Blacktail Deer Plateau As the shadows fall

It was enchanting, the way the starlight gathered in the verdant pools of her eyes and sparkled, silvery, in their bottomless depths. The ethereal light played upon her face, illuminating and casting shadows so she appeared every bit as dramatic as she was beautiful. Atticus kept catching himself staring at her as she spoke, and he would force himself to look away so as not to appear rude or creepy…only to end up staring again. She was just such a lovely wolf, so intelligent, with such an incredible personality. How on earth was she still single?

It occurred to him that Peregrine's mateship with Hawkeye was on the rocks and Perry had an extremely close friendship with Blue Willow. It was entirely possible that Atticus could lose yet another romantic interest to his more charismatic and higher-ranked brother. The thought lingered and rankled inside of him like the taste of sour milk on the tongue.

She asked if he was thinking any important or pressing thoughts, but he didn't dare voice what was on his mind at that moment. Rather, he commented, "I'm thinking of my brother and Hawkeye. Things got messed up so quickly. I hope he'll be okay if they do split…" He'd been worried about Peregrine. His brother had never been so invested in a relationship before, with kids and a pack and everything else coming from that mateship. How it would impact him to break things off with Hawkeye was yet to be seen, but Atti hoped it wouldn't hit him too hard. He chuckled then, admitting, "I guess that's not a stroke of genius, is it? I tend to think with my heart more than my brain."