Redsand Canyon match point

Yes, she said in response, lips pressing together as she let him embellish his answer. Would you ever get violent with a child? Towhee wanted to demand, though she didn’t give voice to it. No matter how he answered the question, she probably wouldn’t trust it entirely, and if he was anything like Reyes, she would just do what needed to be done again. Maybe this time, she would just kill him outright.

Her thoughts had run away with her, down a dark road. Towhee reined them back, blinking at Maxim’s fair question. Her orange gaze wandered thoughtfully over the nearby water as she wondered how to answer that question. She was kind of biased, wasn’t she?

Well, that depends who you ask, she quipped. You should ask Rue. She’ll give you a fair report. Or, hell, one of my kids, since a few of them are running around here. But I like to think I’m a pretty good mom. I don’t coddle my kids but I love them fiercely. Towhee paused. I thought I was done having them, you know. After my previous pack disbanded, I felt like I had nothing left to offer anyone, as a leader or a mother or anything. I felt like… a has-been, I guess. But life in Mereo has kind of restored my faith in myself.

She made a ponderous, humming sound and thought of what to ask him next, deciding on, It doesn’t bother you that I have oodles of kids and even a grandkid? I don’t mean to pick at your offer—I’m still considering it, very seriously—I just want you to know who I am and what you’d be signing up for, is all, Towhee added with a bit of a mischievous smile.