Moonsong Glacier Snowdrops

She had dreamt too big yet again- she felt certain of it. Her heart beat like a Mahler hammer against her ribs, so loudly that she feared he might be able to hear her pulse. She swallowed and forced herself to read his expression for any sign of anguish; surely, it would pain him to turn her away. 

She would make a good wife but-

She waited for the shoe to drop. 

but
 
It didn’t drop. 

Instead, she heard his worries, and quickly shook her head to dispel them. She listened; he had not finished speaking and she dared not interrupt lest she steer him from his train of thoughts, and run him off the rails. 

He had only the best intentions for her- and the use of past tense was not lost on her. She felt a surge of security, like a fledgling landing safely back on the branch after its first few experimental wingbeats. He had said he might try to change- could it possibly mean-

but.

And there it was. The branch beneath the fledgling dipped and shook, as if to shake the little bird off. She calmed herself as he spoke of his father, so Sulukinak. Her ears pricked at the mention of going to Moontide- and raising a family.

Momentarily confused she leaned back as if to bring his face into focus so she could read every line, every crease, and see her own reflection in the glow of his eyes, wreathed by the bright iris. They warmed- and he gave her, at last, the vow she sought. 

She uttered a strangled sound and unleashed herself from her restraint. With each kiss she promised to love him, each nuzzle she vowed to hold him through whatever they came to face. She whispered her acceptance into his ears and felt her body flare with warmth to know that at last- she would have him. 

”Be mine.” She pleaded hoarsely into the depths of his thick fur, clinging tightly to him now, her heart still hammering as she pressed her chest to his.