One Over X News

From: Specter of Dammerwald

1.

Waking to a wonderfully fresh morning and the thought of playing with her friends shot excitement though Ela’na. She had important plans and as always they focused on the other Wolfcat pups and the time that they spent together in play. She didn’t remember whether it was her turn to play hunter or hunted. Whichever it was, she didn’t care all that much. It was playing together that mattered.

She preferred to be the hunter, any pup would. She might have easily deserved to always be the hunter. Hers was the lineage of leaders and great hunters. The legendary Eltath was her great-grandmother’s great-grandmother. Even so, Ela’na had never mentioned her birthright. She treasured her friends and always played fair, taking her turn as any other would. Rank and privilege were the concerns of the adult Pack. Amongst pups everyone was equal.

Tharr was her father and as the lead hunter, of course he was the best. He could have easily been the Alpha Male had it not been for his lifelong devotion to serving Old Tull. In fact many a Wolf thought more than twice about challenging Old Tull for the leadership of the Pack but never followed through simply because of Tharr’s support and defense of the elderly leader.

She stretched as she stood-up from the warm, comfortable bed of leaves and grass in the alcove that was etched into the rock wall of the chamber where she had slept. She recalled some of the story that her father had been telling her the night before. Her eyes had closed long before he could reach the end of telling that story. She wondered how it ended or even if it ever ended at all. Every time he told that story she fell asleep before its conclusion. She wondered if her father continued to tell the story past his notice that she had fallen asleep.

She loved nuzzling into Tharr’s side, and hearing the legends of the Pack and stories of the great deeds of her ancestors. It was the only time that she really spent with her father. He was a very important Wolf, once a member of Old Tull’s private guard and now a renowned hunter. He was a provider not only for her but for the entire Pack. Even though she was proud of him she missed him whenever she awakened and he was already out and about his business. She understood the duty, the pack needed to be fed. Tharr’s hunters had never failed to provide the Pack the bounty of Dammerwald, the plains or mountains that bordered the great forest of the north. Still she loved her father very, very much. In the quiet of the late afternoon, when it was just the two of them together, she always seemed to fall asleep before telling him just how much she adored him.

Lately she was always hungry. To wake before the first sun’s rise wanting food was nothing new at all. She was patient though. She was becoming a little lady Wolf and no longer whined like a drooling first-season pup with her need for food. Soon enough the hunters would return to the commons at the base of the cavern of Belkul. The youngest always got the first right after Old Tull and The Wolfcat Mentha blessed the kill. She understood what respect was and it was treated as ceremony to honor the hunt and the achievements of the hunters. Her father had taught her well. The leaders never did more than sink their fangs into a carcass and tear it open so that the very young and recently weaned might partake of the fruit of the hunters’ labor.

Ela’na sat waiting for the return of the hunters, sniffing the breeze for the scent of any others. Her senses were as finely honed as any other Wolfcat her age. She knew, for example that her playmates were departing the caverns. In turn, they knew she was still in her alcove waiting for them, especially Rotor. He was already gaining quite a reputation for his keen sense of smell. Very soon he might even be permitted to train for the hunt. Tharr was already pushing for the waiver of an entire season as it was otherwise inappropriate. Ronin, Rotor’s father favored it. That would weigh heavily in favor of the waiver. Whenever that time came, she would miss playing with Rotor. He alone amongst the other Wolfcats was a challenge to her. He was male. From the size of his paws he would eventually grow to become a great warrior and considering his gift of smell he would be a renowned hunter, perhaps as good as her father or maybe just a little better.

As was the case with all male Wolfcats his traits were already favoring the lupine side of his heritage where the female Wolfcats tended to favor the feline. The Wolf-like traits that Rotor already displayed were immensely attractive not only to her but the other females of the Pack as well. Maybe she was a little jealous of the attention that he drew but he always seemed to acknowledge her first and foremost. So she did not care so much about the flirtations of others.

Ela’na had no problem with her appearance. She rather liked the fact that sometimes she mostly resembled a Cat. Others said that it made her look exotic. Some even compared her look to that of her ancestor Eltath whose beauty was still remembered and even compared to The Wolfcat Goddess Druella.

