She could not believe it when she found it, and when she did she leaped and bounded about in glee, but not physically. All her joy was imagined; and truthfully, she stood before her finding staring in wonder at her discovery. As the she wolf towered above the old beaten leather bound book she wondered in amazement of the possibilities of her finding what she did. She had never found anything, and finding it where she did was even more amazing.

It had been a few days since her day at the beach with Slade, and she had decided to wonder the area a bit, moving about the trees as a shadow, never showing herself to any other unless they were friends or smelled of the coyote she was befriending, or of his pack. She had wondered, not too far from the pack the one who interested her was in, but far enough that it took a few good moments to get back to where she had made a temporary living.

Now despite taking the careful time to return to where she now stood, her journey on her find was long gone amongst the rambles of her mind. She stood, still staring down at the book. It was a strange place where she found it. It was buried beneath a tree, and wrapped in rawhide, preserved from mass decay. Though the pages were yellowed, and most the words vanished from being buried beneath the soil, Deirdre could still read what rested within the book’s flesh.

She smiled to herself and wagged her tail. She wanted so much to share her finding with someone, she wanted to express her excitement and knowledge of what laid within the battered book. She wanted to share it so much that it did not take but a moment to plan her next move.

With careful movements she pushed her finding underneath an uplifted root of the hollowed out tree that she was using as a temporary den, and with the sure thought that her finding was safe she bounded out of her hollow tree and raced for the border of a certain pack.

It did not take her long to find herself pacing before the border of Slade’s pack territory. She was pacing the border searching for a way to call only the one she wanted to speak with. She was not even sure if the coyote was within his pack’s borders. What if he was out with his pack, what if he was busy, what if he did not want to see her. Her mind raced with so many questions that it caused her to shake her head roughly.

She sighed and ceased her pacing to stand in front of the line separating Slade from her. Her tail drooped slightly between her legs, and her head raised slowly up toward the sky. Her voice rose mournfully up into the clouds and chased the winds of the day. She sang a calling, her singing voice soft, sad, but strong and held a hint of wild as it whisked across the area calling out for the one she wanted to speak to.

Her song was over, and she lowered her head took three steps back away from the border, and then sat. Her ears held flat against her skull as she stared off into the direction she knew he would come, or at least someone would come. She hoped he would come.

His voice echoed with her name, and she stood up in joy as he walked out from the border of his pack. Her tail wagged with glee as she bonded toward him her words speaking as she trotted around him and then came to walk steadily in front of him.

“Slade!” She announced, turning once more and standing in front of him. “Well a book brought me here,” she began turning once more in the direction she had come from. She walked forward hoping Slade would follow, “I found it recently, buried under a tree…” She laughed, stopped, and then looked in Slade’s direction. “Funny place to burry a book.”

“But anyway, I wanted to show someone what I found, and you happen to be the only one I could think of…” she giggled softly, “well you also happen to be the only one I know around here.” She trotted forward a bit, hopping still that Slade would follow her. “I hid it in my den while I came for you.” She stopped again to face Slade, “Its pages are yellow, and some of the words have faded, but it’s still wonderful.”

It would not have seemed, but Deirdre had a thing for books. Behind this small excitement over books was her father, the Luperci male that had raised her. He had taught her how to read, and she had grown to love the images created by the words and letters in the books. Her love for books had never ended, not even after her father’s death and her joining of the feral wolves. It was the way she was raised, the strangeness of her thoughts, and of her obsessions that first made her an interest to the male she was first mated to.

She smiled gently to herself, but kept the fillings that arose with her thoughts of her past hidden. She did not need those memories to fill her spirit with sadness. She wanted to be happy. She wanted to finally have a moment of peace, of excitement. She wanted to forget her pain, even if only for a moment.

She exhaled a sigh, but kept a smile upon her muzzle as she turned her gaze once more in Slade’s direction. “Come with me?” She asked softly.

Deirdre smiled and wagged her tail softly behind her; she took a moment when Slade stopped to glance behind her. “From what I can tell, it is an herbal book.” She looked back in the direction they were heading. “However some of the words have faded away,” but even with speaking this she beamed with glee and trotted forward. “It’s still readable, and the drawings printed into the book are actually less faded then the actual words.”

