beating heart. He couldn't even begin to think how much distance he had just covered. It was probably alot further in less time than he'd ever managed in his life. Still, Mist's scent was very faint. At first, he had to rely on what she'd told him. She was going east, to the Lylrite pack. And that was where he was headed now. But, as he went further and further, her scent became stronger and stronger. He knew he was on the right track and began to feel hope that he'd find her.

However, as much as he didn't want to, he had to slow down. Running at that speed would only tire him faster. It would be better for him to run a pace that was possible for him to keep up for a long period of time. Maybe he wouldn't be traveling as fast, but he would cover more ground like that. So, slowing down a bit, he continued on. Drawing closer and closer to that familiar scent. And, as more and more distance was put behind him, he started to think that maybe Mist had made it to The Lylrite Pack terra.

Getting closer and closer to the terra, the scent belonging to Mist still remained a little faint. It had gotten stronger, but it was still hard to keep track of. He figured this was because she had covered the area over a week ago and had just remained in one spot for a long time. That could only mean one thing; she was with the pups now. It had been two days since he had set out to find his mate, so that meant he hadn't seen her or looked into her beautiful golden eyes in two weeks! It might have only been fourteen days, but it had seemed to last an eternity without Mist.

Wanting, now more than ever, to see Mist, Hiro ran on. Not stopping to rest the night. He knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep now. He had made up his mind. He wasn't stopping at all until he found her. If his body got too tired to run, he'd walk. If it got too tired to walk, he'd crawl. Determination to find her rushed through every cell in his body and every hair of his pelt.

When Mist woke, it wasn't even daylight yet. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times and looking around. What had awoken her? It hadn't been Kalgorn fidgeting in his sleep. So. . . what then? Lightning flashed brightly outside, illuminating the world for a brief few seconds. The sudden unexpected light startled her. Then it dawned on her that it was raining. She breathed out, and layed her head back down. It must have been the rain that had awoken her. Deciding that this was the cause, she stated to go back to sleep. She might have too had she not noticed something out of the corner of her eye. It was dark, regardless of her night vision. The light in her den was dim and, apart from the light flashing outside, she couldn't make out much past the entrance. But still, she was able to make out the glowing red eyes of something peering in at her. Judging by it's smell, it was male and not friendly at all. A wolverine. She felt fearful as she looked back into the bloodthirsty eyes of the creature. Mist could only hope that the wolverine lost interest in her and Kalgorn and left them. It didn't look very likely to happen, but she could hope. If it came closer or attacked, she was going to be in trouble.

Doing her best from showing fear, she refrained from whimpering or making any noise at all. Instead, slowly, she curled her body around Kalgorn's. She was a mother now and it was her instinct to protect her young. What she did next came by instinct as well, but she surprised herself when she did so. A growl made it's way up her throat. Telling the wolverine not to come any closer. Her eyes narrowed to a glare, fixated on his own red ones.
For a minute, it looked like he would back down. However, that's not what happened. He glared back at her, growled back as well, and. . . attacked. Claws and fangs bared at her, all aimed right for her side. Right where Kalgorn lay, he hadn't awoken yet, but he would be awoken very abruptly here in a few seconds. To prevent the wolverine from taking Kalgorn from her, she turned her body around so that her back faced him. Her movements had awoken her son and he now whimpered and pressed himself closer to her. Gritting her teeth, she felt the claws sink through her flesh and dig mercilessly into her back. The fangs closed around the back of her neck. Thankfully, they couldn't reach her throat.

Hiro hadn't yet stopped. Not once in the last few hours had he ceased his running. He didn't know for sure if Mist was in any danger or not, but it was his worries that made him push his body on so ruthlessly. Ignoring the burning in his legs, he ran on. He couldn't be sure what the cause of it was, but he had this nagging feeling of unease. Like something bad was about to happen. Quickly, he looked around for a set or sets of eyes peering at him. Maybe he was going to be ambushed. But he didn't see anything other than the vast forest that surrounded him. Trying to put it behind him, he honed his nose to the scent of his mate. But. . . it was different now. His ears stuck up as he heard something; but what was it? Her scent wasn't alone now. Something had followed her.

