Ocean's Breath Plateau Could this one be my last?

She thanked him, which was more than he had expected. Politeness didn't always get you far in Kaertok's book, but he did appreciate it. He was only doing what he thought he was expected to do: round up any stragglers. Perhaps that was part of the reason Rosalyn had instructed Raleska and himself to stay behind. If anybody got slowed down, the two of them were capable enough to get them to their final destination. Raleska knew the way, and Kaertok was a decent tracker.

I'm Kaertok Tartok, he said when she introduced herself. The name Grim spoke was not anything familiar to him. She did not indicate a surname, but Kaertok wasn't all that surprised by that. There were plenty of bloodlines (including his own) where surnames were not given until later in life.

You were not born in Rusalka, were you? he asked. It could have been considered small talk, to some degree, but Kaertok thought it important to know more of the history of the pack he now paid his allegiance to. He wondered how much had changed in the time since he had been gone. Could this have been one of the children that Rosalyn and Erzulie had been raising just before he left?