Redhawk Caldera Be mine

@Raissa thread with me!

FitzDutiful was nervous. Today he was going to ask Raissa to be his mate. He didn't think she had any idea about what was happening - it had taken him long enough to pluck up the courage and get the setting right. He had spent the past few days hunting down food and creating a new cache. It was to that cache they were going today. He had told her to meet him at this location when the sun began to dip behind the caldera.

As he approached their meeting spot he didn't see her and breathed a sigh of relief. He had deliberately attempted to get here early. Quickly, he arranged some winter flowers around the area in a circle-like shape with enough space for them to sit in the middle. He dug up the food and placed it to one side. Carefully stepping out of the circle he admired his work.

It had been two weeks to the day since he had asked Peregrine permission and how to go about asking Raissa. It had been one month to the day since Raissa had moved in with him. The time just seemed right. A noise alerted him and he snapped out of this brief reminisce, waiting outside the circle of flowers for Raissa to arrive.

Awe he's so sweet <3

It had been a while since she had moved in with Fitz and things seemed perfect, she had made some friends, she had an amazing place to live, and then of course there was Fitz himself. None of it would matter without him. She smiled to herself as she padded to the place he had told her to meet her at. What he had planned was still a mystery, but what ever it was, she was sure that it would be nothing short of amazing.

She padded at the fastest pace she could with her paw. It was healing and she could put some pressure on it, but it still hurt and she couldn't run very fast at all. The best she could do was hobble around.

When she finally reached the specified place, she gasped aloud. Out in front of her was a perfect ring of beautiful little flowers, with a background of the sunset. From where she was coming from, she walked up behind Fitz. She padded carefully over to where he stood and greeted him with a lick on the cheek.

"You did all of this for me?" she asked, amazement filling her eyes. No one had ever done anything close to something this special for her. "It's so beautiful!" while it was indeed perfect, she would be happy to be anywhere, as long as it was with him.

He heard her before he saw her - her gasp as she stepped into the clearing. Turning to look at her face he smiled, staying put and quiet to let her process the view. She greeted him and he turned the licks, happy to see her joy too.

"Of course!" he replied to her question, trying his best not to laugh at his surprise. "Only the best for you..." FitzDutiful let the sentence trail off as nudged her to the food in the circle of flowers and let her step in first before following and sitting on the floor. "I hope you like it, prey isn't all that abundant at the moment and I wasn't entirely sure which was your favourite - so I got a bit of everything."

FitzDutiful smiled, realising that he was rambling and tried to hold back the tidal flow of words. Timing was going to be everything, but he wanted them to eat first. He motioned for Raissa to eat and waited for her to pick first before he chose anything from the pile. He briefly wondered if she had a clue as to the occasion.

She was so astonished and happy that tears nearly filled her eyes as she stepped into the circle and sniffed at the pile of prey. It had been too long since she had something this wonderful to eat. Since winter had set in, it had been hard, but not as hard as it would have been in blackfeather. With her paw, she probably would've starved to death.

She delicately picked up a medium sized squirrel and then moved back to sit down and wait for Fitz to pick something. The surprise of all of it still clouded her mind as she watched him. She couldn't imagine anyone as perfect as him. Her love of him was so strong that she could barely even stand it anymore.

"I love you so much. No one has ever cared for me as much as you." she spoke lightly as she waited for him to join her in the circle.

Haha I felt nervous writing this for Fitz!

It was setting up to be so perfect. She picked a squirrel, he joined her, they ate and she spoke of how much she loved him. It was now or never. It just... it was now.

"I love you too, Raissa." he said, knowing the words didn't do justice to how he actually felt. There was only a second hesitation before he spoke his next words, his heart pumping furiously in his chest. The nerves were hitting him now, building up more and more. He felt as though the butterflies that had taken up residence in his stomach would burst out any moment now.

"Raissa, will you... will do me the honour of being my mate?" He was looking at her but it was taking all his courage to do so. He wanted to look at the floor. What if she said no?

She just about cried out in happiness at his question, his eyes nervous and worried. What was he thinking to be nervous? There was nothing she wanted more to say yes. She dropped her squirrel and walked closer to him, rubbing her fur against his and kissing him on the cheek, her smile wide and bright and her eyes filled with joy.

"Of course! There is nothing I would love more." she stated, officially sealing the deal. From here on out, everything would just get better and better. She grinned and she seemed to glow as she took in the affect of her words. Not a hint of doubt was felt as she sat back down, looking lovingly at Fitz.

Now she understood all of the preparation and she was stunned by how much she mattered to him. But then again, she would have done the same for him as well, because she knew that she loved him with all her heart and nothing could change that. A pure feeling of content filled her as she gazed at her newly pronounced mate.

FitzDutiful couldn't believe his ears, he almost leaped for joy! He was her mate, she was his, it was everything he could have hoped for and more. Too excited for words he threw his head back and howled his happiness, letting his pack know the happy news. The Delta was mated with Raissa.

For a moment, his mind raced ahead to their future. They would have children who would carry on his family tradition of personality traits as names, they would trek out on their own and start a pack - one with the alliance with Caldera. He had never before imagined leaving Fox and Peregrine but suddenly the world was his oyster and creating a new pack would carry on the Caldera's lineage too.

Snap back to the present.

He picked up another squirrel and tore it in half, giving Raissa the juicy parts - the parts with the most nourishment. His thoughts hadn't lasted for more than a second and he gazed at her with eyes full of emotion. "To our life together." FitzDutiful uttered in way of a toast to their life together.

She joined him the howl of happiness, their voices mingling in the air and filling the area with pure happiness. Her mind ran through what she hoped would be their future together as she happily took the half of the squirrel Fitz had offered her. She had just joined the caldera but she hoped that one day she and Fitz could have a pack of their own, with their puppies. They would still be friends of the caldera of course, but having a place of their very own sounded amazing.

Raissa could just imagine what their puppies would look like as she gnawed on her part of the squirrel. There could be one that looked just like Fitz, with cute tiny little brown ears and those happy yellow eyes that she loved. Or maybe it would have orange eyes, like herself. The possibilities for their future were endless and she was just so happy that they had finally made it official.

"To our life together." she agreed, her eyes sparkling with happiness as the sun went down even farther, coloring the sky a magnificent orange. She finished her part of the squirrel and leaned into Fitz, resting her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes with a happy sigh.

My last post! Feel free to PP Fitz if you want and fade to black ^_^

Little did his know that Raissa's brief vision of the future was following almost identically to his. It was lucky else nothing would have held him back from saying "let's go right now!" As it was, he would get the joys of internal debates, figuring out how to approach it with Raissa and then with Peregrine and Fox - if things went his way, of course.

But for now, he was happy and content exactly where he was. Raissa agreed on their toast as the sun set on them and she rested against him. A longing sprung from deep within his body as she rested against him. Now they were officially mates, now wouldn't be against duty. He wondered if there was a chance of puppies, if they should avoid anything that could produce puppies but he was sure that females could only conceive at a particular time of the month.

"Let's go home for the night." he said, his tone husky and hinting at all the things to come. It would be their first time together this evening and he the first time for him ever. He was looking forward to the adventure.

Last for me too ^-^

The huskiness in his voice surprised her a little bit, but in a good way none the less. She didn't know that it would be his first time, but she was darn sure that it would be special either way. She licked him on the cheek and got up to follow him back to the den, where the night was just beginning.