She bounded forward a quick step and then glanced behind her to Slade, “the den I’m using now is passed these few trees, it’s in…” she cut herself off not finishing her sentence for reasons so simple. He would soon come to see where she had been living, why tell him what he would soon see. She smiled and bounded forward, fast as her feet could take her. She bounded over fallen tree stumps; glided across the debris of the forest with simple ease that it seemed she barely touched the earth.

In moments, she broke through into a clearing wrapped around be trees of the forest. It was a small clearing, big enough to hold three adult wolves; she smiled as she came to a stop. She did not bother to look behind her where Slade would surely be; instead, her grey orbs studied her surroundings. There were many tall trees that surrounded the small clearing, all led to the forest. However, there was one lone tree that differed from the rest. This tree rested within the clearing, its roots bordered between the forest and the clearing.

The she wolf trotted softly toward this lone tree sticking out from the rest of the endless sea. She smiled as she lifted her gaze up into the branches, and then lowered them to gaze into the deep hollowed area indented at the bass of the giant. The hollow with in the trunk was created by the up lifting of the tree’s roots that reached out as tentacles searching for something above the soil. It was a spacious hole, it was tall enough that Deirdre did not have to bow her head so low to avoid hitting herself, and it had plenty of room that two adult canines could move around without feeling crowded.

She smiled and glanced softly toward Slade, “in here.” She told him as she stepped into her den. She went to a corner where another hole, again created by the shifting of the tree’s roots, was located. She took a moment to glance in Slade’s direction before lowering her body and gently sticking her muzzle into the small hole. With careful calculated motions she pulled out the book she had found.

Again she took a moment to look in Slade’s direction, only this time she looked passed him and toward the graying sky. “Luckily this hollow tree will keep us dry if it does decide to rain.” She grinned at Slade and then looked back at her finding.

“Anyway, this is the book.” She pushed the book softly with her nose so that the cover would open; however, once the cover opened it simply closed again. Without any weight to hold the cover open, the book stayed shut. She smiled, and studied the cover. The image on the front was damaged greatly; however, small little details could be seen. For one who gazed upon it would notice the image of plants and a set of tools used to grind the plants into either paste of powder.

“Don’t know why someone would bury it,” she smiled. “My theory is that it wasn’t buried on purpose, but that its original owner was in a hurry, probably dropped it and forgot about it.” She chuckled softly, “I bet nature did the burring herself.” She then glanced up at Slade. “Neat, huh?”

She smiled, “Luck I guess.” She glanced down at the book, “sometimes you just can’t explain the things that happen.”

As she listened to Slade speak, she took a few moments to casually glance between him and her discovery. She was decent when it came to reading people, but she was no mind reader. Somehow, however, Deirdre had an inkling feeling that he was not to keen on what she discovered. Maybe it had something to do with that it was a book on plants, but she pushed those conclusions to the back of her head.

“Actually,” she began lowering her head to the book, and gently flipping a few pages with her nose. “That’s kind of a funny story.” She glanced over at Slade and then back down to the book’s page. She rested her paw on the lighter side of the book, keeping it open as she glanced down and read the page. Words ran through her mind as it clicked off words and the sounds they made. Her gaze then came to a small image in the corner of the information given.

“I was wondering around the woods looking for something to eat.” She began as her eyes read what the book offered. The page she was reading gave her information about certain plants and their medical properties, or what they could have been used for. She sat, and slipped her paw from the book allowing it to close by itself. She turned her gaze to Slade, and if it were possibly to see the skin beneath her heavy coat, she would have been blushing. “I fell head first into a hole.”

“I got distracted, and before I knew it I had my tail in the air, and my paws sliding down the side of small hole.” She smiled. “As I tried to push myself back up, it came sliding down the other side.”

She laughed softly, “Actually if you were there, you would have thought the sight of me funny.”

It began to rain then, the storm clouds finally catching up to them. Deirdre took a moment and glanced through the hole of her little tree, and sighed. “I hope its alright for you to be here Slade,” She began. “You being a part of a pack and all, I hope are meetings aren’t keeping you away from any of your duties.”

She stood up, and picked the book up between her teeth. Carefully she went back toward the hole she had hid it into, and slowly knelt to slip the book beneath the tree’s roots. She sighed, and then stood from her crouch. “I’ve always had a fascination with books,” she said as the rain began to echo within her little home. She turned to face Slade, her stance holding a tad bit of sadness to it. “My father taught me how to read,” She tilted her head slightly as if trying to hide herself from Slade’s sight. “I started off with reading those strange legends and myths that humans had made before they all died out.”

