Ankyra Sound thunderbird

I'll stay with you. Those words caused Njord’s heart to beat in overtime. The tha-thumping percussion was so loud, it practically made the tips of his ears vibrate. Any tension left in his face melted away as their eyes, colored sea-blue and warm whiskey, searched and admired one another.

Njord’s chin rose as he looked around the dark Tangle to get his bearings. “I ken a place,” he said, familiar with the area. “Thisaway.” They untangled, but remained side by side like two magnets. If Meerkat leaned in a little, he would press back – wanting, but polite. It felt like walking on a frozen lake and not knowing the thickness of the ice. It made his blood run fast with the rush of infatuation – a crush realized.

As they waltzed, Njord couldn’t help but swish his red tail to brush Meerkat’s hocks – as if one put their arm around the other. Meerkat explained her predicament and Duskfire’s troubles. He knew Mireille had travelled with her friends to hunt caribou and recalled Kigipigak mentioning something about an illness, but it was Meerkat’s explanation that finally connected the pieces with red string (Wintersbane and Tzila… those must have been the founders, he assumed). Not only was the glacier’s stunning land a terrible thing to lose, but to have a whole pack uprooted in the winter was unheard of. Njord’s brows knitted, understanding Meerkat’s tribulations. He and Sapphique had plenty troubles of their own… and it fatigued him. If there was any wolf who could commiserate, it was him.

There was one shinning light among the chaos: their new connection. Njord’s sobered expression brightened as the corners of his lips twitched, fighting a dumb-love-smile that felt too big for the moment. Meerkat put words to the sensation. You—you feel it too, right? she asked, voice filled with optimistic caution.

“Aye, I feel it too,” Njord replied, almost breathless. “S’like someone put a hundred tiny jumpin’ fish inside my heart,” he reflected aloud with a quiet laugh. Walking together made it easier to speak his mind. The words just seemed to flow. “Meerkat… I fancy ya somethin’ fierce,” he explained as his eyes watched her in their peripheral. “You are bold yet grounded. Tenderhearted…an’ verra beautiful. I want to ken ya better,” he said, more adrenaline than blood in his veins by now.

He stopped walking and they stood before a wide, underground burrow beneath a large dogwood shrub: an old station wolves used to rest between hunts. He had been here before with Haunt. He turned to his companion, ears cupped forward as he searched her face to understand any answer that may come.