Dragoncrest Cliffs But I want to 'plore

They were to live by cliffs. He knew nothing of the old packs Heda and her kin lived in, and thus didn't recognize the significance behind it. All he knew is that it was an unfamiliar place, and that it needed to be scouted out, landmark by landmark. The lake was the biggest landmark outside of the cliffs, but there had to be more. There was more than just a rock face and a extremely large pond here.

Hush sniffed the grass and trees about them, trying to find the places not yet explored by his packmates, rubbing his scent over those places he did find interesting, raising his leg over others. He wondered how far Heda wanted the new borders.

She bedded down earlier than usual the night before, the exhaustion of the past few days getting the better of her. Wildfire slept like the dead, only waking well into mid-morning. Feeling groggy despite the long nap, she yawned and stretched, then began to walk to coax the cold stiffness out of her limbs. There was not as much snow on the ground here on the coast, though there was enough for the slim Bandrona to leave a perfect set of footprints as she meandered through the trees.

She found her way to the edge of the cliffs, where a strong sea breeze buffeted against her. Wildfire breathed in the clean, salty air and tipped her smudged muzzle toward the blue, sunny sky. Now that she was more awake, she felt better than she had in days. After a moment, she turned to pick her way back into the forest to find some breakfast. The wind pushed at her back, carrying her scent inland and spreading it throughout new Drageda.

So everyone except Wildfire herself knew she was in heat by the time she stumbled across the Rauna's path. Her lips pursed and she thought of backtracking to avoid the inevitable awkwardness. But her baser instincts compelled her toward Hush instead. Still oblivious to her own status, the Bandrona began closing the distance.

He raised his head from the ground, hoping to quickly scratch his ear before setting out to explore again, but a new scent paused him. It was unmistakable and unavoidable. By first catching wind of it, his body was already aflame without truly understanding what was going on or who it even belonged to. He whined, light headed from the sudden rush of blood to elsewhere, making his quick turn to face Wildfire all the more nauseating.

But that in itself turned out to be a fatal mistake. For she, Heda's mate, was the source of it all. Hush squeaked again, falling to his stomach, front pain rubbing at his nose, hoping that it was just a mistake, or it was coming from elsewhere.

Hush's reaction gave her pause. She stopped short, brow furrowing as he quite emphatically dropped to the ground and covered his nose. Wildfire's ears slowly slipped backward, offended by his overt display of disgust. Do I really smell that bad? she thought, face scrunching as she curled in on herself to give her hip a cursory sniff.

Oh, she thought when the ambrosial scent threaded into her nostrils. Ohhh. She stood there, inhaling and exhaling, for a few seconds, then slowly came to face Hush again. She blinked her chestnut eyes as a thousand different thoughts flitted through her head. I'm in heat! I gotta find Thur! I gotta find Dio! What if Hush tries to hump me?

She blinked again, owlishly now, and then stared pensively at the pack mute, waiting to see if he would remain in his crouch. Strangely, Wildfire couldn't bring herself to do the sensible thing: immediately depart. There was part of her that was drawn to him, like a magnet, and she was finding it difficult to pull away.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, a detached inner voice whispered, if he did hump you...

He looked up at Wildfire, whining in apology for his disrespect. She continued standing there, first staring at him in confusion and disgust, only to turn her head back and realize — wait, did women not realize when they were in heat?

He had better sense than most when it came to rutting. He couldn't deny that Wildfire's scent was alluring at best, undeniable at worse, but she was Heda's mate. How could he do such a thing? He was not even sure if the two wanted pups as of yet, or if their relationship was purely romantic. Regardless of which, she was forbidden fruit for him.

And yet she stayed. And yet he stayed. He looked up at her, questioning her presence. She had more power than he to leave. Why didn't she?

Of all the wolves in Drageda, she felt most discomfited around Hush—usually. Right now, it was like none of their previous awkward encounters had ever happened. Or none of it seemed to matter, anyway. She felt inexplicably drawn to him. By pure merit of his sex, he was irresistibly attractive to her right now. There was part of Wildfire that could take a step back, outside of herself, and recognize the absurdity of the situation. Her brain was soaked in hormones, however, and logical thinking was becoming more difficult by the second.

If not for her history with Goober, she very well might have flung herself at Hush, coaxing him to mount her. But as the thought crossed her mind—even as she inched toward him, black tail wiggling—she suddenly froze in her tracks. There were only two males in the world she thought she could allow to do that to her and only one of them currently resided in the pack. Decidedly, it was not Hush. And though she had the commander's blessing to consummate with aforementioned candidate, the Bandrona knew Thuringwethil would not tolerate other, less worthy males to attempt conceiving with her.

And she shouldn't either, Wildfire acknowledged dimly. "We can't," she muttered under her breath, pawing the earth and staring at Hush, still unable to pull herself away. "You need to go."

He stared, wide-eyed as she approached him, step by step. He was frightened, despite the prospect of sex, because the woman was no ordinary woman. He had no permission to. He was not chosen, simply a random encounter at the wrong time.

She seemed to snap out of it, realizing the repercussions, despite the burning in her loins. He nodded in agreement, quickly stealing off in the opposite direction of her and her heat. He would keep out of her way in the following days.

It was rude to tell him off like that and Wildfire knew it. Hush probably felt the same way. But he didn't protest or hesitate. Wordlessly, as usual, he spun and ran off in the opposite direction. Her amber eyes followed his backside until he vanished into the trees. She felt her muscles quiver as she fought the impulse to chase after him, catch up to him, seduce him.

With a shiver and a forceful swallow, Wildfire finally spun and began running, her own ambrosial scent flooding her senses as she sought the commander's company and protection.