if it hadn't of been for you, I would be a slumped bag of fur slung over that hunter's back. You saved me, twice now. I owe my life to you.” He tried to hide a smile that spread over his face in a split second. Lilly seemed to do the same. “But the fact is, I'm nothing without you. Don't leave me.”

“Lilly, I wouldn't leave you. I just thought that you'd be mad at me.”

“Ha! The only one I'm angry at is myself. My temper had to get the better of me, like it always does. It just goes to show me that problems can't be resolved by fighting. I have to go back.”

“Go back? You're nuts! Didn't you hear Lupine? First of all, we're finally free to be together. Second of all, Sage, or whoever the leader is, will kill you if you go back!”

“We would still be able to stay together if I returned. I am no longer a part of the pack. Therefore, they cannot force me to rejoin unless they take me captive, which is against the Pack Laws. If I return, I can make things right with Sage, which is the real issue that is bothering me.”

“Well, guess I can't really do anything if your mind is made up. Looks like I'll be going with you, then.”

Lilly stood up and walked only a few paces, glancing back wistfully at Torrid. He remained where he was, gazing upon her in his veritable way, the way she loved.

“Do you love me?” she asked with a complete straight face.

He nodded ever so slightly, making sure that Lilly knew that he wasn't joking. She kept a close surveillance on his expression. It was strong, unwavering, and genuine. He finally stood with a stern look in his eyes and walked slowly over to Lilly, keeping a level disposition. Once they paused before each other, he lowered his head to the grass.

“Lilly, I love you. And, although I know I'll never be good enough for you, I would batter myself for the rest of my life if I did not attempt to request your accompaniment. Bottom line is,” he stated as his head raised to meet her widened eyes, “I can't go on without you.”

Lilly tingled with excitement, but she refused to show it externally. With a deep breath of fresh air, she prevented herself from entering a seizure from her exhilaration. Opening her mouth several times, as if she were trying to find the right thing to say, Lilly fell speechless.

“I...,” she shook her head. “What are you saying, Torrid?”

Torrid began to groan at himself. “I'm,...I'm,...formally requesting you to become,...uh...”

“Yes!” Lilly squealed, throwing herself onto him with an extended nuzzle. “I know now.”

She licked his face, forcing his eyes to bulge out. She wrinkled her nose and smiled at him as he gazed down upon her with a transient grin. She did the same, as if their thoughts became one. She leaped to her feet, jumping around the forest like a hyper yearling, begging him for a game of chase. He ran after her and they rolled in the grass, biting each other's fur playfully when each came into contact with the other.

Torrid stood up and laughed at Lilly when she got up with grass burrs sticking to the long regions of fur along her neck. She butted him with her head, sending him backwards into a shallow ditch that held a swamp-like pond. At first, she was dismayed that he had fallen over a perilous slope until she saw him splashing about in the shallow stream.

“Torrid,” she called between laughs, “you look so ridiculous!”

He growled and tripped her from the ledge so she came splashing in him behind him. Frogs and other upset creatures scurried from their underwater homes to the safety of the soggy bank caked with moss and algae. Lilly shook herself free of access water and sat beside Torrid in the most shallow part of the pond where the green water came to her lower ribcage.

“Hey, hey,” he whispered, looking through the trees to the western end of the pond. “Check it out. See that?”

Lilly looked up. The sunset had begun to fade, revealing the set of early summer stars that winked, glimmering with beauty. The sun was still yet visible in the distance, setting half the sky on fire with colors of pink and orange. A cool evening breeze relieved the wolves of the blistering June heat. It blew through Lilly's fur, sending tingling sensations up her spine. Like a magnet, Lilly's eyes turned toward Torrid, sticking to him like gravity, unable to be avoided.

“Lead on,” she whispered to him as soon as he noticed she was staring at him in love.

“Follow me,” he instructed, leading her through the swamp to the dark side of the eastern woods.

They came to another pond once the first had run dry. The cool dampness of the water refreshed her tired feet from the exhausting day. Cattails bordered the trickling stream that ran from the eastern end of the woods. The trees parted, allowing the stars to be seen clearly and making the pond seem like a private retreat. A tiny cataract of water spilled over the tops of smooth round stones that connected the higher ground to the lower pond, creating a rippling movement of water and a relaxing bubbling sound.