Apart from the look of a Cat that some Wolves either did not prefer or mocked, there were very few disadvantages that she could determine to the Cat heritage in her blood. She could climb trees with great ease. The demonstrated agility of her reflexes embarrassed the Wolf pups that were of her same season as they playfully tried to pursue her. Despite the Wolf pups attempts to show some interest in her, she could readily avoid many of their silly little traps.

Rotor growled at her, as was his way of demonstrating his impatience at having to come for her. She growled back so as to voice her humor at his taken offense. His responded with a whimper that no one other than Ela’na could have heard and in response to it she laughed.

“Just once, it would be nice to find you waiting outside for the rest of us. I know you are just as eager as the rest of us to go out and play,” he voiced.

“It is nice of you to treat me so special,” Ela’na replied.

“The princess of the Pack,” Rotor chided.

“Yeah right,” Ela’na shook her head. “Like you think that I even believe that.”

“I believe it,” Rotor replied punctuating it with a wink.

Ela’na licked his snout but then quickly looked around to make sure that no one had seen the display affection that might be misunderstood.

She did not really need Rotor’s escort. It was a courtesy that she appreciated but she had actually darted off to find the other Wolfcats leaving him well behind her. She had sensed the proximity of other Wolfcats long before and simply went to them. They were just ahead of her.

She was not paying attention to the shadows alongside the path. There they lay in wait among the brush and in the shadowy places along the trail through the woods that led toward the clearing that the Pack used for assemblies. As she passed, they sprang out from all sides, startling her in attempt to surround her. They taunted her, playfully attempting to impress her with their skills acting in concert to attack their ‘prey’.

“Do you intend to eat me?” She asked as she sat back on her haunches and teased them in response.

They were young Wolves, but only older than her by a single season. They were, therefore already accomplished and trained in the art of the hunt and deception. Obviously at least some of them were good as they had tracked a second season Wolfcat that should have known better than to be trapped. Why they chose hunting her irritated her almost as much as it amused her. She sensed that they liked her, especially Scooter and Tekno. They were Wolves that she knew, cute Wolves actually.

She was just about ready to prove her agility in escaping them when as suddenly as the Wolves had surrounded her, Rotor leapt from the shadows and landed squarely in front of her, between her and the would-be assailants, the tuft of fur on his back raised in anger, his fangs bared as if he would defend her to the death, even against a pack of older Wolf pups.

“What is this?” Scooter laughed even as he asked.

“It looks like a pup that has finally tired of playing with the shewolves,” Slammer challenged.

“Why don’t you go back to playing with the Wolfcats, Rotor?”

Rotor changed his focus to Slammer and growled low and deep, in the threatening way that only a male Wolfcat can.

“Oh, well now I’m so afraid,” Slammer said and then laughed, even though he took up a defensive posture just in case the threat was real. Although both Slammer and Scooter were a season older, Rotor was nearly their size. He was a step quicker perhaps and he had the deadly retractable claws that made any Wolfcat an adversary to respect.

“Don’t mess with Ela’na!” Rotor warned with the authority of determination in his voice.

“Why don’t you go chase your tail,” Slammer replied, hearkening back to a time when Rotor was much younger.

“Better yet, do you still have that piece of cloth,” Tekno suggested. “You remember it, Slammer?”

“Yes, of course I do. Old Tull named him after that sound he was making as he circled around and around trying to attack it. Same sound he made when he was chasing his tail.”

“It was soooo cute,” Haplo said with as much sarcasm as he could as he came up from behind them.

“One day you will not be so eager to pick a fight with Rotor,” Ela’na said.

“Well, well, so it’s Ela’na that speaks for her supposed protector,” Jus’tn mused as he also came forward to join his friends.

“I think they are sweet for one another,” Dire added as he approached in reinforcement of his twin brother Slammer.

“You think so?” Slammer replied.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Scooter asked, rhetorically.

