Greatwater Lake Not the Man I Once Was

She was eager to get home and as the sun began to set, she was faced with a dilemma: find somewhere to sleep for the night or travel in the dark. Home was just another day's journey, less if she kept a quick pace and didn't stop to mess around or rest, and the thought of being back in her forest by late morning almost made her forget how tired she was—emotionally and physically. She had known the trip to see her family wouldn't be easy in more ways than one, but she hadn't quite anticipated all the difficulties. 

So, although she was yearning to sleep withing the comfort of her forest and eager to report the highlights of her trip back to Mal, she finally decided that even a few hours rest would do her some good. Just a few hours, and then she would continue on. She smelled the water of the lake before she saw it and decided it was as a good a place as any. Plus, she was thirsty. Distracted by thoughts of rushing into the cool water and lapping it into her parched mouth, she almost missed his scent on the breeze—almost. For fuck's sake; could she not catch one single break while on this trip? It had just been one thing after another it seemed. 

Her feelings regarding Donovan were still very confused. She couldn't seem to stop caring about him no matter how hard she tried, but also, she was incredibly angry with him. He had lied to her, and all the evidence supported that he had led her on intentionally, which stung more than anything. She was usually a good judge of character, yet she had been so wrong about him. So wrong that she had done things with him that she had never done with anyone else and all because she trusted him. But apparently her trust was misplaced. She wondered if he even cared how his lies had hurt her? why did she care if he cared?

And his co-leader? Did he know about their run in the other day? That crazy bitch would have attacked her, unprovoked, had she not been injured already, and that just didn't sit well with the Beta. She was willing to let things go once she was sure they moved, but now she wondered if they would continue to be trouble for her and pack, as well as their allies. It was all a big, confusing mess—one she needed to talk to Mal about before figuring it all out. 

She kind of wanted to turn around and leave; she wasn't ready to face this yet. There was still a lot she needed to think about. But, she could tell he had sensed her presence, which meant it was too late to leave and hope he didn't realize she was there. She sighed and made her way to the water, lowering her head to drink while watching him out of the corner of her eye. What did she even say? She couldn't seem to summon one single word, so when she was done drinking, she lifted her head and pinned him with her fiery gaze as if she could find answers in the striking yellow of his gaze. 

oops, i didn't actually mean for this post to be this long, but oh well