Whitefish River the wires got the best of him

Finally she complied and gave him something to go get for her. I know marigold, he replied first. That was one of the plants he had fetched for Liri to treat Siqsa's wounds. He hadn't been able to recall the name from his own memory, but now that she said it, he knew with complete certainty what she was talking about. Okay, poppy seeds, moss, and marigold, Kavik repeated. He looked over her form worriedly before adding, I'll have to go back to the plateau. I shouldn't be gone too long. He knew the path well and would push his muscles as hard as he could to sprint there and back. Please don't go anywhere, okay? he pleaded, unsure if it would piss her off but needing to say it.

Without another word, he turned and sprinted back to the plateau, slowing only slightly once moving between the trees so that he could keep any eye out for any more of those damn coyotes. He skidded to a halt in front of the door, trying to think past the last time he had been here. The plateau was quiet and eerie now. He only speculated before, but now he was positive this place was cursed. He couldn't wait to be done here so he could take his final leave and never come back. A place that once filled him with hope and pride now only inspired dread and despair within the former alpha. He urged himself to move and ignore the tendrils of anguish pushing him to give in and collapse under the weight of depression, the thought of Myrren alone and hurting by the river his main driving force to keep moving and not get lost in all the heaviness that came with this place. He ran to Liri's cache and released a sigh of relief to see that it was untouched. Using his large paws, he moved the rocks out of the way and began studying the plants inside. Immediately, he saw the moss; that was easy to pick out, and he pulled out a mouthful of it and set it by his feet. He rooted around in the plants a little more until he found the marigod, pulling out some of that and placing it next to moss already set aside. He didn't see any black seeds though. Kavik searched through the herbs, growing frustrated at the time he was wasting before, by complete accident, he knocked a weird pod with his nose, causing little black seeds to fall out where it had opened. He thought it had to be the right plant, and not wanting to spend anymore time deliberating, he pulled a different, intact pod from the pile of plants and set in his pile to take with him. He was about to pick up his herbs and go, but he paused, glancing at the open cache. He closed his eyes against the painful tightening in his heart. He couldn't just leave all of Liri's hard work in such a way--open and rummaged through, plus what if he or someone else needed it later? Swallowing the familiar lump of despair that seemed to keep finding its way into his throat, he straightened the plants like his mate had liked them and carefully replaced the rocks, leaving the cache exactly how he found it. With one sorrowful glance around the atrium, he picked up his plants and sprinted back across the plateau never looking back once.

He pushed his muscles hard as he flew across the grasslands and back towards the river where he had left the stubborn woman. He held the plants as gently as he could without letting them fall from his mouth with the wind that was whipping past his face. As he neared where he had left Myrren, he prayed she was still there and hadn't decided to be extra difficult and wander off.