The brush behind the attackers parted and suddenly two adult Wolves emerged. “Well, well, well, now. What have we here?” the one voice asked.

“It’s just pups at play, Red,” Rotor’s Uncle Grem said.

“Not all that intelligent if you ask me,” Red said. “I don’t like the odds. Six Wolf pups against two Wolfcat pups, how do you think that would that turn out, Grem?”

“Six embarrassed Wolf pups is my guess,” Grem said as he laughed. “You Wolf pups are way over your heads and greatly outnumbered. You go home before any of you get hurt.”

Slammer began to growl a challenge at Grem, and then as Grem turned on him Slammer thought better of it. Grem was only a few seasons older than him. Slammer was solid but somewhat smaller than Red and about Grem’s size. So Slammer felt he could take him, maybe. Except that Red was there, too. Red was one of the instructors in the art of defense, and his skill was greatly respected. Even Damon, Old Tull’s great nephew and heir apparent to the leadership of the Pack would not challenge Red. Nevertheless, when he was a little more mature and had the fullness of size, he would remember this affront.

“We were just playing,” Scooter offered as an excuse.

“Well play somewhere else,” Red said. “The Pack doesn’t attack its own.”

“C’mon, Scoots,” Haplo said. “Lets go down to the river and have a swim.”

“Yeah,” Scooter concurred. “I could use a bath.”

“We know,” Jus’tn said in jest.

“You were reading my mind,” Dire agreed.

Slammer’s eyes glared at Rotor for one last time then he joined the rest of the sextet as they set out through the brush and trees toward the river.

“Thank you,” Ela’na expressed her gratitude to Red and Grem.

“Anytime, little lady,” Red said, and then he bowed.

“Not that your boyfriend here didn’t have the situation well in control,” Grem winked at Rotor as he said.

“I am not her boyfriend,” Rotor looked away as he said it, not wanting to have his eyes betray the lie.

“We are just good friends,” Ela’na confirmed. “Rotor always protects me.”

“As well he should,” Grem said as he laid a paw on Rotor’s shoulders. “I think you will be ready soon for the training, even if it is a season earlier than it should be. We have had our eye on you for many roles that you may serve for the Pack.”

“Yes, you have the size already to do the training,” Red said. “Your ability to acquire a scent even at a great distance is already well known. It is just the Council is always cautious.”

“I will discuss it with Ronin and Old Tull,” Grem said.

“That would be great,” Rotor said. “Thank you.”

“Meet us tomorrow, first light of the first sun at the clearing at the base of the caverns,” Red said. “Even if Old Tull and Ronin say no, what would it hurt for a pup to learn a few things?”

Grem grinned and winked again, but this time Ela’na was the intended receiver. Ela’na returned a smile.

As Grem and Red continued on their way, Jade and Alina were coming toward them side-by-side down the trail with Saffron and Tweety a little ways behind. Ela’na had wanted to start the day with a swim but with the older, rude Wolves there, she did not think it wise. They would just have to find some other diversions to pass the time. She glanced at Rotor, concerned that he was still agitated over the confrontation. The rage that he had dealt with would need some time to settle. She understood that. Even still it, the rage went even deeper with him.

From the first c’eun that he had opened his eyes, Rotor had been aware of his difference. Even at birth it was obvious that he was as much a Cat as a Wolf. Moreover he was mostly white, a trait that was so rare among the Wolves but even more so for the Wolfcats in the Pack that it was pointed out to his utter annoyance every time someone saw him. It was always the same with Wolfcats. The females were revered for their ability to tap into the forces of the world around them. It was of inestimable benefit to the Pack. The male Wolfcats were ever suspect as if they were some fulfillment of a dark prophecy.

The delicate blending of the features of Wolf, Cat and, as legend had it some other race of the Outworld produced a creature that was a marvel in both strength and beauty. The fact that any Wolfcat at all existed was a miracle to be accepted and dealt with. Male Wolfcats had always been somewhat rare, more so in recent times for whatever reason. The same elements that combined to produce female Wolfcats of overwhelming grace and beauty conspired to make a Male look rather awkward and silly until they neared maturity.

