Change in Life

Chapter 15. Amending Fences

Cold and lonely, Jade lay in her empty den, waiting for her friend to return. She never suspected he would any time soon. In panic after the attack, she fled to her home and stayed hidden even though it was still the middle of the night like she had being chased by a shooter. After what she had done, she began thinking that the unconscious body she left in the wind was the last time she would see him. With her head facing the tunnel, her eyes never strayed. She hoped on seeing a silhouette wandering down to greet her.

As the night dragged on, her thoughts drifted to the dark side of her actions. Maybe he wasn't planning on coming home with a smile. Perhaps he was planning something terrible in retaliation. She knew from the beginning that he wasn't the cause of that night her parents were shot, and he knew that too. The horrific link she had made between Blake and his father had ignited her bottled up resentment towards humankind. It had to burn as it did. Unfortunately, her friend was the one who had to burn because of it. An unprovoked attack almost causing death was a crime a human-mind would not let go unpunished.

When shadows formed in the dawn, Jade got worried. He really was not coming home. She missed him and wanted to cuddle into him. The routine of snuggling before sleep had been something she thought she would have until the day she died. Because of this, she didn't fall asleep until the afternoon, where she lost hope.

*

By dusk, with his breathing bundle of fur still vacant to her den, she opened her watery eyes and huffed decisively. She stood up and said to herself, 'I'm going to find you.'

She ran out of the den and began tracking down the spot where she left him. She had dreamt of him in what sleep she had. Something bazaar, but her heart rejoiced in it. It was early spring and she found herself with Blake beside her just outside their den... watching over a litter of happy young cubs. The ties of a close-nit family had joyously connected between them all. These were his cubs, there was no doubt about it. One even looked like him.

Half way through tracking, she sighed distantly as her grip to the dream seeped away like water through a cupped hand. This dream could never happen. When they first met, she told herself that this sort of thing could not be. A commitment like this to a human mind would make her feel like an outcast to the wild and would force others she met to be repulsed by her purely on Blake's former status.

However, the time they had spent together, and now this time apart, reinforced what she truly felt for him. He thought the world of her and protected her, even though he had no obligation to. She had fallen for his sheepish charms, as unintentional as it was. This spring in her heart was real, whether she denied it or not. He would be able to help her against her mate, and then accept her as his own. The thoughts this unveiling gave her sent a burning flustered grin like the many she had bullied on to Blake on her muzzle, dispelling all apprehension.

I...I... she thought ecstatically, only now realizing she had already felt like this for a few weeks; ever since that night he had proved himself as a competent match.

I... love him.

Jade had to find him and tell him just how she felt. The gleeful anxiety that pulsed around her body like a drug was something she needed to share with Blake. The thing was though, did he want to be found?

Arriving at a blood stained patch of dirt, Jade sniffed. He had woken up, and by the scent, had gone in the day. The sinking feeling in her chest unnerved her. Blake had been conscious for a while, yet didn't return to her. The attack must have told him that she wasn't interested in him anymore and he moved on. This thought didn't stop her from continuing to track his scent.

Whilst following the scent trail of fox fur and blood, she thought of what she could do to apologize. How could she please a human mind. The things he had kept at his "special place" that he had once held dear as a human were meaningless in their world. The wild had no luxuries like that. No materialistic things to be fond over, no hot servings of finely crafted food he loved to talk about; there was nothing in his new world that he was passionate about. No solutions could be found by the time she advanced on his burrow. The rabbit hole confused her at first, but the distinct smell told her he had just been in here.