“She said yes?” asked Cameo in disbelief. He jumped off the tangle of tree roots at the base of a tree he was standing on and looked in Breeze’s amethyst eyes.
“Only on one condition.” Breeze said, her voice sounding breathless due to the fact she ran all the way to find Cameo. She was practically trembling with excitement.
“Which is?” Cameo demanded.
“We can only get revenge if…” she paused, enjoying Cameo’s impatience to know the news. “If we do it to protect Fang’s honor, not our pride.”
“That was already decided!” Cameo said excitedly. “Now we just have to wait for the vote. D’you know when she’s going to hold it?”
“She didn’t say.” Breeze shrugged.
“Then let’s go!” Cameo said, his eyes widening. “What are we waiting for?”
Cameo ran off, not waiting for an answer. Breeze followed, chasing him. She ran ahead of him and yelled “ARE YOU GOING TO LET A SHE-WOLF BEAT YOU OR WHAT?”
Cameo tripped over a tree root and tumbled down a little hill. Breeze threw herself down the hill too, and landed on top of him. They began laughing uncontrollably, gasping for air.
“I-beat-you!” Breeze gasped, then jumped off Cameo and ran towards the temporary camp, Cameo chasing her and laughing and gasping all at the same time.
They arrived at camp laughing, and Cameo quickly nuzzled her before they came into view. Breeze nuzzled him back affectionately, feeling like she was floating.
“Where have you been?” Winter demanded when she saw her son. “Cameo, I’ve been worried, and you’ve already been gone for days at a time, I’d like to spend some time with you-“
Winter broke off awkwardly upon seeing Breeze. “Er, sorry. I didn’t know he had… company.” She stalked off.
“I’m dead meat when she catches me alone.” Cameo said.
“Who said you have to be alone?” Breeze asked, looking up at him. The two wolves nuzzled again and walked towards Disappear’s cave.
»
“The vote will be held at dusk.” Disappear announced when she saw Cameo and Breeze padding up to her, side by side.
“Okay.” Cameo said, relieved.
“Dusk is near, so you two won’t have to wait long.” Disappear said. “I’ve asked the seniors, and they seem to think it’s a good idea.”
“That’s good.” Breeze said, and Disappear walked away. “Wanna go with me to tell my sister?” Breeze asked Cameo.
“Sure.” He followed her and they found Bubble lingering in the shade of a pine tree. Bubble was floating lazily in the air with a halo of bubbles surrounding her, and when she saw Breeze and Cameo she flew down and landed on the ground with a soft thud.
“What’s up?” Bubble asked Breeze, not even bothering to glance at Cameo. Cameo frowned, though he didn’t say anything.
“Disappear agreed to have a vote!” Breeze said happily. “It’s going to be held at dusk.”
“That’s amazing!” Bubble exclaimed. “I can’t believe she agreed!”
The two sisters chattered on, and Cameo slipped away, unnoticed. He walked into the forest, deciding to patrol around the temporary camp to make sure everything was quiet and safe. He quickly killed and ate a rabbit- one of his favorites, despite its small size- then walked on, licking his chops.
He was next passing by a huge pine tree when he began to hear voices. He stopped in his tracks, pricking his ears up.
“…I have something to tell you…” Cameo recognized Nightshade’s voice, which was hushed and mysterious most of the time, or in control. Right now, it also sounded… excited. It usually took a lot to get Nightshade excited, so Cameo listened on, curious.
“Which is?” Shadow asked, sounding curious.
There was a short pause. Then Nightshade said in voice so low Cameo had to strain his ears to hear, “I’m going to have pups.”
There was an even longer pause after this.
“That’s great!” Shadow said, sounding surprised yet pleased. “How long have you known?”
“Just since this morning. I suspect they’re about two weeks old right now.”
“Wow… this’ll be our second litter.” Shadow said, though there was a faint note of grief in his voice. Cameo winced; their first litter had died from starvation when they were only three weeks old.
“I’ll tell Leif, okay?” Nightshade murmured. “She’ll make sure I have everything I need. This time, they won’t go hungry. Trust me.”
“Okay.” Shadow said, exhaling heavily.
“Let’s head back.” Nightshade suggested quietly. There was a soft rustling as they got up and shook the debris out of their pelts. Cameo looked around the tree and saw them heading towards the pack’s temporary shelter. Cameo waited a minute, thinking.
So, Nightshade was going to have pups. Cameo decided not to tell anyone. They clearly wanted to keep it secret for now; they would announce it when they were ready. Even though Cameo was far from liking the two wolves, he did think they deserved for this litter to survive.
He followed the couple, lost in thought.
.........
QOTC: bet you did not expect that! Not a question but all well!!!
