There was Soiya, whose human form looked truly luxurious under the sneaking moonbeams. Her pale skin seemed softly to glow, and her dark hair fell across most of that youthful face while she slept, appearing contended.
A thick bandage wrapped around her ankle. When I’d asked after her condition earlier, nobody seemed to think that it would be a lasting injury. That was comforting; Rufias had once said that she would become the savviest hunter in the Pack one day, and almost as swift as Surry, if not more so. I had a hard time imagining that, but for the man to speak so highly of her told me all I needed to know.
I also found myself surprised that such an attractive young woman didn’t get have a Mate. Not one that I knew of, anyway. Not that it was any of my business.
Feeling a bit like a voyeur, I moved my gaze to the still form lying beside her, half-wrapped up in her limbs for warmth or for comfort. Clear
Against all my better values it still pleased me that Soiya had managed even less contact with him than I had. I felt like a terrible person, and did my best to squash that feeling deep down with the rest of them. I hoped I wouldn’t need the room for any more regrets. Soiya now looked at me curiously, probably wondering why I seemed so interested. Maybe it was only my imagination that she would care. She smiled at me, which I returned, tight-lipped. “If anyone can get him to open up, it’s you, Alpha” she stated proudly, taking me aback. “Well” I said with a huff, “we’ve got our own to look after, too. This mystery boy is just one more thing on our minds right now, but I’m counting on you to help out as best you can.” I paused, tentatively. “Do you plan to stay with him the rest of the night?”
Across the mountain peaks and down upon the evergreen forest that sat along its edge, the dawning sun’s glow began to warm all beneath its touch. To the north - some miles beyond the forest’s limit and past a cracked and carved canyon in the earth - a Shifter stood over the corpse of his would-be rival. This male gnashed his teeth and spat, panting after the fierce battle he had just survived, and groaned as he ran a clawed hand over his furred crotch. The wounds there had reopened once again during this fight, something which caused him great deal of pain each time it happened. This wasn’t the first time they’d reopened within the past week, and that would only increase the amount of visible scarring when they finally did close for good. It was agony. But no matter the amount of physical pain the male wolf was in, nothing could compare to the anguish he still felt over
That all-too familiar warmth rose in my cheeks again while I admired his features. He had a high cheekbones and a strong nose, though it looked a little bent - quite possibly broken. His cheeks were still shallow, but his jaw was a bit soft as opposed to rigid or jutting, and he… well, he had rather beautiful lips, I had to admit. I of course couldn’t make out his eyes, but I began wondering what shade they might be to compliment the color and texture of his mouth… overall, the man had an incredibly decent set of features, neither too masculine nor overly feminine. I realized I was fawning slightly over him - but Luna, it was difficult not to! Still, I managed to tear my eyes and hands away from him long enough to stand up and brush myself off. There was much work to do today, and I would have to head back to my own tent before starting any of it. Besides, better to let him sleep now when he clearly needed it so
The rapid sequence of images, sounds and feelings continued, unabated: *Then the first one stopped coming at all. Several warmlights passed. Then several more. I had eaten through all of the stuffs he had brought me, even though the last ones had tasted wrong, kind of like the second him had smelled. *Then, one time… *There were many sounds, now. But this time they came when the warmlight was missing, and they woke me from my sleep. They were all loud and mean and up above. I smelled the second him among them, and I recognized his sounds because they were the loudest. I made my own sounds as loud as I could, and this time I really tried to be nice about it. I tried to say I was sorry for making sounds at him the last time, and maybe if he forgave me he could bring me more tasty stuffs. The sounds up above w
"So you’re telling me he somehow managed to… transpose, I guess, a lifetime’s worth of memories onto you?” I nodded serenely, feeling proud of myself for all that I’d accomplished already that day. It was early afternoon. Surry and I sat a short distance from the entrance to the young man’s tent; we had borrowed a wooden chair from each of our tents respectively, and now sat together over the grass, discussing the events of this morning. There was a lot to discuss. Thankfully though, for once, it didn’t carry the same pressure as warding off another abusive male, or tending to an infected wound, or… I don't know, as scaling a heavily sap-coated tree trunk to reclaim the clothes that blew off Saro’s line? Because that was also a thing that had happened recently. Carta had been the one to climb it, at least, and alright, maybe that one hadn’t been such an emergency. But you’d never have
I recognized the one behind the stall as Placis, a wolf whom I liked. Placis’s shaved head was still an artwork of purple and blue colored streaks; it had been that way since the day Tando had left the Pack. At any other time I would have stopped, as I often did, to admire the artistic identity painted there for all to see. All of the noises ceased as I stepped forward. Two sets of features swung in my direction; two pairs of eyes widened. Placis’s quickly dropped to the ground while Courtning looked to the side, clearly still angry over whatever all had happened. I stopped right beside the food stall and folded my arms, looking from one face to the other, until both sets of eyes met the ground and then climbed their way back to my own, looking slightly more ashamed of themselves. I thought about softening my own looks, but decided that now was not the time. A shouting
Taking a shaky breath, I looked across the stand to the other wolf. It saddened me that this was the best apology Placis was going to get right now, even though it hadn’t actually been directed at them. “I’m so sorry, Placis. As your Alpha, I am truly sorry this happened.” I looked down at Courtning. “It won’t happen again.” 'Liar' I told myself. 'You can’t promise that.' The lavender-scalped wolf shook their head as if to clear it. “I… Yes. Thank you, Ray… Alpha.” Placis hesitated, staring at the unused grill between us. “I’m sorry, I think I need to go be by myself for a while. I… the steaks still need to be cooked. Will that be alright?” I nodded, relieved at the straightforward answer. “Someone else will come over to cook this meat. We’ll save you some. Please do
I hummed while I raised the flap, intent on sitting behind my desk for a while and writing for the fun of it. Maybe today I would spend even more time doing that. I stopped myself right after I entered, however, as I suddenly remembered what was still the most exciting thing of the day; the young male, presumably still resting in the tent practically next door to mine. He would be thirsty, wouldn’t he? And probably quite hungry - Stars. How could I forget such an important thing?! My jubilation didn’t quite fade as I moved over to the desk and frantically sought pen and paper, but I did feel somewhat foolish. 'What a terrible host you are' I chided myself. Finding the necessary writing implements, I sat down to prepare a list of things to have on hand for him while he settled in. Bagged or bottled water, first of all. F