Rising Sun Valley Dear Fellow Traveller

"The strongest." Louis agreed. He had learned about strength from many wolves - his father, his grandfather, the alphas, the subordinates, even his sister. But mother had always been the greatest of bastions. Where others would hesitate, she plunged ahead, fearless.

It had often been remarked he took after her in that regard.

An ear twisted back. Louis did not know Tauris. Not really. She had shared a story - a brief one, and the context to make sense of it must surely elude him. Laws and values changed with the scent of borders. But Louis' mother had chosen him over her other kin. And to him it felt strange, wrong, to imagine there was anything admirable in a reality where he might have been sent away while she preserved her good graces. Tauris, after all, had not asked to be born.

"It's a shame that loyalty didn't extend to your litter," he answered, lip curling a little. Naive or not, he lacked sufficient restraint to keep his mouth shut.

Yes, she was a stranger. But she was young, and lovely to look upon, and he could not see where she'd done anything objectionable. He felt the compulsion to defend her, even as thin a tie as they had to one another. Whether she felt any need to be defended, herself.

"I'm not sure what's out there... but that's the allure for me, I suppose. Who knows what I might find." Then, grinning, "Or who. Like a pretty lady blown in with the storm." He winked.