Shadewood spirit of the forest

She twitched and whimpered in her sleep, prompting a pair of mourning doves perched on a bough overhead to take rapid flight. The sound of their cooing and flapping startled Masquerade awake, the nightmare receding into the ether as she sat up and blinked around at the wintry woods.

@Riley wasn’t beside her. Masque yawned, then stood, stretched and shook out her coat. Her mate’s scent led northward, toward the seashore. Perhaps he was fetching some oysters from the tidepools. She might not fancy the sea itself, though its fare was undeniably delicious. Masque licked her chops in anticipation.

She turned to her right and began wending along the fringes of Shadewood. Her feet were sore after spending the last week scouting all the hinterlands had to offer. There had been a few promising locales—including a summit that reminded her of home—but Masquerade had always found herself back here.

And now she patrolled the wood like she’d once kept guard at the rise. As much as she’d loved her home, she’d never felt quite this fiercely possessive of it. As she strode along, establishing their claim and its perimeters with scent markings, she growled continuously under her breath. Shadewood was theirs, where she and Riley would build a pack that suited their vision, in large part by starting a family of their own.

That thought prompted Masquerade to momentarily break from her surveillance to head deep into the woods. Compelled by some powerful instinct, she began scouting for a suitable den. If she didn’t find one, she would make one. She couldn’t guess when the time would come to start their family, though she wanted to be ready.