along the way

He watched her intently, and saw the moment she understood. The moment she aligned the horror that had taken his home, to the one that had destroyed hers. He watched helplessly as it sunk in. "I'm sorry" he said, an ache in his voice as he mourned with her. For the loss of Illious, of his home and her new understanding of what had happened to hers. He reached forward and wrapped a paw around her. Waiting a moment, and when she didn't protest he wrapped his other paw around her too. Pulling her gently against him. Holding her, and running his muzzle through the fur at the back of her neck. She smelled like home. How had he never noticed it before? It all seemed so obvious to him now, and he wondered how he could have been so blind.

"But you survived it, like me. Against all odds. Maybe, surely, it couldn't have just been us. Wren… my previous Alpha, she was from Illious too. A different part." He explained, offering her what hope he could. The hope that she had given him, through he wished it hadn't come at the cost it had. If only hers had just been a forest fire…