A Drizzle of Home

12 | A Drizzle of Uncertainty

As Sol crept closer to the horizon, I awoke from my restless slumber. My head was still wound in vines, a tangled jumble of thoughts and questions. Each time I tore through their bindings, closing my eyes for a second of sleep, another wrapped around my throat to suffocate me.

With a huff of defeat, I emerged from the cave for some fresh, nighttime air. I gazed up at Luna's flower of light, rooted in the clouds, her children dotting the sky around it. The moon shone with all her glowing petals.

The ground was cold and still. All that filled the air was the quiet chirp of crickets. The trees swayed in the distance, adding to the serene song of midnight.

I nearly fell sideways when something scraped across the earth. It fell from the rocky incline behind me, and drew my nose with a jerking glance. It was just a small stone, dislodged by the wind. I coughed out the breath stuck in my throat and gave my heart a moment to still.

I wasn't used to the silence. Gone were the pups' rowdy voices and Cloud's soft laugh. Mist's thoughtful sighs were nowhere to be heard.

I was alone. And honestly, it frightened me.

What scared me even more was the thought of this becoming my reality. Each night on my own, in the icy grip of the moonlight without so much as a warm exhale to call my companion. I'd always be vulnerable, always be wary and untrusting of my surroundings. I'd have no wolf to help me hunt or share in my spoils. And when I died, no wolf would bury my corpse. Scavengers would carry away my flesh in their bellies before it could join the dirt, and Sol would never grow flowers from my body. I only hoped my star would make it to Luna in a single piece.

Pine's words swirled in my head: my family was looking for me. I had an ache in my stomach, a gut feeling that said they weren't.

That they were lost too.

My ears perked at a couple barks in the distance. I limped to the edge of the clearing, and four pairs of eyes stared back. A single white frame walked between the shadows, while several limp forms hung from each wolf's mouth.

Joy touched her face as softly as the moonlight, and Cloud met my eyes through the darkness. Her gaze fell as quickly as she saw me, focusing instead on each steady footstep up the incline. Spruce trotted ahead of her, caring little for where he placed his paws. His scowl peered up at me, never faltering.

I licked my nose and backed from the edge, pretending I hadn't noticed either of them. Maybe Spruce had a reason to be bitter, but I didn't understand Cloud's sudden distance.

Ever since the creek, she'd been acting strangely. I cursed to myself for ever thinking––for letting my stupidity ruin the one good relationship I thought I had. I didn't even know what happened. Like always.

They trudged the rest of the way up the hill, jaws hooked around the pelts of several large rodents and shares, before depositing their prey in front of Mist's rock. They gathered before her just as the night before, and I joined the edge of the crescent-shape, watching their alpha settle on the other side. Like always, she was first to select her food from the pile––this time it was a few gray-furred, tree-clingers.

I kept my gaze on the ground as Cloud chose her meal. So far I'd ignored the anxious paws beneath my chin, urging it upward to see if Cloud ever looked back at me. I didn't want to know.

From my peripherals, I watched Spruce march proudly to the center. A smirk graced his muzzle, and his tail swayed with each step. He stopped with a firm plant of his paws, and reached down to place his teeth around his food. He was more subtle with his taunt, but the arrogance pricked my fur all the same.