Rotor had endured taunts and teases for all of his life. It was little comfort that his father was well regarded and along with Ela’na’s father he usually led the hunt. It was considered inappropriate among the general Wolf Pack for young males and young females to play together. Rotor was often the butt of jokes as whenever he was playing with other pups he tended to play only with the other Wolfcats. All of them that were in his season were female.

Despite the situation, Ela’na had never thought of Rotor as anything except a male. Even when they were very young and sometimes wrestled on the ground in front of their fathers she felt the substantial difference between them. In contrast to her petite grace, he was strong and powerful. He never hurt her, though. Whenever she complained or even feigned pain, he would release her immediately and would apologize profusely.

She thought the world of Rotor. She suspected that it was reciprocated, hoping that it was so. She was proud of him, how he had endured the first two seasons, suffering the jeers of the Wolf pups. Now she sensed that something important had only just now happened. There was a subtle shift in the paradigm, but it was a significant new balance. Rotor had stood up to older, nearly adult Wolves. He had not backed down even when surrounded and outnumbered, despite what Grem had implied. Ela’na would like to believe that he did that for her, even if it was largely unnecessary. She understood why Rotor wanted to protect her. He wanted to feel that he was necessary to her. The truth was that he simply enjoyed being with her and would die before he let anything happen to harm her.

She also suspected that Rotor had other more personal reasons.

Wolfcats know the truth and can see through deception, even if the deception is from another Wolfcat. Rotor would never confess what was already obvious to her, though. It did not matter to Ela’na that he tried to deny his affection. She already knew. In her own way she was deceiving him as well. She had never told him that for the most part she felt the same way about him. Maybe some c’eun they would bond. That seemed a very long time away.

All the same it was a great comfort to her to know that Rotor was around and that she could count on him always.

* * * *

Rotor’s heritage had produced many leaders. His mother Belma was Old Tull’s baby sister, the proof that Old Tull’s father was just as prolific in his later years as Old Tull had proven to be. Belma was older by two seasons that Ronin when they had conceived Rotor. They had both known that she was a little old to be having a pup. Their first born, Leme had died within her first season, and Mentha had said that it would a very rare thing for them to even have a viable pup at all.

It had been many seasons since Ronin had mated. His first mate and he had barely conceived a pup when she left him. He couldn’t really blame her as he was always away on a hunt. He had never thought again of taking another mate until he had met Belma. She was amazing, understanding and most of all she made him feel young again.

She had problems throughout the pregnancy. Early on she had nearly miscarried then again a little later on she had severe complications that had required her to remain bed ridden and under personal care. When The Wolfcat Mentha’s understanding of healing lore had failed to cure Belma’s sickness, Ronin had set out to find Magus and bring him to help her.

Ronin had traveled for many c’eun to the place in the mountains in the east where it was believed that Magus dwelled. All along the way he called out, beseeching Magus to appear before him. In his discouragement he gave up his quest and turned back toward Dammerwald, fearing that in his absence Belma might have already died.

From his vantage on the descent from the mountains, Ronin saw a solitary robed figure that was approaching from the distance. As he neared it he looked at it and suddenly there was a vision that he saw. It was a frightful future and his son was there. It had frightened him but even so he continued on.

As he stood there the concerns evaporated and finally the robed figure pulled back the hood of the robe. Suddenly a bright light issued that nearly blinded Ronin. Suddenly where the robed figure had been there was only Magus, wearing the shimmering robes of a Wizard.

Ronin knew that in dealing with Magus there is always a price. He did not appreciate the conditions but also did not want his mate to suffer the pains of a near full-term miscarriage. Belma had wanted her pup for so long that even though the bargain was severe, to the extent that it was hardly a choice at all for Ronin, he had presented it to her in a lucid moment that she was not racked with pain. She had agreed to the conditions. Ronin had left that mortal decision to her, except that he demanded one further condition of Magus: that he would see to it that his son became a legend and a leader and that both his son and the legend would outlive even the Wolf Pack.