She turned her gaze toward him, and then stepped to the entrance of the den. She lifted her muzzle to the pouring rain, and inhaled. She loved the rain, and spring. She loved the scents of the forest that came with the season. She exhaled, “I hope you don’t mind being here with me.” She smiled gently while she looked at Slade.

For the first time since she first met him, Deirdre actually looked at him. He was shorter then her, his fur multicolored, remanding her of an arrange of river rocks sitting against the soil of the earth. She felt her body flush, luckily, her fur hid the traces of the heat upon her skin. He was nothing like Damian. Damian…She was comparing Slade to him, but why? Well, there were obvious difference between Slade and Damian. Slade was a coyote, and Damian was a wolf, his fur was as black as raven feather and he had eyes as golden as tiger-eye with flakes of green in them; Slade did not have the same physical characteristics as Damian did. Then, why would she compare him to her former mate? Why… It struck her like a bolt of lightning would a tree. Through her eyes, Slade was handsome.

She stood as if startled by something, something she had not come to accept as a possibility. Deirdre stood in the entrance of her den, her mind clinking and rushing with thoughts. The rain outside picked up, quenching the earth of its thirst. She shook her head, looked at Slade, and then smiled.

She blinked, “Huh? Am I ok?” She tilted her head softly to the left and then sat down. “Yeah, I’m ok.” She told him, “Just came to the realization of something.”

She then sighed, and plopped down on the ground. “This thought that came to me, just startled me a bit, is all.” She continued to answer. Her back rested to the entrance of her den, and as the rain fell, small little droplets would bounce onto her fur. She found the feel of rain quite enjoyable.

Her tail moved back and forth within the soil beneath her. “So…” she began, finding silence developing around her. She was drawing a blank on what to say. What should she talk to him about? He was stuck with her until the rain stopped, there had to be something, anything to talk about. She sighed again and scratched behind her ear.

“Slade, do you have a mate?” The question flew out of her maw before she knew it, and she quickly snapped her mouth shut once the words flew out. The heat rose on her flesh, as she blinked in surprise to her own voice.

…She was embarrassed. How could she have asked such a personal question? Why would she? She was aware of her attraction toward him, but that gave her no reason to prod him for a desired answer upon certain topics that would lead her to court him. Court…that was a funny notion to her. Slade would be the first male she had ever thought of courting. Usually it was the other way around and she found herself being the one courted. Well, only once and he became her mate.

Deirdre sighed; her tail gently patted the ground beneath her. “Well,” She began taking a moment to look behind her and up toward the sky. The rain was still coming down, but by the fading darkness within the clouds, she assumed the storm would die down soon.

“Curiosity,” She explained, blushing beneath her fur. “You know some personal things about me…and well…” She smiled lightly, the corner of her maw edging between a frown and a smile. “I know very little about yours…” She tilted her head and gave a rough laugh, “I sound a bit noisy. I’m sorry.”

She wanted to tackle him, and play. That was what she wanted to do after he gave her the permission to ask him questions. She would not do it now, but the thought of being able to get to know him on a personal level thrilled her. Her tail beat the ground heavily with her glee, hiding back her desire to pounce and roughhouse within her little hollowed out den.

Playing, roughhousing, they were all ways of showing her excitement, her glee on a situation but she could not do it with him. She could not pounce; she could not show her affection. Not now, she had an inkling feeling that Slade would not take it well. So she settled with the excitement of her tail, and the future thoughts of getting to know him better.

As silence fell before her, she could hear the rain begin to die. Slowly it came to a stop. The sky was still gray, forewarning all the inhabitants of the area that the moment of quietness would not last long. She sighed, looked up at the sky and then turned to Slade. She caught him glancing up at the sky, and she smiled. Standing up she moved herself out into the opening.

There was a gentle breeze. She lifted her muzzle to the sky, and took in a deep breath. Exhaling she moved her body slowly. Her eyes moved to Slade.

“It’s not over,” She began. Her tail waiving, “The rain I mean.” She looked up at the sky. “You should probably get going home.” She said, hoping that she did not sound upset. The way she spoke that sentence was concerning her, but she smiled. “If you stay here, you may have to stay the night.” She laughed, though I might enjoy that. She told herself.