The conditions do not seem so difficult to uphold on our end, but for Sweetsong, it’s not exactly a walk through the fields. She is not pleased with any of this and is most definitely holding contempt for Nightfang for stealing me away from her, I presume. As pups, I remember that we were said to be a pair that would spend a lot of time together. Our mothers assumed that we would one day become mates. I couldn’t think of Sweetsong in such a way. I thought of her as a great friend, a sister even. She has never seen me in such a way. She has attempted to win my affections since we were young, so I know she has fancied me for a long time. I cannot expect her to disregard all those years she has held such feelings for me in such a little amount of time.

I sit in the cave and Nightfang keeps guard. Fierceclaw and Sweetsong return with a meal of a rabbit and three field mice. They offer me the food, but disregard Nightfang altogether. He doesn’t eat meat, but they do not know this, so their avoidance of him is purely their rudeness.

“Eat. You need your strength.” Fierceclaw says to me. I look at Nightfang and notice he is already in the bushes snipping away at the branches and carrying a bunch of berries in his mouth. He wags his tail and I can’t help but smile. Fierceclaw notices this and turns around to see Nightfang acting casual with berry juice staining his mouth.

I smirk and approach Nightfang and lick the berry juice from his face. He’s surprised but enjoys the attention.

“Are you trying to make them angry?” Nightfang whispers.

“No. Of course not.” I say with a sly smile before continuing to give Nightfang affection. “If it bothers them, they might leave us be for a moment.” I whisper.

“I’m heading to the fields to get more mice. Come with my Sweetsong.” The two run off together reluctantly and I exhale the breath I was holding. 

“They have never been so bothersome to me as they are being right now.” I say in irritation.

“I’m enjoying this a bit, Love.” Nightfang says with a chuckle. “Especially the affections.”

“Of course, you are.” I say as I roll my eyes before nuzzling close to him. “Nightfang?”

“Yes?”

“I was thinking…perhaps after I meet with my pack and explain everything, we can run off together.” I say a bit hastily. The thought hadn't been in my mind for much longer than a few moments after reuniting with Fierceclaw and Sweetsong. It therefore wasn't entirely fleshed out or thoroughly thought through, but I doubt Nightfang minded my eagerness and brashness at proposing the idea.  

“What?” He asks in surprise.

“I don’t really want to return to my pack if they are judgmental about me being graced as well as my mate.” I say honestly. “I want to see my family, but I rather not stay with them. I want to be with you, out here exploring and seeing the world.” I say softly as I press my head against his chest. “Perhaps, we can create a pack of our own. Is that a bit too soon to think about?”

“No.” Nightfang says as he nervously looks away. “Wow.” He breathes. He is the most nervous I have ever seen him. It makes me extremely happy to see him so frazzled by my words and presence. 

“Are you feeling something?” I ask as I feel something myself.

“Yes, but we don’t have to…” Nightfang begins as he licks my face. I am about to say something when I notice the sound of flapping approaching us. 

“Nightfang!” The voice is sharp and loud. We immediately identify it as Ash. We groan as our moment has been interrupted and our much-needed conversation regarding mating postponed. “Oh, thank goodness you haven’t left yet.” Ash says as he tries to regain his breathing.

“What is it, Ash?” Nightfang asks as he approaches him. I feel a bit disappointed as the warmth of Nightfang’s body is gone.

“The Fang pack is near the Flowering River.” Ash announces before he flaps his wings frantically. “They are approaching this area! They seem to be following a scent. They are looking for someone, perhaps our boy Snowheart.”

“Damn it…” Nightfang growls. “Snow, we have to get going soon, but I fear your leg is—”

“I’m fine.” I say simply. “We should start moving.” Nightfang is a bit hesitant but he knows it is best for all of us.

When my friends return, we all discuss the approaching threat and decide that it is best to move on. We head into the direction of Lover’s Pass and feel more confident about travelling as we realize how our numbers will definitely tip the scale of our chance of surviving.

Ash follows us carefully amongst the trees nearby as to not make it obvious that he is travelling with us. His presence might alert others to our location so he keeps his distance. As we walk through the thick brush of the forest, Nightfang notices some jasmine and quickly heads toward it to rub himself with its scent to disguise his own. I follow his lead and do the same thing. Fierceclaw and Sweetsong are a bit hesitant but end up following in our steps before we continue onward.

“So, you are a former member of the Fang pack.” Fierceclaw says abruptly.

“Yes.” Nightfang says simply. “I left my pack for personal reasons.” He adds vaguely. “Anyway, you must have a lot of stories of Snowheart when he was younger. I’d love to hear them.”

