I heard the words whispered in my mind, and I felt them in my heart. But I couldn't help but still feel that longing for Narvarre, and the connection we shared. I felt like even if he came back, and the imprint bond was still severed, that I would have feelings for him that far surpassed anything I'd felt before. Yes, ever possible that even if I lost him as an imprint, I'd still love him, as crazy as that sounds. I wondered to myself how the elders would see this, if they'd call me crazy and say I was going against fate. But, I had a feeling that he'd always feel important to me. But the elders were phalanx, and they wanted things done their way or no way at all. I felt bad for defying the fates, but I couldn't shake how I felt.

Standing by the river, I watched it swirl by fast. The heavy rains combined with the ice melting from winter caused the water level to be higher than usual, thus, more treacherous to cross. I wasn't brave enough to cross it. I sighed, watching the water rushing, wondering to myself what I was supposed to do with myself now. The rain today was not bad, and it was fine, sitting in the grasses on the side of the river, watching the fish trying to swim their way upstream. Without thinking, my jaws swooped down, snapping shut over the back of a large fish. Ease pulled the fish out of the water. Backing away from the waters edge, I dropped the fish on the cold ground, far enough away from the water that even if it flopped for all its worth, it would bleed to death before it reached the water.

I waited. I was not one to bite into something for a bite when it was still alive, no thank you. I'll wait until its heart has stopped beating. I said a silent prayer of thanks to the gods, one for the bounty before me to fill my empty stomach. When the fish had stopped flopping, I began to eat, slowly, pacing myself. I was not the kind to devour in a few bites, because it was not honoring the gods like that, when you ate slowly and praised the gods, it meant more.