One Over X News

Ela’na’s excitement glistened in her eyes even in the darkness of her alcove. She awakened from the brief nap that she had taken while she waited for her father’s return from the hunt. It was a wonderfully fresh morning, perfectly suited for playing with her friends. 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 if yet again she would have to be the hunted. Whichever it was, she didn’t care all that much. It was playing together with all her friends that mattered.

As any Wolf pup would, she still preferred to be the hunter. She could have easily demanded to always be the hunter. Hers was the lineage of leaders and amongst them were some of the greatest hunters. The legendary Eltath was her great-grandmother’s great-grandmother. Even so, Ela’na had never mentioned her birthright to her playmates. She treasured her friends and always played fair, taking her turn as any other would. Rank and privilege were concerns of the adult Pack. Amongst the pups at least, everyone was equal.

Her father was Tharr, the lead hunter. In her eyes of course he was the best Wolf that had ever lived. In truth, 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 stalwart 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. She had slept there ever since her father had moved her to the hunters’ chambers. She recalled some of the story that her father had told her just the before she had fallen asleep. 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. It seemed that every time he told that story she fell asleep before its conclusion. She wondered if her father bothered to continue telling the story past his notice that she had fallen asleep.

She loved nuzzling into Tharr’s side, and hearing the legends of the Pack, the stories of the great deeds of her ancestors. It was the only time that she really could spend with her father. He was a very important Wolf, once a member of Old Tull’s private guard and now a renowned hunter. He provided not only for her but for the entire Pack. Even though she was proud of him she missed him whenever she awakened in the evening and he was already out and about the pack’s business. She understood duty, the pack needed to be fed. Tharr’s hunters had never failed the Pack in the hunt from the bounty of Dammerwald, the plains to the south and the mountains to the northeast of the great forest. 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 and even idolized him.

Lately it seemed that she was always hungry. To wake before the rise of the first sun wanting food was nothing new at all. She was patient though. She was becoming a little lady Wolf and no longer mewled like a drooling first-season pup complaining in expectation of instant gratification of 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. Her father had taught her well. She understood what respect was and it was a ceremony to honor the hunt and the achievements of the hunters. 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.

That night Ela’na had sat waiting for the return of the hunters, sniffing the breeze for the scent of her father. Her senses were as finely honed as any other Wolfcat her age with only one possible exception, her best friend Rotor. Even now she knew, for example that her playmates were departing the caverns. In turn, they knew that she was just now leaving her alcove and was 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 a waiver of an entire season on his behalf as it was otherwise inappropriate. Ronin, Rotor’s father favored it as well. That would weigh heavily in favor of the waiver. Whenever that time came, she knew that 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. Female Wolfcats generally tended to favor the feline. The Wolf-like traits that Rotor already displayed were immensely attractive not only to her but to 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 flirtatious overtures of others. His eyes were as ever for her.

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

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

Rotor growled at her, as was his way of demonstrating his impatience at having to come for her yet again but only to wait. She growled back so as to voice her amusement at his taking offense. He responded with a whimper that no one other than Ela’na could have heard and in response to it she laughed aloud.

“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 vocalized his complaint.

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

“You are the Princess of the Pack,” Rotor chided, then chuckled.

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

“Well, 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 of affection that might be seen as inappropriate for pups so young and completely 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 instantly leaving Rotor well behind. She had sensed the proximity of other Wolfcats long before and simply went toward them. They were only a little ways ahead.

She was not paying attention, especially not to the shadows alongside the path. There the pranksters were lying in wait among the brush, 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 their 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, fluttered her eyes and teased them with much sarcasm as she could manage.

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 two Wolves that she had met personally and she felt that they were attractive even if they were not Wolfcats.

She was about ready to prove her agility in escaping them when as suddenly as the Wolves had surrounded her, Rotor leapt from the shadows, displaying his superior agility by landed squarely in front of her, placing himself directly 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 lady Wolfcats, Rotor?”

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

“Oh, well now I’m supposed to be so afraid that I turn tail and run away,” Slammer said and then laughed, even though he took up a defensive posture in case the threat was real. Although both Slammer and Scooter were a season older, Rotor was nearly their size already. 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 deep growling 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. “Do 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. It was exactly the same sound that he made whenever he was chasing his tail.”

“It was soooo cute,” Haplo said with a good deal of disdain for Rotor as he came up from behind them.

“One c’eun you will not be so eager to pick a fight with Rotor,” Ela’na finally countered in behalf of her best friend.

“Well, well, so it’s Ela’na that speaks for her supposed protector,” Haplo mused as he finally arrived, standing beside Slammer.

