It was a bright, crisp morning as the sun broke over the almost completely barren trees that peppered the mountainside alongside the pines with their lofty boughs. Surely it would all be covered in snow soon; the high elevations were already partially snowcapped. This might well be one of the last warm days that the mountain pack had left. One aquamarine eye cracked open as the sun filtered in through the wide mouth of the den as she snuggled in deeper into the gray mass of fur that was her bed. Life had settled quite nicely for the wolf that once had wings. Her days of travelling flippantly from place to place were long over, her children were on the cusp of turning three and two of them had already gone off on their own. Bastille and Jax seemed content enough to call the mountain pack their home, for now at least, though they had moved out of the den. She worried that their home would feel empty when they were gone, large and spacious as it was, but she and her Moon still managed to fill it and it was nice to stretch out.

Unable to go back to sleep a yawn parted her golden maw before she rose, lowering her chest to te ground she stretched out her front feet, toes splayed wide and her tail high in the air. Before she stood up she leaned over and licked the dark gray bridge atop of her soul mate’s nose then padded softly out of the den. Blinking into the sunlight she shook out her creamy golden coat, sitting to scratch an itchy ear before looking around at the splendor that spread out below them. It was the best part of their home, she thought, the small meadow that was dotted with flowers when in season before dropping off to a cliff that offered the most breathtaking of views.

For some reason today as she looked out at the lands below in the fresh morning light she suddenly felt like her younger self again. Not that she was old by any means, but she had calmed quite a bit over the last few years. Until today. Today she felt like a pup again. Today she wanted to be free, wanted to feel the cold wind biting at her nose as it’s fingers ran through her golden fur. Practically dancing she trotted back into the den where her love still dozed before nosing into his ruff with a devilish smile on her face. “C’mon, c’mon, get up ya old bear,” she sang, nipping at his ears and cheeks before bouncing backwards. She bent down into a play bow, head tilting as she bit at the ground friskily, looking into his icy blue eyes that were no doubt opened by now. Today they were both young again.