“No!”
The silver girl blurted without thinking. She hesitated for a moment before rushing to her brother’s side and pushing her auburn muzzle into a dark patch of fur on his shoulder. Her breath quivered as she panted into his coat, breathing the rich unfamiliar fragrance. Claws flexed on the tough grass as Ever began to relax. Everything seemed to happen so quickly.
“ You cannot leave me now I know you are alive.”
Her voice was shallow and muffled by the thick husky fur.
“I thought you were dead … all of you.
It tore her inside out to replay memories harmless to him, but not to her. She wasn’t gifted at combat like her kin, and when her mother died she was left alone for the cougars. The scar along her abdomen felt like it was burning with the cold and pain of a jagged claw again. Ever pushed her nose further into her litter mate. Suddenly, it dawned on her that he was all she had left. Her anchor.
“Please stay. With me.”
The girl begged now, like she was pup again.