Manaia

"I never told him why I came that day.

He was large, larger than most wolves I have ever seen. His eyes though..they were soft. They were as bright as the sun and as big as the moon. He intrigued me.

He was across a gorge in a dense timber forest. It was spring, and the forest was alive. Well except where he stood.

He sat in front of a worn path shrouded by bushes. I could smell the various wolves from where I stood. He must have been guarding his pack.

I know he saw me; his yellow eyes seared into my white pelt the moment I stepped out into the light. He didn't do anything; he just watched.

That's all he did the first few days I came around. It was our very own ritual; I would sit across the gorge every day and watch him watching me.

I did eventually go up to him to introduce myself. He didn't say anything back, but I didn't mind. This just gave me an opportunity to tell him about myself.

My life story, where I came from, and the ideals of my pack. I told him the one thing I was forbidden to tell any wolf; I was touched by the stars. However, I did elect not to tell him I was looking for a prospect to provide me puppies. I could never be so straight forward.

Eventually he did open up to me. He told me his name, Brutus, and about his pack. They lived in this tundra forest. His pack was mostly made up of females led by his mother. He was the only grown male wolf. That is why he stayed up during the night to watch for predators.

He told me his mother was alone for as long as he could remember. He never knew his dad. His mother was strong though, and she created shelter for abandoned and abused females. She sounded wonderful.

It was going great until I was informed my pack was moving. It saddened me, but at the time I was not sure why. Why was I sad that I was leaving this burly male behind? He was supposed to just be a prospect.

I had fallen in love with him.

I didn't want to stay with his pack. He told me his troubles he had with them; he felt like an outsider. If he brung me in, what would they think of me?

It didn't matter in the end. My pack had found out I had let our secret slip. That was enough for expulsion. I'm glad they didn't kill me.

I was left alone, in a tall wooded forest. I had never felt so small. Brutus found me some hours later in the night. He told me he was banished. We were the same.

We left together to follow the stars; to start a new life somewhere else." - Manaia's Moody Thoughts