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

“Do you think so?” Slammer replied.

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

The brush behind the attackers rustled and called everyone’s attention toward it as it parted and suddenly two adult Wolves emerged. “Well, well, well, now. What have we here?” One forceful voice asked.

“It’s just pups at play, Red,” Rotor’s Uncle Grem said, punctuating it with a laugh.

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

“I think it would be six very embarrassed Wolf pups. That is my guess,” Grem said as he laughed, then he directed to the Wolves. “You pups are way in over your heads and greatly outnumbered. You go home before any of you gets 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 almost Grem’s size. So even though Slammer felt that he could maybe take Grem, there was considerable doubt. The intangible was always that Red was there, too. Red would surely defend Grem.

Red was one of the instructors in the art of defense, and his skills were greatly respected, even if he was getting on in age. Even Damon, Old Tull’s great nephew and heir apparent to the leadership of the Pack would not challenge Red.

Nevertheless, when Slammer was a little more mature and had the fullness of size, he would remember this affront. He promised that to himself.

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

“Well go 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.”

“Yeah, we know,” Jus’tin 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 punctuating it with the gesture of a bow.

“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 his lie.

“We are merely good friends,” Ela’na stated in confirmation. “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 would normally 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 that the Council is always cautious.”

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

“That would be great,” Rotor said. “I thank you.”

“Meet us tomorrow, first light of the first sun in 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 from a couple of trainers?”

Grem grinned and winked again, but this time Ela’na was the intended receiver. Ela’na returned a smile to Grem, knowing that he intended to make certain that her best friend would become the great Wolf that he was destined to be.

As Grem and Red continued on their way, Jade and Alina were finally coming toward them side-by-side down the trail with Saffron and Tweety only a little ways behind. Ela’na had wanted to start the c’eun with a swim but with the older, rude Wolves that had teased her were there, so she did not think that 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 so that rage went deeper than just within 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 at least 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 the Wolfcats. The males seemed to know the time and the place for everything. The females were revered for their ability to tap into the forces of the world around them, to even predict some of the choices in the leadership. The Wolfcats were of inestimable benefit to the Pack. The male Wolfcats were sometimes even suspected as if their very existence was some fulfillment of a dark prophecy.

The delicate blending of the features of Wolf, Cat and, as legend had it some race of the Outworld called human had 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 finally 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. It was only that he had more in common with them. It happened that all the others 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 they 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 would always be 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 occurred. There was a subtle shift in the paradigm, but it was a significant new situation seeking 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 about the power of two Wolfcats. Ela’na would like to believe that Rotor did what he did for her, even if it was largely unnecessary. She understood why Rotor wanted to protect her. He wanted to feel that he was necessary for her. The truth was that he simply enjoyed being with her and would die before he let anything happen to harm her. She could not possibly have a more faithful friend.

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 but it also seemed to be a predestined course.

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 the two of them 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. Still they loved one another very much and wanted to have a pup so desperately that when they conceived Rotor, it seemed like a miracle.

Before he had met Belma, it had been many seasons since Ronin had mated. His first mate and he had barely conceived a pup and then she had left him. Even if it was a bit unusual for a mate to leave, he had not protested and he even generally liked the mate that she had since chosen. He couldn’t really blame her for her disaffection as he was always away on a hunt. After she had left him he had never thought again of taking another mate, not until he had met Belma.

Even after he had met what was to be the love of his life, he was apprehensive. He knew that he had to be about the Pack’s business. That was a difficult thing for a mate to understand. Even so, Belma 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 and 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 set out to find Magus and bring him to help ease her suffering.

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 periodically called out, beseeching Magus to appear before him. There was no answer. In his discouragement he gave up his quest and turned back toward Dammerwald, fearing that in his absence Belma might have grown worse. He wanted to be with her; if she was to die, he did not want for her to be alone.

From his vantage above the evening mists and fog on the descent from the mountains, Ronin thought that he saw a solitary robed figure that was approaching him from the distance. He quickened his pace, thinking that he had finally found Magus. As he neared the place where he expected to meet the figure, there was no one, no sign of anyone having been there at all.

He searched as best he could in the dimness, trying to catch a scent of anyone’s passing by. The fog had grown thicker, too thick for him to risk further travel until it had lifted. So he found a place atop a rock outcropping that he felt was as safe as any and he stretched out to rest and finally he fell asleep.

His sleep was tormented with fearful forebodings, of Belma’s impending death. He saw shadows of a great warrior Wolf transform into vapor and dust, scattered on the wind. Then he saw the strange robed figure and he suddenly understood that he was confronting a vision of Magus as he trembled and he bowed down before him, beseeching his aid for his unborn son and his beloved mate, Belma.

