"Go on, they're waiting for you," I said, gesturing to the shaking kits..

He shook himself out of his stupor and rushed over to his kids. The two kits were swept up in his tail while the third was gently pelted by White-paw's tongue.

The sounds between the four of them were chaotic and loud. Sharp yips and excited yelps filled the hollow, and I secured my hood back over my head, the sound dampening as it covered my ears.

Thank you.

I patted the cloak and felt it restrict around my shoulders.

Freki casually grabbed the rest of the wolf's body and dragged it out of the hollow while White-paw settled around his kits, who were starting to calm down. Curious, I tried to listen to White-paw speak, but he continued to make fox noises and did the kits.

Did the dad learn human language from the humans? Or maybe the baby foxes are normal and not magic?

I didn't want the kits to be disturbed after finally seeing their parent again, so I stepped over the blood and crouched low, far enough not to literally be breathing down on them. Nonetheless, they froze and tried to sink into White-paw's fur.

Cute.

I restrained my smile contained and refrained from showing teeth, so I wouldn't scare them. White-paw looked nervous, not exactly scared but cautious at the very least.

"I'm glad they're safe. I don't know what you eat, but Freki can leave the wolf's corpse outside."

White-paw licked his injured kit and gently nudged them out of his fur and onto his paw, where they could only shake in fright as I stared. "Thank you, hunter. I would like the wolf if you can. Need food always."

"Alright," I agreed. I moved lower and held out a finger so he could sniff it. "And who is the little one? I saw that they were injured; I'm sorry."

"Split-tail. He is fine, just hungry," White-paw explained. He clamped onto the second fox's neck, the brave one who stood at the very front, and moved him closer. The third tried to resist, but he was swiftly delivered before me even as the kit protested with a ferocious yip. "White-ears. And Sour-paw. These are mine."

Split-tail had a single orange line splitting the poof of red at the end, so his name made sense. White-ears similarly showed his namesake via the dusty white atop his orange ears. But Sour-paw… I could only suspect it had something to do with his paws, though they looked normal to me.

I was surprised at the naming convention, but there was a chance it was a translation error in the Wyrdtongue.

White-ears was the first to brazenly step forth and sniff my index finger. After a few more sniffs, he cautiously licked it, his tiny tongue tickling my skin. He yipped, and the others found their courage to sniff and taste the big, scary Grimm.

Slowly, so as not to startle them, I reached behind me and underneath my cloak to open my pouch. It took some searching, but I pulled out the massive bag of jerky and brought it in front of me. I also grabbed my flask and searched around for something suitable.

Mmmm. That'll do.

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I grabbed what looked like a large piece of petrified bark, but it was curved enough to use as a makeshift bowl.

Pulling out the jerky, I broke it into smaller pieces and placed them into three piles before I uncapped my flask and poured enough for them to drink. With the kids taken care of, I grabbed a handful and set it beside White-paw's head.

"Here you go, you can have more, but don't choke." I scratched my chin, staring at the younglings. "Uh, do they understand me?"

"They do. But they have yet to be granted knowledge of the human tongue. They'll learn when they're older," White-paw answered. He bent down and sniffed the jerky before snatching two pieces into his mouth. Between crunching, he nodded. "Thank you."

The three had watched their dad sniff and safely eat the food, so they all turned and began inspecting the piles. Funny enough, the two helped scoot some pieces toward the injured sibling and ensured that he ate first before they did.

My heart was gushing at the cuteness of it all.

They devoured the jerky, so I brought out more, crushing it into smaller pieces since the third one struggled to bite into the toughened meat.

For a time, I watched them eat and drink themselves silly. After they ate and drank, they found their way underneath White-paw's fur and dozed off within seconds. White-paw adjusted and lowered his head, keeping still as he finished eating his food.

"Can I ask what happened to their mother?"

The fox snorted, and his voice took on a deep, sad tone. "Hunt gone bad. Too injured. Humans wanted fur. Ambushed when she was returning to den with meal. Taken away in metal cage."

I forced my core to settle and breathed out the frustration.

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. Not human, not problem. You not kill Joy-tails."

I almost winced at the 'not human' part but smiled instead. Depositing the last of the jerky, I squeezed out as much water as the makeshift bowl could fit.

"Will you be okay now?"

He nodded. "Yes. Wolf is dead. My kits are safe. Forest is scared but returning. Thank you."

I stood up and popped my neck. The family made a cute sight. For a moment, I wanted to stay, relax and sit down. But the others were waiting, and it was time to go.

"Farewell, White-paw. May you live a long life."

I crawled out the entrance and found Freki waiting for me over a pile of leaves. The sight made me cock my head, but I understood what had happened as I took in the smell of blood permeating through the pile of snapped branches.

"Thank you, Freki. Ready to return?"

"Wulf!"

Without needing to be asked, Freki padded over and laid down. I rubbed his head and straddled his back. He stood up, and I leaned forward to keep my balance.

"Wulf!"

He leapt forward, and we were back to dashing between the trees. With a final mental goodbye to the foxes, I raised my chin and closed my eyes to enjoy the wind on my face.

***

"Cain?" Yadalee called out.

I waved as Freki returned to my shadow.

"Where's Devon and Alice?"

"Devon is speaking to Captain Volk and the Ashtons. Alice is with Haldeena."

"I'm here, pup. Are you finished with the fox?" Devon said as he silently approached from behind the wagon.

"I am," I replied. "Took care of it."

He stopped and hesitated. He lightly nodded to himself before he raised his hand and placed it on my shoulder. "Are you feeling better?"

I chose not to call him out on the tension in his grip.

"Yeah, I worked out some of my anger. What about you guys? Are we good to go?"

"Yes. With the village cleared, we'll drive through instead of taking the longer route to the capital."

He removed his hand and hopped inside, bypassing Yadalee, who had enough time to flinch out of the way.

That was weird. But at least he's trying to be friendly.

I joined Yadalee atop the wagon and leaned back against the bench. "Did they explain what happened?"

She shook her head. "Not really. But Alice said that we should be prepared."

"Yeah well, she's not wrong. We cleared the place, so it should be safe. Hopefully, the victims can find peace."

"Cain. What exactly happened?"

"You'll see."

***

The trip through the village was met with somber silence. Yadalee had a grief-stricken expression on her face the entire trip throughout the slow crawl through the village ruins. She asked questions, and I answered as vaguely as possible. She didn't need to know about the children.

It didn't take long to reach the town's end, and when we did, her face had shifted from grief to fury.

"Cain," she muttered.

"Yeah?"

"If they're your target, I hope you kill them slowly."

Cold steel held her voice firm, and I sighed. I didn't need to reply. For the rest of the day, Yadalee remained silent, her eyes fixed ahead as the horses continued to carry us along the road.