Blacktail Deer Plateau no nuns. no nuns, none!

Had he ever known a coyote before? Phox couldn’t recall. He certainly hadn’t been friends with one ever in his life, and when he spotted one dangerously close to the den that Mou and Maegi shared, the dark phother wasted no time prickling the hair along his back to make him appear more menacing as he too approached.

You aren’t welcome here, he said, lashing his tail. Vesper he acknowledged only with the briefest glance to her and then the den. A silent plea to get to safety.

Leave. I won’t ask twice. Though Vesper may not accept him as her father, Phox would protect her as he would any of his children.