All of Lilly's thoughts were put to ease as the music of the thicket began to play. Crickets chirped, frogs softly croaked, the breeze gingerly passed through the water reeds, playing her love song as she gazed helplessly into Torrid's understanding eyes. Fireflies appeared one by one as the sunset faded into night with a mellow ease into darkness. The moon filled the brake with luminescent light.

Lilly rubbed against her mate, becoming familiar with every feeling and change in his long brown fur. He, in turn, simultaneously did the same, caressing her silky white coat that shimmered with crystal-like water droplets.

“I love you,” she hummed with a soothing whisper.

He returned the lick, nuzzling the side of her face. She fastened her eyes, closing gently, taking in every feeling with sensitivity. Fervently, her licked her again, letting the passion last an extended moment. Opening her sapphire blue eyes, she gazed at him, searching, feeling the deep depths of his heart, probing her way to know and love the true Torrid that she would stay with for the remains of her life.

“I love you,” Torrid replied in a melodious undertone.

Lilly sighed slowly, taking in the night air, breathing deeply. Her paws leisurely shuffled in the paw-deep water, hardly making a ripple. Torrid followed her motives, copying every slightest move. Placing the soft region of the side of her face on Torrid's they began slowly swaying, dancing in their own way with meticulous pacing of their paws. Lilly's eyes looked up the stars, twinkling and shining like the sparkle in her own eyes. Without breaking a single movement in their dance, Lilly led Torrid over to a soft grassy slope where they rested their legs, folded beneath them.

She pressed herself against his body, sharing the warmth. He rested his head over hers, protecting her from all harm. Lilly, for the first moment in her life, felt a sensation of safety and comfort. She rubbed against Torrid's course neck before falling fast asleep.

Lilly awoke without a labored breath of exhaustion from a perilous dream. Instead, she gracefully raised her head to find Torrid was still sleeping. She licked the side of his face in the same manor as he had done to her in the past night. He stirred and looked up into her eyes. He rubbed foreheads with Lilly, a smile upon his face until he stretched open his jaws in a lingering yawn.

“Morning, Lilly,” he greeted her. “Was the pond nice last night?”

“Torrid, you really surprised me. I didn't think that you could be so much more passionate than Amak.”

“Amak? Who's he?”

“Just an old rogue I used to know,” she replied while tapping noses with him. “Don't worry; he doesn't amount to anything next to you.”

“Well, Lilly, care to explore the pond some more tonight?”

“Aren't we going back to the pack, Torrid?”

He flipped his tail as if thinking. Then he sighed.

“You still want to go back there?”

“Absolutely,” she stated with a smug grin.

“Well, if it's that important to you, we'll leave right away. But what I don't understand is why you feel that you're still bound to the pack.”

“Instincts, I guess. And Sage,” she replied yearningly.

He yawned again, expressing his peculiar disapproval of early rising. Lilly could tell he was definitely not accustomed to awakening before the sunrise, as she was so adapted to. Legitimately, he sat up, his eyes wilting like morning glories in the August sun.

“Lilly, it's barely morning. It's still practically night.”

Lilly grinned disdainfully and gloated over the fact that he could barely keep his misty gray eyes peeled open.

“It'll be light soon enough. Now get up, and let's get going,” she encouraged, nudging his ribcage.

“All right, all right, I'm up. But let's start out slow. My paws are killing me from yesterday. Don't forget who took out the hunter.”

“With you around, how can I forget?” she grumbled to herself.

“And don't forget,” he called to her from behind, “you owe me...”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I owe you twice now.” She looked back with a mischievous smirk. “Like me to trip and trap you flat on your face and come to your rescue?”

“Just save it for later, Lil'.”

Lilly and Torrid trotted briskly through the wheat fields that seemed secure during the sun's high resting place in the sky. Chasing each other through the meadows that seemed so dead and deserted the first time they crossed it alone, they stumbled across a clear brook the cut straight through the landscape like an arrow. They each settled down for a long cool drink when Lilly's head shot up in the air. Torrid jumped at her sudden sharp gesture and sniffed the wind with curious intent.

“Smells familiar,” Lilly said aloud, pondering.

“Does the name 'Azalea' ring a bell,” questioned a voice behind them.

“Yes,” Torrid and Lilly both answered in unison after recovering over the shock, but they were equally surprised that the other knew of this mysterious stranger.

“How do you know her?” Torrid asked Lilly before Lilly could throw out a million