Wolves of the Falling Stars Book 4: The Return

Chapter 29

Stormy Sky froze, glancing back and forth between his mother and the new wolves he had just met. Both looked as if they had seen a ghost. He turned to the brothers, but they seemed just as confused as him.

"What are you doing here?!" Gentle Breeze exclaimed.

"What are you doing here? And is this your pup?" Crow's Laugh wondered.

"Are those your pups?" Gentle Breeze asked.

"What's going on?" Stormy Sky asked at last. It seemed his mother had momentarily forgotten how angry she was with him for running off. He hoped to stall her for the time being.

"Yeah. You guys know each other?" Rock Path asked.

"These are my old packmates," Gentle Breeze explained to Stormy Sky. "They had gone missing awhile back and were presumed dead. What are you two doing out here?! The whole pack was in misery when you two went missing. Your parents have been mourning every day, Hazel Branch, and your sisters too, Crow's Laugh. But you two have been here the whole time?!"

"It's complicated," Hazel Branch murmured. She glanced up at Gentle Breeze. "And why are you out here and not with the pack?"

Gentle Breeze glanced at Stormy Sky. "It's complicated..."

There was a tension hanging in the air that scared Stormy Sky. He sat up and walked toward his mother, nuzzling against her soft fur. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured to her.

"That's okay, Stormy Sky. At least I'm acquainted with who you were with," she murmured before licking the top of his head. With a sigh, she looked up at the others. "This is Stormy Sky...my son."

"Your son?!" Crow's Laugh exclaimed. "But who--"

"Feather Wings," Gentle Breeze answered. "I say that so honestly just because I have a feeling that the pups in front of you are yours as well. Which means, in some ways, we're the same."

"What does she mean?" Black Berry asked.

"Just a second, Black Berry," Hazel Branch said. She took a step forward and glanced at Gentle Breeze. "You won't tell?"

"Not if you don't tell," Gentle Breeze answered.

"But then, if the pack doesn't know, why did you leave?" Crow's Laugh wondered.

"It was going to inevitable they find out anyway. Plus, I wanted to protect Feather Wings' reputation. He offered to come with me, but I didn't want to get him more involved than he already was," Gentle Breeze explained. "So we said our good-byes, and I haven't been back since."

"You've been living out here by yourself?" Hazel Branch asked.

Gentle Breeze nodded. She glanced over at Stormy Sky and smiled. "Somehow we managed to get by. Don't you think?"

Stormy Sky nodded.

"I think our tale is pretty self-explanatory," Hazel Branch murmured. "It's very similar to yours, in fact. I couldn't stand to disappoint my parents, so I took off. I wanted to keep Crow's Laugh out of it, but he insisted."

"And I would do it again," Crow's Laugh said, licking Hazel Branch's cheek.

"Yuck," Black Berry said.

In a way, Stormy Sky was jealous. He had never known his father, and yet Crow's Laugh had done his best to keep the family together. He wished he had known the day that Feather Wings was affectionate with his mother. He loved his mother with his heart and soul, but they both seemed to know there was something missing in their small family.