It was a strange thing to have someone follow me, to have someone there to follow me. The feeling was alien, new, and brought to light just how miserable and lonely I had been all of my life. It sank in the moment I found my Bird, that I was in the right place to find him, that all I had to do was reach out and try to find my soul. Never was it my intention to need him this badly, to want another soul so deeply. But, sometimes a woman had to do what was best for herself, not those around her. I was forsaken, and now I am the one who left, the one who would never return to them.

I feel the alarm streak through him, my words snapping him out of the trance my swaying hips had put him in. "Be still, no harm done." Yet... I project the word through my mind, experimenting in my own way, to see if impressions of words came through it or not. I could sense the affliction he had, and I new how much he troubled himself over it. True, it was winter, and some females put a lot of pressure on their males for cubs. I was not one of those wolves. I would be patient, and even if there were no pups to raise, we could still try. His interest was enough of a hint that he was in fact, functional in a conventional sense. Malina and Rogue had never shown an ounce of interest in males, though Malina did bear pups for Rogue with some outside male, but it was only the once. I had heard whispering of others like this too, unconventional and not right. Bird was right, just not in the same way as most males. He was an oddity, unique in a world where wolves seek conformity.

I found that I was glad for his difference, I was amazed by how non-conformist he was just by being himself. He was forced into such a life by Fate, molded by others in his life to be perfect and understanding as I was, hated and met with disdain as I was. Though our paths may have been different, we walked them the same way. Heads down, listening to all the bad things wolves say, believing what we were told from birth. I was offended by those who made my soul feel like he was less of a wolf, less of a male even, because of something he could not help. I am sore over how he must have been treated, how they must have been toward him, and I wish I could go back and beat and chew every wolf who ever told him such filth. Subconsciously, my hackles raise as I think of all the wolves who have ever been unjust toward us. But, they settle when an odd sense of gratefulness sets in.

"Do you think the hard road was worth traveling, Bird?" I ask him in a small, insecure voice. I let down my internal guard, letting the bond truly wash over me as I find a small cave not far from the entrance we came through. I move into the tunnel, not really knowing where I was going, but letting my paws lead the way. A simply worded question that would not be easy to answer. All of my being left behind, by my mother, my old soul, my friends, my leader, my mate, my children...was it worth this? Could I answer that question yet? And what of his suffering? Did he find me worthy of such a difficult route? I have spent my life feeling as though I would never be good enough to keep anyone around, and now? Would he leave me like Ra's did?

When I find the end of the tunnel, I am surprised by the light there, and the huge room of the opening beyond it. There was a tower of rock in the center, and the source of the light was the hole in the top of the cavern, snow filtered down slowly as the storm approached outside, making the hole howl as the wind blew. A smile broke across my face as I looked to the dark facade of my imprint. The walls were white, the tower in the center was white, and though it did not quite reach the top, I thought it was perfect where it was. The cavern was circular, well lit, and beautiful with the snow coming down ever so slightly in the middle of the room. There were several other tunnels leading elsewhere, but I could stay in this room for a while. "When the storm makes this room too loud, we can go elsewhere." I say in case he didn't like this one, though I wanted to see where all the tunnels led, I wanted a full conversation with my imprint. I could be patient, though, if he wished to move on.