i wish i could not say then i wouldn't have to lie

There were winters worse than the one he had just been through? FitzDutiful was floored by the thought. Winter had been so bad for them with the lack of food and the dogs that he couldn't imagine anything worse. So out of it, he was, that he barely caught the ladies name. "FitzDutiful," he replied in turn. "FitzDutiful Silvertip, Alpha of Silvertip Mountain just over yonder." That was the first time he had ever used his new surname and it felt good to say.

"What brings you to this forest?" he asked. He secretly wanted to ask how a lone wolf had managed to survive the winter but it felt very impolite. After all, he had chosen winter to set out and create his new pack. It had been fortunate that other wolves had been willing to band together during the cold weather and fight it off, but it could have also gone the other way and the pack could have died of starvation.