One sniff told him it was a wolverine. It's scent was so much stronger than Mist's it was almost overpowering. Immediately, he assumed the worst. Mist either had been attacked, or was being attacked. He hoped, however, that he was wrong. Maybe the beast had just wandered over her scent on coincidence. Perhaps he had, but maybe he had smelled it and decided to follow. Fur standing on end, the sound came again. And this time, Hiro recognized it for what it was: The growling of a wolverine. Fear flooded him. It wasn't the wolverine that he was scared of, it was what he might have done to Mist by now if he had found her.

Acting quickly, he made a beeline for the beast, a growl of his own emitting itself from his vocals. In his urgency, he had unwittingly done something he hadn't meant to. His pace had gone all the way up to it's maximum once again. But the adrenaline rushing through him kept him going. No doubt he'd be pretty sore and exhausted later on, but right now he didn't care. He had a suspicion that his love, Mist, was in danger and he had no intentions on letting harm reach her. He tore through the trees. Showing his way through bushes, tree limbs cutting through his face as he ran right through them.
His breathing picking up, he began panting. The sounds of the growls had gotten louder. There was no way he could be much farther away. The wolverine had to be on the other side of that bush! Plowing through it, Hiro almost tripped. But he managed to keep his footing and, as it turned out, he had reached the creature. He saw it, growling and crouched, looking into the den he was sure Mist lay in with their pups. However, as he watched, the sound of someone else, a wolf, growled back at it. This triggered the next thing that happened before Hiro could even react. The wolverine pounced in. "No!" he shouted and ran toward the place the wolverine had just been.

He reached the hole in the ground a second too late. The sound of a yelp reached his ears and caused something that could only be described as a fury took over him. He leaped in and sank his claws into the wolverine's back, dragging him away from the curled up figure of a female wolf.

Mist whined as the teeth tightened around her neck. Neck, meaning what connected her head to her shoulders, not throat. That was at least something she could be grateful for. However, she couldn't do anything to get the male off her. She had to protect Kalgorn! But how? Whatever happened next, she couldn't be sure of because it happened in a fraction of half a second. All she heard was growling, then the teeth digging into her neck let go and the claws in her back came out. The wolverine was either leaving, or was being dragged away. She was too scared to look. All she did was lay still, body wrapped around Kalgorn to protect him and listened. From the sounds of it, it seemed to her that something was fighting the beast off. She heard multiple yelps that didn't sound like they could have come from a wolf, and, above all else, growling.

Hiro was overcome with rage. He showed no mercy to the wolverine. This creature had just attacked a vulnerable wolf. What was the worst part about it was that the female had been Mist. As soon as he had dragged the wolverine away from Mist, he attacked. Not going for the throat, but still intending on killing this thing. The male wolverine fought back, but he was no match to Hiro. Hiro's claws ripped through it, his teeth tore into it, blood spilled from it from countless cuts and gashes, only to be washed away by the rain. Finally, once the wolverine was yelping and whining to much to growl anymore, Hiro ended it. His fangs tore into its throat and ended the creature's miserable life.

Like some kind of magic, his anger vanished on the spot. He'd relinquished every bit of anger and madness he had upon the wolverine. But it was that adrenaline that had energized him. Now that it had been exhausted, he felt extremely tired. He hadn't slept in at least two days, ran most of that time, and had just brutally murdered a wolverine. Hiro didn't let it get to him though. Mist was. . . right there. Not even a foot away. He padded over and looked in. "Mist?"

Whatever went on just outside the den, Mist hoped she never found out. The sheer sound of it was bad enough. However, what she heard next was more welcome than anything. It was the sound of a voice she knew all to well. Her head lifted hastily and her eyes opened. Looking over her shoulder to the entrance where she saw the head of Hiro looking at her. Cheeks raising to a smile, her jaws parted and she cried out "Hiro!"

Before she knew it, he was inside and right next to her, nuzzling and licking her. She tried not to get to emotional but it was hard when she hadn't seen him in two weeks and had almost been killed by a wolverine. It still seemed a bit unreal that Hiro was acctually here.