It felt like Dawnpaw's heart had been ripped in two after she learned the news.
Brokenshadow was dead.
At first, she felt sorrow and guilt, but then she felt relief. He was dead! Dawnpaw would no longer go on watching his every move, even though she wanted to so badly. She was free! For the first time in a long time, she was her own cat, and not Brokenshadow's.
His ex-mate, Frozenleaf, was so certain Dawnpaw had murdered him. But why would she? She loved him much more than Frozenleaf ever did, she knew. Oh, yes, she knew. He was so much older than her, yet he had told her he loved her, too...but then he left her for that foul Frozenleaf. Oh, Brokenshadow...if only he'd known how much he meant to Dawnpaw.
"I'm sorry, Dawnpaw, but...there's someone else."
Dawnpaw's breath caught in her throat - it felt like Brokenshadow had just told her he was a ghost and had been all this time. "What do you mean?" She was trying to play dumb - she didn't want it to be true.
"I mean...no, Dawnpaw, I don't want to hurt you. But I'm not in love with you, like I thought I was. I'm in love with Frozenleaf."
"What?!" Dawnpaw felt her eyes narrow; she wasn't sad - she was furious. "What are you talking about?"
"I've been her mate for a moon. And I didn't want to hurt you, so I couldn't tell you. But now I am. So it's okay. Right?" Brokenshadow's green eyes bore into her soul.
"I'm not your little play-thing, Brokenshadow. Are you kidding me?"
He shook his head slowly.
Dawnpaw unsheathed her claws, sinking them into the ground. "You...you're leaving me? After all we meant to each other?"
Brokenshadow turned his head away in shame. "You meant...nothing...to me."
She felt like ripping that piece of fox dung's face out! "What did you just say to me?"
Brokenshadow turned back to her, a fire dancing in his eyes. "You heard me, Dawnpaw. You mean nothing to me. I tried to do this without hurting you, but you can't have that, can you? I'm just letting you know, you brought this on yourself. It's your fault you had to hurt."
"My fault?! You're the one who comes running in here, then told me you've been in love with another she-cat for a whole moon! What in StarClan's name is your problem, Brokenshadow? Do you now how much trouble we're gonna get in now?"
Brokenshadow stared at her, though she barely flinched. "Don't you dare say that. You are not going to tell anyone about us, do you hear me? You are not telling anybody about us at all."
She narrowed her eyes. "So you do admit that there was an 'us'?"
Next thing Dawnpaw knew, her cheek was spewing blood. Brokenshadow's claws were dripping.
So now you see. He used her; he lied to her; he betrayed her. But Dawnpaw wouldn't murder him.
Would she?