Things here… they just didn’t feel right. She was surrounded by family, there were friends that she had known since she was just a little thing, but as she grew older it became more and more apparent that something was amiss. Anyone with a brain could see that it happened around the time she met Zalen, but it wasn’t his fault. She had met the man because of the powerful drive she felt to explore. Going in search of an animal for her mother was just an excuse. The Takekuro-Menue girl had a powerful wander lust that was quickly outgrowing Skye’s borders.

The demands of the pack became more and more taxing on her, too. No, she didn’t dislike a pack – she was very much a wolf meant for a pack, not a strange lone being like some of them – but her status within the pack frustrated her. She was barely out of her puphood, and in that awkward stage where people expected her to act like an adult but still treated her like a child. She was an adult, she wanted to act like one, and she wanted to be seen as one. As time passed she found herself growing increasingly jealous of Skye.

The resentment made no sense at all. Skye had always been kind and fair to her, and was beloved by her family. Titania was raised to respect Skye, and she did, but still she found stray thoughts from time to time, and sometimes there was a churning in her gut that made her not want to listen. But she couldn’t, she couldn’t disobey an Alpha. If only she was…

Zalen wanted it all for them. They had met by the will of the moon and had run through open fields that were as feral as their souls. He wanted her with him not because she was his by default, like it was with her parents and her pack, but because he needed her. They were connected by the finest strings, like that which makes the sweetest tune on the piano when struck by the right key.

Zalen… He was out there. Out there beyond Cercatori’s borders, alone and without her. He was preparing things for them, for her, for their adventure. What was she doing? Sitting here doing nothing, not even a help to her pack. She could be out there, too, with him…

Her eyes stared longingly out over the borders, gazing from a point just before the border tree. Yellow orbs fixated on the land beyond that held so many wonders, so much the young wolfess didn’t understand. A gentle, crisp breeze danced over the terrain and played in her fur, tugging at the feathers that were attached to the nape of her neck. She spent much of her time in her Lupus form now, because that was the form she had been in the most with Zalen and it was another connection to him. Without realizing what she was doing at first her paws traced forward a few steps. A moment later she stopped and looked over her shoulder.

Could she do it? Should she do it? No, I can’t just leave them… The thought zipped through her mind. If she left now, like this, she would just be abandoning them. They deserved more than that.

But if I go back they’ll try to stop me. They won’t let me go and maybe they’ll win. Dad will probably have some trick up his sleeve, and everyone will be mad… She sank with a sigh. What was she going to do? What could she do?

I can show them… she brightened visibly with the thought. I can go for just a few days… I’ll live and hunt and meet people and I’ll start making a name for myself. I’ll come back before they can worry too much and then they’ll see; I can take care of myself. I’m serious about this and I’ll be okay. I’ll see them all the time… just like I promised Juliet. If I go back now they’ll stop me, but if I go and come back and show them how perfect it is for me they’ll see, and they’ll let me go, and it will be a happy thing. Then it won’t hurt anyone.

With one firm nod her countenance became steel. She faced forward again, letting the call of the wild tear through her body, her soul, her being. With a yip and a howl she jerked into a full run, sprinting away from Cercatori d’Arte and into the unknown.