From the disturbing dream he awakened to the chill of the moonless night. The dream had frightened him but even he pushed it from his mind as best he could, no more to dwell on its images. Ronin continued on his way.

He reached the foothills before the first sun’s rise. And on the path ahead of him he once more saw a robed figure. This time the figure continued his approach, carrying a lantern before him so as to light the way that he walked.

“Hello,” Ronin called out.

“You have wandered a bit far from Belkul, have you not?” The voice of Magus returned to him.

“I have been seeking you,” Ronin hurried on ahead.

“Then you have found me,” Magus halted and waited for Ronin to finally arrive. “You are a hunter, are you not?”

“I am Ronin, one of Old Tull’s personal guard and also a hunter, yes.”

Magus nodded. “You come seeking Magus. The Pack never seeks me until there is a grave need.”

“It is my mate, Belma. In her womb is my son but her condition has fallen beyond the Mentha’s understanding of the healing lore.”

“So you seek magic to overcome the power of fate,” Magus shook his head. “As a Wolf you believe that everything is just that simple. Always there is a price. Whenever the corruption of magic is employed against the forces of nature, the balance seeks redress for restoration.”

“I seek Belma’s life.”

“Yet she seeks the life of your son. Your desires do not match. Nature will not allow for both. That is fate.”

“I cannot choose.”

“Then both will die,” Magus said with the finality of an executioner carrying out a sentence.

“I do not want Belma to suffer.”

Magus pulled back the hood of his robe and suddenly a bright light issued that nearly blinded Ronin. When he could again see, Magus’ robes had been transformed into the shimmering raiment of a Wizard. Magus raised a hand and clinched his fist. Suddenly there was a golden staff that appeared and from it the glint of the first rays of dawn reflected.

“You understand the conditions,” Magus asked.

Ronin nodded. He had always known that in dealing with Magus there would be 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.

In an instant Magus transported them to Belkul, to the side of Ronin’s infirmed mate. There Ronin had presented the conditions of the bargain to her. In a lucid moment that she was not racked with pain, she had nodded her consent to the agreement. Ronin had left that mortal decision to her.

He had 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 said, “It has always been intended to be so.” 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 and had since regretted it in the quiet times alone when he missed Belma the most. He loved his son but lamented the cost in balance. 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 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 Wolf Stone as a symbol of the position. The Wolfcat was then to be chosen by the designate of the previous Wolfcat as he alone among all Wolves had the knowledge of the signs of gifts. He could recognize who among the Wolfcats was the strongest in the traits of the Wolfcat Goddess, Druella. In recent times that designated one was the Wolf named Night.

Ela’na knew Night very well and trusted him almost as much as she did her father. Night 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 Alina, 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 the same wet-nurse, the she-wolf 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 nourishment from 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 very good friends with Ela’na’s aunt and uncle, they usually looked after Rotor as well. So for much of the time in their first season, 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, still 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 any space in time that either of them even recalled not being together except for the brief private times that they spent alone with their fathers.

* * * *

“The Wolves went for a swim,” Ela’na pronounced her complaint to otherwise great idea of 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 this c’eun 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. Thus far 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. Still, 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 or twice I did.”

“More than that,” 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 be able to find Rotor when he wanted to hide well,” 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 shaking her head as she laughed.

“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 Slammer and 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?” He asked. “I deserve no respect. 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 for you.”

“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. Find us a really good place to hide.”

“They won’t find us.”

“So, after a while we will 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 c’eun be the Wolfcat and succeed Mentha. The Wolfcat is a care giver at times, actually most of the time, I think.”

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. “It is the same with you.”

“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 always, 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,” he suggested.

“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.” He continued on for a little bit and then turned back, “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 admitted 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 look away, at a tree or a rock, anything to take his mind off the subject.

“What is wrong?”

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

“Why, thank you Rotor.”

“I am… I can’t… I mean… I need…I want to always be around 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 way, Rotor. I want to feel complete. Just like Mentha when she accepts a Wolf in the ceremony 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 some time you will certainly be that. Maybe then we can do it.”

“Rotor!” Ela’na almost screamed out of her frustration. “How can you be so stubborn?” she softened her voice, asking him seductively. Even though the voice seemed out of place for her, it had its effect on Rotor. She 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 a 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. At that moment she consumed his every thought with the intensity of the flame that burns in the clearing whenever there is a ceremony. He felt uncomfortably hot as he looked for the nearest place that was safe according to what she had required and they went there together to explore the secrets of being adults.

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