Lost Hope: Book 4: The Darkest Shadow

Prologue

Burrowpelt knew this was wrong. She knew it in every fiber of her body, but she couldn't shake the memory of those blue eyes from her mind.

    Fogbreeze was waiting for her by the river, fur slicked against his body from swimming through the churning river. His eyes, his blue eyes, lit up wen he saw her and he hurried forward to greet her.

    "Hello, beautiful," he said with a purr, rubbing his muzzle against her cheek affectionately.

    This was wrong. This was wrong. She thought of her Clanmates, her family, and knew it was wrong. But feeling his face against her's, how could this be wrong?

    For a second, she thought she wasn't going to say it. She knew she'd made the right decision, but it had been the hardest one. Was she going to change her mind just because he turned his paralyzingly blue eyes on her?

    Sparrowfeather's face flashed in her mind. He was waiting for her back at camp. He was waiting for her to do the right thing. He understood her pain. And so, she backed away from the cat she loved the most. "We can't do this."

    Fogbreeze's eyes shone hurt. "What do you mean?"

    "We can't be together anymore," Burrowpelt said, almost choking on the words, forcing sharpness into her voice. "I—" Don't say it. She'd almost just revealed her biggest secret. Well, bigger than being with Fogbreeze.

    "I'm in love with someone else," she said instead, the lie sounding pathetic even to her own ears, but she had to say something.

    "Are you really?" Fogbreeze whispered. "But I thought. . . ."

    "You thought wrong," Burrowpelt said, and her voice cracked. Get it over yourself, this is for the better. "We aren't meant for each other, ok?" she said. "Deal with it."

    "Burrowpelt," Fogbreeze's voice was so quiet, she had to strain to hear it. "You can't possibly mean that."

    I don't. "But I do." She forced herself to meet his eyes, he blue eyes so full of emotion it took physical strength not to apologize for hurting him. She felt her heart split in two. There's no going back.

    And the last things she said to him were, "Goodbye, Fogbreeze." And, body shaking, she turned and fled into the forest, hoping he wouldn't call for. She wasn't sure if she would be able to resist. But he didn't.

    Rain started to pour from the sky, and Burrowpelt hissed as she slipped on a slick clod of dirt. Rising slowly to her paws, she was led the rest of the way back to camp

    Sparrowfeather was there to greet her, just as she knew he would. His green eyes flashed with some unknown emotion at the sight of her. I can't imagine how he feels about this arrangement, Burrowpelt thought. Just one short moon ago, he'd poured his heart out to her, wondering if she felt the same. She wished she did, and she hoped that she would grow to love him as a mate in time, but not now. And he knew that.

    "Well?" he asked softly.

    "It's done," she whispered.

    Sparrowfeather' eyes took on that of sympathy. "I'm really sorry, Burrowpelt."

    In that moment, Burrowpelt knew she would be fine, even if she did have to leave Fogbreeze forever, Sparrowfeather would be there for her until the end.

    Together, rain soaked, they walked back into camp to start their new life.