WC: 649
She had made the right choice, she knew it in her heart.
The black dog had attacked her that summer, carving his mark above her breast and breaking her spirit with his cruelty. Vinátta was a fledgeling pack, too new to have warriors or reputation -- they could not protect her, and she was scared he would come back for her. She changed the scar on her chest, the pack's spiritual leader Miskunn using the ceremonial dagger to cut the rune into her skin, but it did not bring her peace of mind. The rune meant change, catharsis, purging, none of which came overnight. It was only a week later when her niece, Eclipse Soulstorm, came to visit her family that Colibri realized the change she needed to make. She could not stay. Her packmates seemed to expect it by the way she withdrew from them, shaken and depressed and unwilling to look anyone in the eyes. They were resigned to let her go, to try and seek her fortunes elsewhere. They wished her well.
Cercatori D'Arte was a haven in the south. It was fate leading her back to the fields of flowers -- the same fields where Dahlia de Mai once stood, her old pack with all its memories. Leaving Vinátta, choosing her niece over her half-sister, it had not been easy... and yet, she felt the burdens and fears lifting from her shoulders as soon as they left the north, drawn irresistibly back to the territories she had lived in and loved in so long ago. It wasn't long before the symptoms came, making her ill and weak and exhausted. No one knew her well enough here to question her solitary habits, to realize what was ailing her. She was carrying the dog's children. This was supposed to be her new beginning, leaving behind the tragedy and violence that had chased her away from yet another pack. She couldn't bear to have it all catch up with her, to live in shame again and let her life spin beyond her control. She had a choice before her, one even more difficult than choosing a new home -- whether or not she should keep the litter growing in her belly.
She had made the right choice, she knew it in her heart.
If the strings of fate had pulled in a different direction, she never would have fallen for Keldava. Coli had given up on motherhood forever, and instead found a mate, one who would fulfill her in a way her unwanted, unborn children never could. Keldava wore the same scar as Colibri did, the rune Thurisaz -- too much of a coincidence to ignore. They had both suffered, both wore the signs of hardship carved into their hides. But with Keldava, Coli no longer felt ashamed of what disfigured her -- her missing tail, her rune, her wrists, it all told the story that led her to here, to her mate. Keldava was so young, and they had not known each other for long; their packmates and the Wolfe-Denahlii household all seemed rather surprised by their whirlwind romance, possibly disapproving of the mateship they shared. But Coli would not change anything for the world.
It was the right choice, because she had finally found unconditional love in the arms of another. Not since Anu had Coli ever felt so strongly about another soul, and it frightened her to give herself so completely, knowing all too well the pain of heartbreak. She worried that perhaps it was just loneliness and the need for comfort that had driven the two females together, and someday soon it would all come unraveled into a tangled mess. Keldava was young enough to love again, but not Coli. She had entrusted her life to the warrior with the rune on her back.
She had made the right choice... hadn't she?
Now I can't let go of this dream
Can't believe that I feel Good enough
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