There were no words in the world that could describe the muddled mess of memories that had congealed in the bastards mind. Like congealed blood they clogged all coherent thought and words could not be spoken, hardly even a whimper could be forced from his lips. All that seemed to rule his world was the past, not the present. Farant’s screamed commands, the lashes that scarred his back, and the utter silence that consumed Horizon were signs, tell tale signs of what was happening to him. Like a soldier back from battle, Horizon was suffering of post-traumatic syndrome. Everything that had ever been or ever was, was once again real. The beatings and suppressed lifestyle. The slave-style control. The inhumane treatment of anyone that so much as moved outside of Farant’s little model of perfection. Everything that was so controlled, so perfected was all because of the pain and blood that was endured by those who did not have the privilege of being royalty; this was by Farant’s standards of course. Horizon under most pack law was royalty, though nothing like an heir he was still a blood son to the King. Only his mother was a commoner, rather than royalty like most of Farant’s women.

Some said it had been her exceptional beauty, most didn’t know what to think.

Everyone else kept their mouths shut on the subject of Akela and Farant. Horizon was just a resultant of their one night affair, and in order to keep it on the down low Farant had forced him in to servitude. That’s when the muteness had first showed up, just like it was now. Only this time Horizon wasn’t able to overcome it. The bastard son was struck silent and there was nothing that seemed to be able to break the seal on that silence. Which at this point was the most inconvenient thing to happen, because Horizon had finally come to realize what it was that Shasta meant to him.

The beautiful, young kalak femme had become his everything. His whole world was consumed by her and by the thought of her. But the problem was he could not tell her these things, he could hardly express himself. It took every ounce of will to force himself not to shrink into a comatose state and wait out the fall out of his mind. Horizon did not want Shasta to witness this or suffer through this because of him. Horizon wanted to be the reason she smiled and felt better, no matter what. She seemed to be unable to understand why he could not speak to her, but she did not give up on him. She stayed there with him and eventually they began to clean each other. They washed away the blood and sins of war from each other’s pelt. Horizon, all the while, tried to show Shasta that to him, she was everything. He needed her. Without her he felt obsolete and his mind irreconcilable. At this point Shasta was the only reason that Horizon was still holding it together and alive, she provided him with reason to remain here. She gave him a reason to live.

Horizon left a single kiss on her cheek, though the touch of her skin to his lips left a burning heat where they had touched. This feeling wasn’t the warmth of body heat being exchanged this was the feeling that he had heard so many wolves describe but never really name. Shasta seemed to feel the difference herself, her crown push up under his chin and a soft sigh escaped her lips. Horizon let out a breath he had apparently been holding. As more of her body touched his, the stress and horror of the day seemed to melt away. She laid herself on the ground and reached up for Horizon, though he hardly needed nudging. He wrapped his larger frame around hers as they laid there on the ground. A she whined quietly, and Horizon not necessarily understanding its source nuzzled her gently wanting to take away whatever pain she felt.

Mismatched orbs watched over the land making sure no one would come after them, knowing full well Shasta was in no condition to fight. Seeing no one he laid his crown overtop her own once more. He traced a line up her cheek to the base of her audit with kisses not really thinking of his actions. He wanted to whisper to her how he felt for her. All he desperately wanted to tell her was, I love you. The phrase drifted through his mind constantly, but the words could not form on his tongue. It was as if every time he wanted to speak, his tongue would become dry, sticky, and swollen and render him incapable of speech. He could not tell Shasta anything. And he wasn’t quite sure how to make her understand. A soft whine escaped him as he tried to force words out of his words. It was nothing close to what he had wanted to say, but it was sound. It was more noise than he had ever made when he had been mute before. Horizon let out another breath before letting his crown drape against Shasta once more, just letting the heat of her touch overcome him.