The Chosen Paths, Book One: A Frosted Heart

Prologue

The forest was quiet, only a gentle breeze moving the highest branches of oaks. The night was clear, stars splattered across the dark, moonless sky, lighting up the clearing where the two cats waited.

At the paws of the female cat, two small kits, barely old enough to be out of their nest in the night like this, lay sleeping. The small white she kit had her black paws on top of her sister's brown pelt. The female looked down at them, her eyes revealing nothing.

The tom paced behind her, white and black pelt fluffed out in fury. "I can't believe that you're doing this!" He hissed between clenched teeth. The she cat twitched her tail, forcing her brown pelt to stay flat.

"You know very well that I can't take care of them, Rage," the she cat meowed, voice soft. The tom, Rage, paused, digging his claws into the ground.

"They're my kits too, Gloom," he snarled. Gloom turned to give him a cold glare.

"I will not let you raise these kits," she insisted. "You are not fit to be a father." Rage opens his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by the arrival of two cats slipping from the shadows.

"We're here." The she cat grunted. The tom behind her stayed silent, seeming like he didn't want to be there. "Hurry up before we are missed."

The she cat dipped her head, giving a sad look to her kits. She nuzzled them one by one, eliciting a grunt from the brown kit. "Please forgive me," she whispered, licking the white kit's head before picking her up by the scruff to place her carefully in front of the dark brown she cat. "Take care of them," she begged. The she cat gave her a disgusted look, pushing the white she-kit towards the tom, who picked her up.

"They'll be better off with us," she sniffed, grabbing the brown kit before turning to leap away, the bushes soon swallowing her. The tom gave an awkward dip of his head before turning to follow her.

Behind Gloom, Rage spat at her, turning to stomp away, leaving the she cat alone in the clearing. Gloom let out a mournful whimper and crouched down, ears flat against her head.

"Let the Clans be the best place for them," she prayed desperately, to whom she didn't know. She just hoped that she had made the best decisions for her kits. When the sun began to rise over the trees, she took a deep breath, forced herself to her paws, and stumbled away.