Magus had laughed but then he cast a spell over Belma and to Ronin’s surprise she improved immediately, except that her life was then forfeit only for her unborn pup. The moment that he would utter his first yelp would be the last breath that Belma would ever take.

Ronin had never told Rotor the full truth and it was just as well. Ronin felt that he had bargained with Evil forces and even regretted it. His obsession turned to an old Prophecy that he worried that he might have inadvertently brought to bear upon the current times.

The short version was just fine for Rotor. His mother had loved him so much that she had given her life to bring him into the world. Even so Ronin told his son of his heritage and that one c’eun he might even become the Alpha Male of the Pack.

The Wolfcat blood was respected in a leader even though it was very rare for a full Wolfcat, one that strongly showed the traits of both heritages almost equally, to become the Alpha Male. Even in the times when male Wolfcats were more prevalent, they simply did not seem to want to challenge for the leadership of the Pack.

It had sometimes fallen upon the Council of Elder Wolves to nominate the Alpha Female, the one that would thereafter be called The Wolfcat and wear the Wolfstone as a symbol of the position. The Wolfcat was then chosen by the designate of the previous Wolfcat as he alone among all Wolves had the knowledge of the signs. He could recognize who among the Wolfcats was the strongest in the gifts of the Wolfcat Goddess, Druella. In recent times that designate was the Wolf named Night.

Ela’na trusted Night. He was father to both Grem and Gold; two well-respected members of the guard and at times each had been her guardians. When she was very young, in the absence of Tharr, Night had taken care of her whenever Red was not available. Even if it were merely to take her to her aunt Helty’s den where she could play with her cousins Jade, Tweety and Saffron. Her fondest memories of that first season were of the time she spent with her cousins and the first time that she had ever met Rotor.

Rotor was very different. He even smelled different than the other Wolfcat pups. From the start, he smelled a little bit like her father in some ways and perhaps that was what it was about him that had set her at ease.

They had something in common. Each of them had lost their mothers shortly after their births and had wet nursed the same shewolf named Helty. For Ela’na Helty was a paternal aunt. For Rotor she was a distant cousin. Rotor was a little younger than Ela’na but they were both born in the same season and had nuzzled to Helty side-by-side taking adjacent teats for a very long time.

Even after Ela’na and Rotor were weaned, their fathers were such close friends that they had often visited one another. Other times when Tharr and Ronin were out on the hunt together, Night brought Ela’na to stay with her aunt Farra and uncle Carg. As Ronin was good friends with Ela’na’s aunt and uncle, they usually looked after Rotor as well. So for much of the time Ela’na and Rotor were virtually inseparable. It was almost like they were brother and sister except that there was no sibling rivalry between them.

There was comfort for each in the other’s presence. Whether it was one of the many Wolfcat gifts, she sensed it. She was almost always aware of where the others of her kind were and sometimes even knew what the others were thinking. Wolfcats really could not have secrets. Besides that, Ela’na and Rotor had been together so much that there was hardly and space in time that either of them even recalled not being together except for the brief times that they spent alone with their fathers.

* * * *

“The Wolves went for a swim,” Ela’na pronounced her complaint to going swimming.

“Aawww, and I wanted to go for a swim, too,” Tweety said with disappointment in her voice.

“Slammer always ruins everything,” Alina reacted.

“Of course Tekno and Scooter were with him,” Jade said with a wink. “You may have your pick of them, Ela’na. I will take the other.”

“You can have them both, if you want. After that stunt today I don’t like either of them,” she replied.

“I’ll take Tekno,” Alina said. “You can have Scooter, Jade.”

They both laughed until they noticed that Rotor was sitting off to himself, staring off into the woods as if he were bored. It had been exactly the sort of conversation that would have been of no interest to him.

“Let’s play hunter and hunted, then,” Alina suggested.

“It is unfair,” Tweety protested, “Ela’na and Rotor are too good for either of them to be the hunter. It isn’t fair for either of them not to have a turn as hunter”

“Yeah, I can’t seem to hide from Rotor,” Saffron agreed. “I think Ela’na lets me win sometimes but that is because we are friends.”

