The cold bite of winter permeated the forest air. The harshness of the winter had been unrelenting, ice storms leaving dangerous daggers hanging from the branches of the trees above. But as the season dwindled to its end, the cold did not relent. I wandered through the forest without any real destination in mind. The foray with a couple of the pups to chase rabbits the spring past had been a welcome distraction, for the tenuous bond I felt with Leafshadow seemed to dim more and more each passing day. It had been nice to spend a day out with my friend, Amoxtli, as well. I worried for him; it didn’t seem like he would ever fully recover from the poisoning he’d suffered. The longer he remained out of commission, the more obvious it became that Zelda and Hyrule’s stead was not going to be temporary. It did not bother me greatly; they were doing a fine job as leaders for the pack, and as long as Amoxtli was well looked after that was all that mattered.
I did wonder, and worry, about what had happened to Leafshadow. More than a year had passed since I had last seen or even smelt the woman. The bond I’d felt with her still perplexed me, even more so now as time and separation seemed to whittle away at the connection. Some part of me knew it was gone now, the bond; but the way she had explained it to me, it was supposed to be for life - a permanent thing. But maybe it was different for me, since I wasn’t born here. As I continued on my way through the forest, I shook my head, eyes lowering to the forest floor momentarily.
Upon lifting my gaze once more I found myself in a familiar clearing. It was not the wide meadow where pack gatherings of any form and fashion had oft been brought together. No, this was the clearing where Leafshadow and I had discussed the matter of our relationship, that which had formed months prior to the discussion. It was the last time I had seen her. It was strange, how time and distance changed things. Unconsciously, I had avoided the places that reminded me of her, the pain of separation from she who was - as it had been put to me - the completion of my soul too much to bear. But in coming here now, under the thinning blanket of winter, I knew once and for all that the bond was dissolved. There was still a dull ache in my breast, but it was not one so painful as it had been before. It was almost a freeing feeling, to no longer have such a weight upon my very heart and soul. And with that lightness in my heart came a lightness in my feet, and I bound forward into the snow, lowering my nose to plow through it and then tossing my head towards the sky to send it falling back down all around me.