Phoenix Maplewood Mommy misses you.

The longer Nanook avoided her family, the more distorted her memories of them became. Good times grew fuzzy like an apparition, and recollection of her parents' tension in the valley sharpened. How much was real and how much was an overwork of her guilty imagination flew over and above the polar child's head. She hadn't seen her mother since the altercation with the loner, and every affection they'd once shared fell under the shadow of bristling hackles and flashing teeth.

Yet when Scarlett's voice carried over Nanook, the distortion fragmented and overwhelmed her with a sickening surge of the love she'd once felt. There remained a cold bristle of fear and unshakable guilt, but her breath caught and before she could resist, the polar child set her paws on course to her mother's call. The storm still swarmed within her, the same front that forced her to push Desna away. Yet even though Nanook grew with each month, she remained a child, and no matter how far buried, she wanted her family, and she wanted her mother.

But when the bushes and trees grew sparse, Nanook caught sight of her mother's stark fur and the polar child halted. Her gaze remained fixed on her mother, guarded and stiff, but under her skin Nanook squirmed in a mess of anger, love, and fear, and her heartbeat quickened.