“I do not,” Ela’na said, and then she laughed. “Well, maybe once I did.”

“More than once,” Saffron countered.

“Well then how about this? Ela’na and Rotor are the hunted. The rest of us are the hunters.

"We’ll hunt them, like a pack,” Jade proposed.

“I don’t know. I never seem to find Rotor either,” Tweety said.

“Yeah, but it will be all the rest of us. Jade is a good hunter,” Saffron said. “Alina is pretty good too.”

“Thanks a lot,” Alina said.

“Well you are pretty good. It’s just that Jade is better,” Saffron clarified.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Okay?” Alina replied as she shook her head.

“Touchy,” Saffron said but thought it was only loud enough for Tweety to hear until she saw from the corner of her eye that Ela’na was also laughing.

“It’s a great idea,” Ela’na said, as she positioned herself squarely in front of Rotor. “Do you agree?”

Rotor looked up and met her eyes, her magically enchanting eyes. How could he resist that look?

He needed to say what he really felt, that he wanted to be left alone. Ela’na already knew that, though. She was doing this on purpose. She knew him too well.

Rotor stood up and without saying a word motioned for Ela’na to join him in the shadows away from the others.

“What’s the matter?” Ela’na asked him quietly.

“I feel really strange. I can’t describe it. I mean earlier when the others were threatening you, I knew they were just playing but it made me so angry that I couldn’t just let it go.”

“I am grateful for what you did.”

“Even after what I did I have no respect. Even after Red and Grem showed up…”

“Well they are going to train you, and they said that they plan to start you early,” Ela’na said.

“That will be a great opportunity.”

“I know that,” Rotor said. “It is just that I really don’t want to play with the others right now.”

“Aawww, it will be fun,” she pulled his chin up with her paw and forced him to look into her eyes.

“We will be together. That will make it fun.”

“I wanted to talk to you.”

“We can.”

“They will find us.”

“So, let them win for once.”

Rotor grinned.

“You are always so competitive,” Ela’na said and then turned back to the others. “You all go off, out of sight and up wind so we know where you are to start. We will be downwind so you will not know where we have gone. Give us to the count of 100.”

“Good,” Jade said.

“Okay,” Alina responded, “Just no cheating.”

“I never cheat,” Ela’na said.

“Never?”

“Almost never, and never when I promise not to.”

“Well, okay then,” Alina laughed.

“I’m good with that plan,” Tweety said. “How about you, Saffron?”

Saffron nodded, and then asked. “What are we waiting for?”

Ela’na watched the others moving off upwind and kept track of them as they went through the trees and out of sight.

“I am a male. It is my nature, you know.”

“What?” Ela’na was lost and confused.

“You said that I am always so competitive,” Rotor said.

“Oh. Well, yeah. You are.”

“I’m a male.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I have to be competitive. I need to win.”

“Like I never want to win,” Ela’na countered.

“You care what the others feel. That is why you will one day be The Wolfcat and succeed Mentha. The Wolfcat is a care giver at times.”

Ela’na grinned sheepishly. Apparently Rotor knew her at least as well as she knew him. “Do you think I might be The Wolfcat? Really?”

“I know. Who else could it be?”

“It could be Alina, Jade, or any of the others perhaps.”

“Get real.”

“Well, what if I don’t want to be The Wolfcat?” Ela’na asked and then she urged him to go before the others started to pursue them.

“My father always tells me that I will be whatever is in me to be,” he said as he followed her lead.

“Your father is a good and wise Wolfcat,” Ela’na said. “Except that I want to choose what I am to be.”

Rotor smiled. “Just as long as you choose to be my best friend, then I will be happy.”

“I am already that.”

“I never want to lose you.”

“You say that as if that could ever happen.”

“It could.”

“It never will. How could that ever possibly happen?”

“Someone or something could come between us.”

“Well, we will just never allow that to happen. That will be easy to fix.”

“You can’t possibly see what will happen, not everything. Even Mentha cannot see that far into the future.”

