Red was feeling uneasy that day. It was mid-afternoon and it was not very warm, though her fur blocked out the cold. Even though she didn’t remember experiencing weather colder than this — due to her amnesia — she knew by instinct that it could, and probably would, get a lot colder in the coming months. Summer had only a little over a month left. Despite her uneasiness, she was excited for autumn. It meant she’d be able to see her forest burst with yellows and golds and oranges and reds. For a few months, Emberwood would be the perfect name for the place.

Red sighed, shaking her head as she traveled down the mountain on Emberwood’s southern border to reach the forest itself. She waited for Fang to catch up to her, and they continued on together. As they breached the outer trees and stepped into the woods proper, she sat down, refusing to go any farther. Above her, birds twittered in the trees, and squirrels jumped from branch to branch. But this joy felt by the creatures around her did not reach Red. Instead she looked at Fang, whined, and said, There’s something I have to tell you.

She wasn’t sure exactly what she would say to her friend, but she knew she had to get the recent events with Ferdie off of her chest, or she would explode. That and, since Fang was her friend, she thought he deserved to know that she would be leaving in the autumn, provided fate was on her side. Perhaps… perhaps he would come with her? She would never know until she asked.

Red felt Fang’s nudge on her shoulder, and that lightened her mood a little, though not by much. When he turned to look at her as she stopped, she saw the worry in his eyes and heard it in his voice as he asked her what was wrong. She sighed. It’s kind of… hard to explain, she began, clearing her throat for the coming speech. Ugh. More talking. See… I wanna leave the Sunspire in a few months and start a pack here. I tried to tell Ferdie that cos I thought he deserved to know so he wouldn’t be surprised when I left. Figured he’d be an adult about it…

She paused, not really knowing how to say what she was about to say. Ferdie’s words, though she couldn’t remember them exactly, still frightened her. He got all cold on me and that was fine. But then he said if I brought any Sunspire members with me when I left, he… well, he threatened me. Said he’d… I don’t remember exactly. That he’d bring worse hurt to me and my pack than he’s brought to Fox.

She broke off momentarily, and then looked up at Fang, anger blazing in her eyes. Then right after that, he told me that as long as I was part of his pack, he wouldn’t chase me out or attack me! I don’t understand! First he threatens me and then he tells me I’m still welcome? What the hell kind of sense does that make? I probably would have liked it better if he had just chased me out right then! At least I’d know where I stand with him! Right now, based on what he told me, he seems literally crazy. You don’t threaten someone like that and then invite them to share your home and food in the same paragraph!

After this long-winded speech — well, long-winded for Red, she was exhausted. Talking took a lot out of her, it seemed. Or maybe it was just the emotions running rampant through her body and mind. She slumped to the ground with a huff, trying to catch her breath, waiting for Fang’s response to her plight.

Red barely noticed it when Fang came and laid down beside her, but some part of her brain appreciated it nonetheless as she subconsciously leaned in towards him and attempted to nuzzle against his shoulder. As thoughts and feelings whizzed through her, she left small licks in his fur as her instinct to groom those she cared for came out. If she had been paying any attention whatsoever to her actions, she would have immediately stopped and scooted away in shy embarrassment. As it was, she was too preoccupied with her place within the Sunspire pack to have any inkling of what her body was doing.

She only broke out of her worry when Fang said those words. Those words she didn’t even realize she had wanted to hear: I would come here. With you. The rest of his words were lost to her as she looked up and stared at him. She waited for him to finish, and then inhaled and exhaled once to get her bearings on reality. This crush on the half-breed was overwhelming her and she didn’t even realize it. Yet.

What she said in the end was, You would? Really? She gave a happy whine, her tail wagging and, with every turn, brushing against Fang’s body. She had the urge to place kisses on his face, and whined again, leaning upwards towards him. But she wouldn’t without his permission. So, she hovered there like that, hoping he knew what she wanted and wouldn’t pull away… Her love for him was slowly coming to the forefront of her thoughts, erasing the worry that had been there before.

Red took Fang’s tap on her chin as permission to plant kisses all over his face, and so began immediately. She kept them gentle and soft and slow, being methodical about it. One swipe across his nose, one along his cheek, and so on. He seemed to enjoy it, which only encouraged her. After a few minutes, she stopped, and bumped her forehead against his shoulder in a show of affection. As they lay there, wrapped in silence, she sighed happily and stared ahead at nothing in particular.

And then a feeling made its way from her chest to her throat and out her mouth before she could stop it: I love you. For a few moments, she didn’t even realize that she had spoken, and only continued to stare ahead at the trees happily, and then slowly, embarrassed horror flooded her face. Her ears went back against her head, she whined, and turned to look with wide eyes at Fang. Oh God, she thought. Why the hell did I just say that? And out loud, too.

She swallowed and tried in vain to look away, but it wasn’t happening. It seemed her eyes and head and body were all locked into position, so that she could only continue to stare in terror and excitement at the half-breed whose feelings to whom she had just laid bare. What if he didn’t feel the same way? What then? And did she really love him? Is that what all those awkward feelings had been? Why hadn’t she realized sooner? She took a shaky breath, finally tearing her eyes away from his face, but remaining silent. Now, she waited to see if he would break her heart, or make it swell with joy.

Fang’s look of shock and horror mirrored her own. When Red looked away, nothing happened for a while. Silence reigned. It was awkward, and she felt her chest tighten. But then he leaned over and ran his tongue along the top of her muzzle. It was warm and felt nice. Her eyes closed with the sensation, and she shivered slightly, though she didn’t know why. Then he pulled back and continued saying nothing.

For a long time, this is how their situation went. Neither said anything. Red realized she didn’t know what the silence meant, if anything. She was sort of in shock at the moment. She knew she loved him — or, at the very least, she had a major crush on him. She knew that just because she had said it in the spur of the moment, it was still true. But the silence frightened her, despite the wolf-dog’s affectionate lick. Was he trying to awkwardly reject her? She couldn’t be sure unless she asked, but the thought of asking made her feel sick.

In the end, all she got across to him was a shaky, Umm… After that, her throat closed and her mouth wouldn’t open. She glanced quickly at him, and then away, whining again. She had an urge to run away, but her legs wouldn’t move. She was stuck lying beside him. After another minute or so, she choked out the words, I’m sorry, though she didn’t know why she had said them. What did she have to be sorry about? She had revealed her feelings, and now it was up to him. Where they went from there was up to him…

Red sighed in relief at Fang’s words and leaned appreciatively against him, nuzzling right back when he did. So it wasn’t necessarily a profession of love, but it would do for now. At the very least, he thought of her as a good friend, and that meant a lot to her in and of itself. She really had no idea where they would go from here, as there were too many things going on her life all at once at the moment. The recent war with Swiftcurrent, the threat Ferdie had made against her, her urge to leave the Sunspire… Come to think of it, her wanting to leave had only grown stronger with time, and it probably had everything to do with the fact that Ferdie had threatened her. She knew now that she couldn’t hide behind Fang to solve her problems. She had to stand up for herself, as any true Alpha would.

After another nuzzle or two, and a few more kisses, she stood and looked down at Fang. We should probably head back, she said. I’ve got a lot to think about now and I need to have a conversation with Ferdie. Thank you… for everything. With that, she began to lead the way out of Emberwood and back towards the Sunspire.