Duck Lake precious and fragile things

for Esperanza!

A tall, bold thunderhead rose to the west, where it pushed strong gusts down the valley that smelled of seawater and damp vegetation. It wouldn't be long before the squall drenched the park in rain and sent it into a deep cold, the first frost of autumn. The excitable weather had set the male off onto a joyful trot, his paws trampling shallow but wide pawprints into the dirt. He circled down from the rock-strewn meadows, passing into a lush blanket that supported ivory aspens.

The large arctic creature had settled in comfortably to Teekon- it was a welcome respite from his tumultuous four years of life. The break he had received was enough for him to put on a little more muscle and return to being a capable wolf, whose ambitions and intelligence was honed in on Swiftcurrent. There was always a certain pride to being a part of something or someone, and Dovev had built himself up to be a loyal creature. But he was never one for floating along in the wind, being pulled this way and that with the fickle drama of a pack without being in control or the instigator of it. He would remain endeared to the pack for as long as needed be, but he was planning to set a separate wheel in motion.

The lapping of water reached the brute's ears happily swerved forward. He was thirsty. The white wolf melted through the pale trunks of the aspen and onto the wide bank of Duck Lake, submerging his feet in the crystalline water and lowering his head for a drink.