Murana didn't have to adopt Steven. As a wolf, her keen sense of smell would have been atrociously harassed and assaulted by his pungent odor as a skunk. Many people avoided skunks on principle for this reason and so as a community, they've been left mostly to their own devices - only interacted with when necessary for business purposes. However, seeing as Steven had suddenly become an orphan since rescuing him from the musk mill, his parents suddenly flying the coop and disappearing into the ether, he was all alone. She felt both pity and anger that such an innocent bean would be left like that, to be given up on after only a few years of confinement and missing. So, she adopted him - despite all the outward appearances of sanity. She didn't care what others thought of her having a skunk son, she loved him for the goofy character she had grown to adore. Her nose would adjust and tolerate that scent that was uniquely his. She'd give him all the love she was denied as a cub. For this act of selflessness, she gained a son who would admire, cherish and adore her forever more even long after she was gone. A mother's love knows no boundaries of species or size or scent.
