Dragoncrest Cliffs again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me

He knew it was coming, but his mother calling him to the front of the pack still unleashed a flurry of nerves in his stomach. What if Mireille was unhappy with him for stealing her thunder? What if Meerkat refused to accept him as a leader? He might have thought the same of Njord, but the man had seemingly abandoned his family once more (an uncharitable thought considering he did not know the details), so Sobo thought nothing of him at all. What if Loko was upset that he was the only one left out? What if, what if, what if...

He started when Chacal placed the flowers around his neck. He smiled shakily when she kissed him on the cheek. It seemed he had risen to stand before the pack without realizing he was moving at all. His eyes darted around the crowd without resting on any face for long. His gut churned like the sea in a storm.

Then Mireille was whispering to him and his smile grew broader. She wasn’t upset! His voice trembled a little when he said, you should too, and then he dropped his head respectfully and added, Obsidian.

The pack rose their voices as one, and Sobo did not know whether he should join in or not, and so he remained meekly silent, but the strong lines of his shoulders were set with pride and his tail waved joyfully behind him. This was right. He would support his sisters, and Sapphique would see its first male leader, and he would do all he could to do right by them.

He must begin, he knew, with seeking out those he was most nervous about. There would be time for that later; now he wished to relish in the company of his family and celebrate. Not for himself — he felt humbled by the opportunity rather than boastful — but Mireille, and his mothers, now the pack Rubies, and forever the pack’s highly valued founders.