Redtail Rise It’s Chemical

For the first time in a long time, a whuff of contentment escaped Riley’s muzzle. To hear her affirm something he had only dreamed of caused his tail to beat softly against the snow.

Soon their shared scent would commingle strongly in their pelts. For now he relished the press of her body to his, the rise and fall of her steady breath, and the enveloping silence that wrapped its arms around them in this quiet place.

She rested against his heart, her head pressed in the soft plains of neck fur. Riley held her as close as he could, as if afraid she might slip from him — and fell into a deep sleep thereafter.