Chapter Ten
Mashtuk grew more comfortable with the new arrangements in the pack as the days progressed. As Hippolyta had predicted, Zélie’s milk soon failed and Niccolò and Rhosyn were completely weaned. Each morning, the year’s four cubs followed the hunters into the deep of the ravine. They had to run hard to keep up with the adults, stretching their limbs to follow through the rough terrain, learning the signs and spoors, breaking in their new meat teeth on whatever the hunters brought down.
Niccolò and Rhosyn adapted to this life quickly, seeming to grow taller and stronger each day. Aled and Mared found the pace more difficult to sustain, but they were so excited and curious about everything they saw that the adults’ main concern was to keep them from dashing into some inviting crev
