Shadewood kick up a stink

After a final parting kiss, Masquerade struck out into the wilderness with determination. Riley’s words of reassurance played on repeat in the back of her mind as she roved the neighboring isle. By the time she realized Ines was nowhere to be found—there wasn’t even a fresh scent trail anywhere—it had lowered to a whisper.

In the following days, she would come up empty-handed no matter how much she plumbed the surrounding wilderness. She couldn’t find Sable. She couldn’t find anyone. Shadewood was paradise precisely because it was remote, though her mate’s words faded into silence as her thoughts inevitably stretched east across the wilds.

Despite everything, she yearned. Maybe it was the isolation, or possibly the hormones. Masque craved companionship and support in a way that began to eclipse everything else. Still she held out hope that they could make Shadewood work—that they could forge their own family—but it was like getting blood from a stone.

By the end of the week, she would admit defeat and confess to Riley that she wanted to return east. They wouldn’t head for the rise but the neighboring ridge—Dragon’s Back Ridge—instead. Masquerade would have to set aside some things, including her pride, but it was time to break out of yet another holding pattern.

After enough time and distance, she had finally figured out what she truly wanted. Now she just needed to reach out and take it, a matter which would require a great deal of humility from someone who now fancied herself an Alpha female. Sacrifices would have to be made. It would be a worthwhile endeavor, though, if they could only strike the compromise she envisioned.