Curled in my den, I slept. Alone, as the many nights before of which I had lost count. On occasion, my mother would join me - or sometimes my sister. But their warmth could not replace that of my Shivertooth, my mate, Vortigern. I missed him - of course I did, how could I not? But I knew that his soul would never rest easy if he didn't at least try. The loss of his sister was something that had weighed heavily on him for so long, and he needed answers. I understood that. So just as he had waited for me when duty called me to look after my mother, I would wait for him now.

The chill of winter had lit a fire within me that in previous seasons had only sparked in recent years. But this year it was a smoldering temptation that I could hardly suppress. Every night I dreamt of Vortigern - of his muscular form standing in the mouth of our den, or us running the hunt together. No matter the context, it was always him, and each morning I would wake yearning for him more than the last. He would return to me, of that I had no doubt - but that promise did nothing to satiate my need for him in the present.

This night, like the last, I dreamt of him. It felt so real, and my ears twitched in my sleep as the authenticity of the whine in his voice. 'Nymeria,' his voice breaking slightly, before he said it once more, stronger, 'Nymeria.' My body began to stir, reacting to the realness of the dream, but I did not want to let it go, and I fought to stay asleep. The touch of his nose felt so genuine, this dream even more real than those I had had in the past. I'm home, his voice rumbled, and finally consciousness won out and my eyes fluttered open.

And yet the dream did not scatter like ashes to the wind. He stood there in all his glory, his black masked face lowered to mine. I blinked a few times, expecting the haze of the dream to clear - but still it did not. For a moment I simply stared at him, unbelieving of the reality that came crashing down as I woke. Slowly I raised my head, waiting for the mirage to vanish, but he lingered there above me. And in that moment all I needed was to touch him, to know he was real and not a figment of my imagination. So I launched from my laying position, my body colliding with him, the real him, here in our den once more. I could not even find words, I simply buried myself in him, overjoyed to be reunited once more. As we always would be.