Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and animal death.

A year has passed since the events of the first book, Pax, and Pax, a fox who once belonged to Peter, has made his new home in the wild. The approaching spring fills Pax with energy, and he runs through the woods, fueled by the thought of “[n]ew life surging up—up from the bark and the buds and the burrows—and the only response to up [is] go” (1). This carries him on his journey back to the den, where his mate, Bristle, is waiting for him.

He wants to bring back food for Bristle and sniffs out the carcasses of two dead kits. In the last several days, Pax has found several dead young animals nearby, but Bristle refused to eat them, so he leaves the kits and continues back to the den. When he arrives, he smells something new. Bristle rolls over to reveal her pregnant belly. Soon, Pax will be a father.