Sequoia Coast DISCOVERY - The Cave of Glass

When he held her, it surprised her. He hadn't touched her intimately in a while, the result of her misbehavior on the beach when in heat. Made happy by his closeness, she hugged tightly against him. In that moment, her worries about her dream fell by the wayside. Kisu didn't seem to concerned and neither should she put too much stock into it. It was just a dream.

He spoke again and his words took her by even greater surprise than his embrace. Several beats of silence passed after he spoke, in which Pied regarded with the same look upon her pale face as a deer staring down a pair of oncoming headlights. Just when she'd been ready to let go of the dream, Kisu was abruptly convinced that it was some sort of omen. Furthermore, he wanted to leave the ridge and run to Blacktail Deer Plateau—like they'd discussed before the fateful orca attack...

Finally, her brow furrowed somewhat and her lips parted. "For months?" were her first words, just to confirm the time frame. With a sigh, she then admitted, "His on-again, off-again leadership troubles me too. After my attack, he paid a few visits but I haven't seen much of him since then. The hunt was the first time in a while... and not since then." She sighed again, her ears slowly sliding backward to paste against her dappled nape as the realization struck her that the Alpha male had once again become too sparse for her liking. And, partly because of this inconsistent leadership, the ridge was not as cohesive as it should be.

She fell silent for another moment or two, then lifted her eyes to look into his. Perhaps if not for her dream, she would've protested. But Kisu made valid points and there were the pups to consider (her guts clenched as the vivid image from the dream cropped up in her mind's eye). Besides, she deferred to him in all matters. She may have possessed the higher rank in the ridge's hierarchy but, like a good wife, Pied obeyed her husband, who was furthermore older and wiser. If he wanted to leave Horizon Ridge, she trusted that he'd thought it through and arrived at the best decision for their family unit.

"If you think it's best, I will follow you. I will follow you to the ends of the earth, Kisu," she finally spoke, the words again sighing out of her. She paused, then added something rather resignedly uncharacteristic, "Let's just go, right now. Let's just slip away to the plateau. I'm positive Hawkeye will accept us with open arms. Another Alpha may turn us away or threaten to kill our pups but my sister will be happy to welcome all of us. We'll be a big, happy family." And even as she spoke the words, a knot loosened in her chest, one that she hadn't known was there. In hindsight, it had been there ever since they'd first talked of running away to the plateau.