Heron Lake Plateau Drive there, then drive back again

WC: 572

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As much as she detested the thought, it was time to give up on patrolling for the day. With the ground covered in a sandy blanket of ice pellets and the downpour of freezing rain, any markings she made would be gone in a matter of hours, and any trails in or out of the pack would disappear all the same. Her presence along the border would not be felt at all, until after the storm was over and she was able to return to reinforce their markings along the borders. Her spirits were as damp as the golden fur along her back as she turned her back to the borders and started on her way home, looking up when she finally saw movement in the distance, and through the falling, wet ice, she picked out the features of her mate.

She felt still that she was betraying him with every day that she lived and chose to abide by the set of rules she was given. Colt wanted more for her, and didn’t want her to bow down to someone else’s rules simply because they outranked her. She knew that he thought she should do what she want- she was a leader too, and had to be able to make her own judgement calls...But foolishly programmed to abide by the laws of the pack, she had only gone to the limits of the guidelines she’d been given before she turned back. Day after day she repeated to herself what she believed to be Quixote’s logic...And slowly it had begun to win her over, but her broken heart still begged her to give it all up and go searching properly for Ambrose. She felt she’d failed him, and had the growing sensation that she’d simply let him wander off and die, by not going to search for him.

She approached Colt with her head and tail hanging, back-turned ears clearly showing how much she hated the weather. Rain was one thing, and snow was another- but combining the two into heavy, wet ice pellets was just a cruel feat of nature. It was like walking on sand, with the ice pellets underfoot- and with the sudden downpour the layer of pebble-like ice pellets on the ground was about two inches thick. She had to spread her toes as she walked, and pick her way along slowly and carefully, making her look all the more downtrodden by the horrible weather, and the situation she was in. She paused, spread her legs a bit for stability and shook out her pelt a bit, and lost her footing in doing so as the layer of ice pellets beneath her feet shifted under the force of her shake. She swore loudly, but still her voice might have been lost on the clatter of ice falling on ice, and she colected herself indignantly and walked up to her mate, keeping her gaze down so that she didn’t get dinged in the eye by another pellet. They bounced off her muzzle and temples, and made her growl softly.

”This shit is garbage.” She muttered angrily into the fur of his ruff. ”Fuck it. Let’s go home,” She said, and made a beeline that would lead them directly back to their den, where she could finally get the layers of water and ice off her pelt, and shake the cold from her skin.

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