Stubborn Love

She finished cleaning and then binding his wound, concentrating as she inspected her handiwork, and decided that it was good enough. Rhyme seemed to be taking a bit longer dealing with her wound, and she occasionally felt a gently tug in her coat in the fur around the wound. What was he doing, finger painting with the herbs? He didn’t have to be quite that thorough.


When she looked at him, he was looking at what he was doing, and didn’t look up to meet her gaze at all. The awkwardness started to return as she finished her task and realised she was lying in her den beside the father of her pups. Beside the only made she had ever lain with.


“It’s pretty fluffy, think raccoon-butt” she described for him, as he looked in the direction of his tail. “I would have attacked it too, if you’d waved it at me.” she was barely paying attention to the words running free of her mouth. Trying to build on whatever jokes she could as her main collection of thoughts started to panic a little. She could feel him beside her, like a source of warmth in the cool winter day. The scent of him was familiar, and despite everything it was something she associated with comfort.

Yet, she wasn’t feeling terribly comforted, her heart began to pick up.


Wait, what?

“Tiger?” she asked, voice growing in agitation. ‘When did you fight a tiger? ” and why hadn't’t she been there beside him? A part of her cursed her predicament, her growing belly that got in the way, and cautioned her against brashness. She wanted to be by his side, fighting alongside him. A team. She got that chance today, and both of them got a fright.