SEVERAL DAYS PASSED since the visit to the Dragonway temple. Tracker prowled the surrounding forest before he found whom he tracked. He sighed in relief to find Tiwaz seated on the fallen tree by the waterfall near the village. She looked up when he rested his hand on her shoulder. “I was worried about you,” he said in his native tongue. “You are more troubled now than before we went to the temple.”

“I won’t be running away again,” she replied dully, speaking common. She looked at the medallion that Bura’an had given to her, sunlight glittering off the emerald in the dragon’s eye more than the three other chips of gemstone. “You and Doom and Gareth and Kerk and everyone can stop fretting like I am incapable of controlling my impulses. You would not let me leave before. I see no change that would allow me to do so again.”

He sat beside her, putting his arm around her and pulling her against him gently. “We worry because we do not like knowing you are in pain and feel bad that we cannot do more than be present for you.” The wolflen nuzzled her hair, murmuring, “We know you are not addled.” He followed her gaze to the medallion. “Sulnar the Emerald-Eyed.” He touched his hanging around his neck. “I think Veridian the Ruby-Eyed would have been more suitable to you.”

She glanced at his medallion, then looked back at hers. “I owe a debt to her. She removed the shackles my master had put on me.” Without warning, she stood and flung the medallion over the side of the waterfall. She would not meet his startled eyes, “I will honor the bargain, but I refuse to be collared. I will never be a slave again.” She glanced at him. “I did not think wolflen believed in gods.”

“We know they exist, but we have none of our own. Aurora is unusual among my tribe, and not just for bearing pure white fur. The dragon gods accept all races, but few wolflen feel the calling to serve them. But there is no shame in choosing to serve them in some capacity.” He shrugged when she turned a narrow-eyed glare at him. “It is not slavery. The dragon gods do not demand servitude. None force it upon others. It is a matter of choice. They choose who they help as much as we choose whether to pray to them or not. It is a balance we find acceptable.”

“You have been going to the temple to see Aurora,” Tiwaz pointed out. She sighed heavily, looking away. “It is good. You deserve friendship better than I have given you. I have been a poor friend. And a poorer pack-mate.”

“Cat-Sister, you saved my life at the risk of your own when you did not know me enough to call me friend. That, if nothing else, earned my friendship. I demand nothing else of you.”

She looked up at him. “Would you have been my friend otherwise? If things had been different?”

“You imagine that had we not hunted together for the winter games, we would not have been friends?” Tracker looked into the distance, lost in thought for a time. “No. For us not to be here, like this, it would have meant you never having come to Bralden. Or Doom not being a hunter. Or Doom being a hunter and not teaching you fast enough so you would come to us to learn hunting so you could help him.. It would have meant many things not happening that had. I believe fate brought us together.” He nuzzled her cheek. “You are my pack-sister.”

“You should not be forced to run with outsiders. We are not wolflen. You should share intimacy with your own kind. Choose a mate and bring children into the world.” She leaned forward, face in her hands. “I have stolen from you what had been stolen from us. Your people.”

The wolflen regarded her with sadness. He put his hand on her shoulder. “You have stolen nothing from me. No, you are not wolflen, but you are my pack-sister, regardless. I bristled when my sire placed me with you and Doom-Not-Demon, but not because you were not wolflen. Because I was too proud to believe I needed to run with anyone.

“Yes, one day, I will choose a mate. I will choose another pack among my people to run with when your destiny and mine diverge. It will not change my love for you.” He tried to catch her eye. “For now, it is my choice to run with you and Doom-Not-Demon. I am proud to call you my pack-sister.” He rubbed her back lightly. “Why does this trouble you so? Do you no longer wish to be part of our pack?”

“It is not that. Being part of this pack is not what troubles me. It is just…Destiny. I feel as though I have no choice in my life. My former master stole my life from me. Doom stole us away from him.” She held her hands out, looking at her palms. “Doom and I had nothing but each other. Bralden is the first place we truly can call our home. But I have lingering fears that it will be stolen away from us. And I am…tired. So very tired.”

Tracker frowned. “Only the eldest among us express exhaustion as you do, but they had lived long, sometimes hard lives, had many cubs who have had many cubs. You are too young to—”

“I feel what I feel, Tracker. I cannot alter that.”

“Cat-Sister,” he stated intently, cupping her cheek to turn her face towards him. “Around others, call me Tracker. When it is just us, call me Growrlazh.”

Her eyes widened. “Your tribal name? But wolflen never tell those outside the tribe. I am not—”

“You are part of the tribe, no matter what race you are.” He took her hand, putting it over his heart. “We run together, do we not?”

“Yes.” She closed her eyes and looked away. “But we should not. The tribal elders do not approve of you continuing to cleave to outsiders. They do not speak kindly of us together.”

“They do not know you as I know you,” he replied softly. “Someday, it will be different. I know one day, you will find a mate who will fill the emptiness in your life, and you will have many children. When that day comes, perhaps our children will run together as we had. But for now, I run with you and I am happy.”

They sat together in silence, watching the horizon. “Come with Doom-Not-Demon and I to the temple. They are wise and generous. Perhaps they can help you find the life path you would wish to walk.” He added before she opened her mouth to argue, “It would please Doom-Not-Demon. He feels he betrays you when he abandons you to the forge for anyone, especially for gods.”

“But I told him it matters nothing to me if he chooses to…” She sighed and let him pull her against him as her shoulders slumped in defeat. “If it matters to Doom so much, I will go.” He just rubbed her arm reassuringly, saying nothing more.