It seemed impossible, how quickly time passed, how fast my children grew. Already they asked to come on hunts that I thought they were much too young to follow. But I could not keep them safely wrapped up in the den forever. With autumn’s arrival I had given them permission to explore across the entire mountain range, though from the scents they often came home bearing I knew they had already pushed such boundaries. Soon they would want to know of the rest of Moladion, and I would not be able to deny them. Today, however, was a day meant only for me. I could not remember the last time I had visited the lowland river that was one of my favorite places to go to clear my mind. Of course, that was a lie. It was the day I had saved Leonidas’s life. After pulling him from the icy waters that he had been willing to give his life to, it was as if nothing existed in the world but us two. A fantasy that I knew in my mind would never be true, but had resulted in the conception of my four children.

As I looked down out across the river from the last knoll that marked my pack lands, the morning sun cast a haze over the water. Inhaling deeply, I pushed the memories away. I had not seen Leonidas in almost a year, and this time, despite everything, I did not want him to come back. He could run in and out of my life, put me through whatever turmoil he wanted; but I would never let him do that to our children. Instead, I called upon memories of when Jericho and I had first met along the shores of this very river. Exhaling, I ran my eyes along the water’s edge, and they fell upon the lifted gaze of a snow white fem. Her crystalline blue orbs stunned me, stopping my movement as if I had run into a wall of ice. Clearly she had not seen me, and I remained where I was, unsure if I wanted to confront her. Natu had made a choice for herself, for her mate, and had abandoned her pack. I did not hate her for it, in fact the sight of her left a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. In losing her as pack I had lost one who I thought I could count as a friend. I’d not seen or heard from her in a year. I knew of Sven’s passing, but I had not sought her out. She had Fenrir and Asteraia now. Why would she need me? And what had brought her so close to the mountain she had deserted?

Continuing to stare down at the wolf that I swore was my lost pack mate, I began to realize the differences. She bore a slenderer form, and shorter as well; not to mention as my eyes tracked down to the underbrush where her legs were hidden I realized she was marked in a charcoal hue. This was not Natu. This was someone entirely different, and with that recognition I lifted my maw slightly and called out to her. It was a friendly greeting, a good morning and a hello. Clearly her earlier glance had not been up at the mountain home she had left behind, it was to assure that no threat loomed in upon her. I walked forward, descending the slight hill I had stood upon, and made my way to her.

When I reached the riverbank, some twenty feet upstream from her, I offered a cordial smile before turning and partaking of the cool waters myself. Only once my thirst was sated did I lift my head once more to see if the white shewolf had remained, or if she had fled before me. It was just as likely that she had come here to be alone than to keep company with a stranger. After all, that was usually the point of my journeys here.