Phantom Hollow A blizzard night

Something inside him akin to a small fire grew a little as Pema moved forward to embrace him, her thick pelt pressing against his. He closed his eyes, taking in her scent with deep breaths that both calmed him substantially yet caused his heart to race. She felt safe. Those three little words fell like raindrops upon the surface of his mind, and he shivered a bit, burrowing further into her.

As soon as the moment began, it stopped, with his involuntary pulling back and remark, and her response. Shale was surprised into a laugh. "I'm glad you think so highly of me," he said warmly. "But it's really only what's needed to survive. Nothing gets done if you keep thinking about the things that have hurt you."

And perhaps she didn't know how that went. She was young; she hadn't picked up that Anatha had been raped. She might not have ever known loss, or at least the loss of someone close to her. Yet Shale knew that she would understand, not by experience, but in sympathy--Pema was an incredibly sympathetic wolf.

"You and Murdock are the only ones that know about my past," Shale admitted. "I've not told this to Grayday, yet. Not that I don't want to. . .it just hasn't come up."