Horizon Ridge A Flicker in the Wind

Kisu came after her, shouting and asking her to stay. Pied paused, took a deep breath, then whipped around to face him, her face twisted into a sad, angry frown. "Stop," she commanded. "I don't want to be with someone who's so obtuse and inconsiderate—as a friend or a mate or anything," she snapped at him, then immediately felt bad for her harsh words.

"I'm sorry," she said after a breathy pause. "I just..." Her voice trailed off momentarily as she searched for words to explain herself. "I can't believe you'd ask me to be your mate, then promise me your friendship and the possibility of more... then join a pack without even considering what that meant about us. I know we're not together—we're barely even friends—but I... I guess you'd really gotten my hopes up, Kisu. And I was just thinking about how I could totally fall for you when you... shat all over everything." Shat—one of the words she'd learned from her grandmother and always secretly wanted to use, just not in circumstances like these.

She turned away, trying to collect herself as she felt her raw emotions threatening to overcome her. As night continued to fall around them, the breeze picked up, gusting against her pale form and tousling her mottled fur. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the sensations, sounds and scents of it to distract her from either breaking down in tears or yelling at Kisu again.