Silvertip Mountain Bound by the world

Mason was a bit nervous about June being in the water – she was much smaller than himself and she barely seemed above the water that spilled along her back. He kept a close watch on her small, white head bobbing above the surface like a duck. She also looked a bit perplexed at having to choose a secret name. Mason was what his family and friends called him, Virtue was something he was striving towards, as his Father had explained to him, but now he needed a third name.

Mason listened in awe as FitzDutiful spoke again, this time with a sudden authority that he only ever usually used at pack meeting. Mason’s ears flickered back against his head at the significance of the ceremony. He dutifully closed his eyes and thought about what he strived to be. Ok, so he couldn’t actually be FitzDutiful but that was who he aspired to be like. Someone who was an Alpha, and took control and care of their charges. Tended everyone – weak or strong – and shepherded them as a flock. 

Mason felt a pull to his pack, but also to the lands that he had always called home. He felt the earth call to him when he stepped out on Silvertip Mountain, and he had explored every nook and cranny until he knew the lands around his den better than anyone. Perhaps he was not the most adventurous outside the pack, and he had not yet moved across its boundaries, but this was simply because his wanderlust and sense of adventure related only to the place he called home. 

That was it – he knew.

Orange eyes snapped open, gleaming with determination against soft white cheeks. Mason’s ears pricked back up with confidence, dusty tips brushing the moonlit sky. He fixed his sights on the shore. Moving with sudden wisdom and ease beyond his months, Mason ghosted silently through the water back towards his father. The paw he lifted first was the one which sported that unusual mottled sock containing his mothers’ genes. His mother wasn’t here anymore, but his Father was.  

His paw pressed down onto the dirt and he opened his mouth to sing the words in a clear youthful voice that cut through the darkness “I am Ranger, first son of Trustworthy.” And he moved onto the bank fully, shaking the excess water from his fur and turning to wait for June to give them her true name.