Fox's Glade and who shall wear the starry crown?

There was no anger within her tone when she responded, reminding him of just how different the young Melonii had always been. Many of those within her family would have laid him out right there and then, angered by the traitorous act that was leaving the woods behind. But not Maegi, never Maegi. Even as a little girl, her way of thinking had always been far more advanced, far more understanding, than those that had come before her. Perhaps she was the one that they had needed all along to set things right.

“It is,” he agreed. “I am so glad to see you again.” His young apprentice—how she had grown! A mother and mentor to her own children now, too. Looking upon her and the family she’d made for herself, he was proud. Proud of the woman she’d become despite her past, and proud of her ability to keep moving forward. A wonder, if he ever did see one.

When asked about his new place of residence, he said, “I do. I am staying at Easthollow now, with my daughter and her family.” His family, his grandchildren. “I hadn’t planned on staying. I was only going to visit a valley that I once lived in, where I was told another pack had taken up residence. But…” He smiled as he thought back. “While there, I met my granddaughter instead of another pack,” he explained. “She invited me back to her pack and her mother, my daughter, decided that I could stay. It wasn’t something I’d ever planned for but I couldn’t refuse.” For so long he had been away from his family, separated from those in the north and estranged from the majority of his children. That he had been given the opportunity to reunite and reconnect with them was an offer that he could not refuse—it was something he had wanted for so long.