“I do not need to see the future to know the truth,” Ela’na said. “We will always be best friends.”

“I would want to die if I ever lost you.”

“Aawww that is sweet, Rotor. You won’t have to die. I’ll always be with you.”

“How are you going to accomplish that?”

“I have my ways,” Ela’na laughed. “You’ll see.”

Rotor smiled, “I suppose at some point I need to take over here, find a good place for the two of us to hide from the others.”

“You dare to suggest that I am incapable.”

“It is not that I don’t trust that you can, Ela’na. It is more my fear that you will feel sorry for the others and make it too easy on them.”

“Oh, you are selfish. You want to keep me all to yourself.”

“That is as always.”

Ela’na laughed. Then she drew a deep breath. “Rotor, you know, I am kind of glad we are alone, together.”

“Really? I mean well, yeah so am I. Why?”

“Well I have been thinking, thinking a lot, really. I can tell from what you have said that you have been thinking too and about some of the same things.”

“Such as?”

“Future things, you know. Mating and bonding; all of that forbidden adult stuff.”

Rotor felt the blood rushing into his ears and swirling in throbbing beats in harmony with the increased rate of the beating of his heart. “Mating and bonding?”

“I was thinking who I would want to mate with. I mean mating to have pups.”

“I don’t know Ela’na. I mean we are both still in our second season. I am not sure we are even supposed to be thinking about such things.”

“Whoever made that rule?”

“Well, I don’t know. There has to be a reason for it, though.”

“Haven’t you ever wondered what it is like?”

Rotor was speechless for a time, feeling the blood again surging to surround his ears and immerse them in the noise of his body.

"Well, ?" Ela'na prompted.

“Of course I have,” he said and then closed his eyes, too embarrassed to see her reaction, “I have only thought of it with you.”

When he opened his eyes again, it was to see the broad smile on Ela’na’s lovely face. He was certain that she did not intend it to be so seductive but at that insant he thought that his heart would explode if he did not turn away from her. In self-defense he had to.

“What is wrong?”

“You are so beautiful. I don’t think you even realize the extent.”

“Why, thank you Rotor.”

“I am… I can’t… I mean… I need you.”

Ela’na paused in mid-stride, “Rotor, lets go off somewhere, a place where they will never find us.”

“I thought that was the objective of hiding.”

“No, no.” Ela’na shook her head. “You misunderstand. I mean let’s pretend we are adults.”

“What?”

“Adults, as in you know… like The Wolfcat Mentha does when she is in the trance and dancing the ritual before an assembly of Wolves. We have watched that before, together. Remember, we were hiding in the shadows outside the clearing.”

“I saw some of it, yes.”

“It is the most amazing thing ever! It is so wonderful and beautiful. I need to feel that, Rotor. I want to feel complete. Just like Mentha when she accepts a Wolf to bond with her for the night. I cannot do that on my own. I need help, I need you.”

“You are not yet The Wolfcat. I am sure that someday you will certainly be that. Maybe then we can do it.”

“Rotor!” Ela’na reached out to him with supple paw, caressing his chin and with her tongue she licked his snout and then stared at him with her eyes, those amazing eyes that only she possessed. With her eyes alone she could speak words that only his heart could hear.”

He could not resist her. How could he fight it? ‘No’ was no longer part of his vocabulary. With a paw he reached out to return the caress in kind.

“Do you love me, Rotor?”

“I will always love you, Ela’na,” he said as he licked her snout, then came up beside her and brushed his tail against hers.

She giggled, “Not here, not yet. I don’t want them finding us.”

“That would be embarrassing,” Rotor agreed.

“You are good at not being found. You find the right place for us to hide.”

Rotor laughed, “My mind is not thinking all that clearly just now.”

“It will clear if you really want it to, if you really want to be an adult with me.”

Rotor again stared into her eyes. She had the power with her eyes to steal any Wolf’s soul. It was a dangerous thing for someone so very young to possess. All the same he could not even venture a simple protest. She consumed his every thought. He looked for the nearest place that was safe according to what she had required and they went there to explore the secrets of being adults, together.