For a moment, I had lingered amidst the gathering, content to await someone’s response and then perhaps engage in conversation with said wolf. But my intrigue with the wolfess who had her face turned towards the heavens was unabated. She was beautiful – more on the petite side in comparison to my own thickly built form, with ashen fur accented by dark strands of hair that glistened in the sunlight. With her head pulled back the way it was the splash of ivory on her chest was visible to me. I could not describe the sensation that muddled my mind; I was drawn to her inexplicably. So, rather than wait for a response to my amiable and open greeting, I chose her. Legs painted solid black carried me as I began my forward movement, and then she lowered her skull and my amber gaze was met by piercing eyes of green.

My world ended.

And yet, it felt as if I was born again.

In that moment, I shed every worry, every regret, every hardship I had endured. She was it; the end of my suffering and the beginning of a new life that no longer revolved around the loss of my father and sister. My breath caught in my throat and my step faltered as I continued to move towards her. Before I tripped and fell flat on my face, I stopped, clearing my throat and glancing at the ground between my paws for a moment before I looked back up at her. She sat but a few feet in front of me, just out of reach, and the distance caused an aching in my chest. I took a deep breath, catching her sweet scent on the breeze and my eyes half closed in a moment of bliss. Blinking, my maw pulled into a slight grin as I said, “Forgive me, my name is Maddox. What might I call you by?” It was a horrid introduction, and I wasn’t sure where my manners had disappeared to, but I could not compose a proper thought for the life of me.

Absently, my tail drifted back and forth behind me in a wagging motion. I could not hope to contain the happiness that flooded my body. Black audits pricked forward, eagerly waiting to hear her name, her voice, for the first time. Already her beauty was impressed upon my memory for a lifetime; soon her name would be tattooed permanently upon my heart. I could only hope she would receive me in kind.