“Those are our memories. We don’t want to share them.” Sweetsong says icily.

“Sweetsong.” Fierceclaw says with a growl.

“It’s okay, Fierceclaw, I can tell my own stories.” I say as I smile at Nightfang. I begin to tell tales of my life with my pack and I see Nightfang's eyes light up with pup-like wonder and interest. “There was a time when Fierceclaw and Sweetsong travelled with me to the Waterfall Grounds and I had fell into the deep pool of water and learned how to swim as I became frantic. Fierceclaw had been worried about me and jumped in to help me out while Sweetsong ran off and alerted the rest of our pack in a panicked state.” Nightfang tells me how brave I was to handle swimming in such a dire situation and told me about a time when he had wandered off from his pack and was chased by a bunch of boars. He got a fright but was thankfully not injured. The rest of his pack reprimanded him but that didn’t stop him from causing more antics. I laugh and smile at him.

“He could have gotten someone killed. I don’t find that very funny.” Sweetsong notes with a huff.

“Wow, you really don’t like me.” Nightfang comments dryly. “Look, how about we just talk about what’s bothering you so much?”

“You are!” Sweetsong says angrily.

“Sound familiar?” Nightfang comments to me. I roll my eyes and approach Sweetsong.

“Stop making things more tense than they should be, Sweetsong.” I say as I nudge Nightfang to go forward. Sweetsong’s ears lower and she pushes me roughly aside before she goes on ahead. I sigh and Nightfang looks at me for answers for which I have none. “She has had feelings for me for quite some time…” I admit nervously.

“Ah…” Nightfang says softly. “I know how she feels…” I look towards her and sigh again. “Maybe you should talk to her?” He suggests as he walks next to me. “It might help.”

“I suppose…” I say as I head to catch up to her pace for a moment before looking at Nightfang for reassurance. He smiles at me and nods his head to give me a bit of a push. I approach her slowly and nudge her side with my body.

“Sweetsong…” I say softly. “I’m sorry you’re feeling this way about everything, but things aren’t going to change…I thought you’d be happy for me, even if it was slightly…”

“Why would I be happy for you?” She asks bitterly with tears in her eyes. “I’ve loved you much longer than he has! I love you much more than he ever could. You barely know him!”

“Look, I know I can’t make this any better for you, but if you were truly my friend, you’d try to be respectful and wish me well. I would do the same for you if I were in your position.” I say more sternly. “You are a wonderful friend and if I were a different wolf…if I had been born a different wolf, I would have been glad to accept your love. But…I’m not and though it might take some time for you to accept it, please make the effort to do so.” She looks at me with tearful eyes before she looks to the ground.

“I always thought you were…like this…but in my heart I truly wanted to be wrong.” She says softly. I am not baffled by her words, but I feel an ache in my chest. It is neither of our faults that things became like this, but I can’t help but feel guilty.

“Wolves!” Fierceclaw suddenly calls out as he races towards us and pushes us to move forward. He is panicked and worried, but levelheaded as he leads us. Behind us there are at least five wolves heading in our direction at a quick pace as if they are hunting something, that something might possibly be us.

Nightfang races with me at my side and looks very focused and intense in his manners. We are in an open field after running for quite a distance and look behind us to notice the wolves are no longer in sight. It was quite possibly a false alarm and they were chasing field mice. I look to Nightfang and nudge him slightly.

“Are you alright?” I ask as I still notice the stern expression on his face.

“If we run into my pack…I’m worried what they’ll do…”

“Are you a rogue?” Fierceclaw interrupts. “It’s dangerous, if that’s the case. I don’t want to endanger my friends, so you better tell us the truth.”

“Fierceclaw.” I say angrily.

“Most of my pack members weren’t very fond of me. I have told you this, Love.” He says softly. The way he calls me ‘Love’ is endearing and somehow natural when he says it even in front of my friends. I don’t dare tell him to stop. I don’t want him to. “My brother and I were close and I had some friends, but the rest of his pack are complete assholes. I never wanted to associate with them.”

“I understand. I have met them before. They are not a pleasant bunch.” I say as I grimace. “Let’s make sure to keep a look out for any suspicious wolves.” Nightfang nods. He is a bit restless as we walk altogether in a much steadier pace. I am sure he wants us to be alone and to be more intimate, but we have to keep moving and it’s better we are all together like this. To be honest, I am a bit disappointed to not spend more time with Nightfang alone, but there will be time to spend together later on, I am sure.