Zharko’s mind swirled in the dark memories of his past and his family. There had been little love between any of them. All he could recall that was good in his life was the affection he had for Zafira. All the others had been distant or cruel. Even Grimoire, though had been caring, had been no more than a distant shadow to him, a guiding force in his upbringing. From a young age, he had never felt love. What he had, he had been ripped away from. Until Wren pressed against his body. His heart pulsed and his breath caught. Zharko knew his soul beat for her. Red eyes closed as he drew in her scent, welcoming the feeling that washed over him. His heart was starting to beat for her, too.

She answered his question and he stopped in his tracks. At first he looked at his paws, trying to think through what her assertion meant to him. Not only had fate linked them together, but now he held her’s in his paws in so many ways. Iromar has always been my home. But it was the place where she had been captured and tortured for so long. Iromar or the freelands. Mostly the Grotto. He could not bring her down into the darkness. Life was dangerous in the free lands, there was nothing he wanted more than to keep her safe, which meant they would need to find a home. I… would leave Iromar for you… It would hurt, to tear his loyalty away from them once again. But he had made no promises and no vows to the sisters he had protected, and not to Avery. They all knew he was not the wolf his past had painted him to be, but he also made it clear he could make them no promises about who he was now. His head tilted slightly. However, Iromar is different now. Avery is Alphess now. And the daughters of Pine had vowed themselves to defending the land. If someone like Thorne or Aranck dared try to commit the crimes once acceptable in the moors they would be torn to shreds by those who now occupied it.

They came to the border to Spirane, the mountains looming over them with their intimidating height. He looked up at the jagged peaks. There was so much to this land. So many things to see and so many places to get lost. Mild curiosity stirred in him. This was a place they could so easily get lost to the world in the cliffs and caves. They could so easily find themselves in each other. The tip of his tail twitched in his deep thought. There was a chance he could have a new beginning here, if Spirane did not know who he was. He looked back at Wren and smiled. After you.