Firefly Glen When Doves Cry

The wolf had only been a scent and a voice to him up until now. He'd been too distracted to wonder what she might look like. In truth, she was not all that different from many wolves he'd seen, but Katmai still found himself thunderstruck when they finally stood across from each other.

He was lucky to have finished his song without stuttering. Certainly, he could not have mustered any words while she sang directly to him, her stance proud and her eyes flashing — and with a toss of her head that made him think of the wild horses he'd once seen out on the plains.

"Katmai," he replied, glad that his voice did not crack on his own name. "Pleased to meet you, Kinusi."

He padded closer, though he kept a polite distance, to catch the different scents on her pelt. She smelled bitterly but compellingly of the open wilds, absent of other pack scents despite her proximity to Moonglow.

"You have powerful lungs," he told her, feeling quite cheeky himself despite the erratic thrum of his heart. He gave in to the urge to pay her a more sincere compliment: "And a beautiful voice."