because she was nicer now than she had been when she'd first picked him up in Stavanger Bay and it was easier and easier to look past her minute, tapered features and see a proper wolf.