I was sitting by the creek, staring at my reflection in the water, trying to decide how to look good tonight. "I suppose a bath first, then maybe I'll figure it out later." I said to myself. I jumped in the water, flinching from the cold.

I scrubbed myself clean top to bottom, getting all the dirt and sweat out of my fur. When I was done, I jumped out and shook dry. I noticed my fur was fluffed up and it needed brushed down, but I couldn't do it myself.

I quickly ran to Salty's den since it was the closest. I looked inside to see him pacing around like he was nervous.

"Salty?" I asked. He jumped when he heard me and said "Good god! You scared the crap outta me!" I chuckled and said "Sorry about that...What's the matter?"

"I asked Janice to the howl! I'm freaking out!" He said. He was really twitchy and couldn't stand still. I walking in and said "Alright, just calm down before you give yourself a heart attack!"

"How!?" He said, panting and sweating. "Take a couple deep breaths and sit down..." I said. He did as I said and then I said "Okay...When are you leaving to go to Howling Rock?"

"Uh...In about 10 minutes. Why?" He asked, more calm then before. I chuckled and said "I was going to ask if you could brush my fur real quick before I go."

"Yeah, sure...Who're you going with?" He asked. I laughed nervously and said "Lilly..." His eyes went wide and he said "Seriously!? You're going with Lilly!?"

"Yeah, I am..." I said, getting nervous myself now. "Damn, dude! Only been here a day and you've got a date with her?" He said, laughing. I blushed a little under my fur and said "It's not a...date. Just...you know, a howl."

"What's the difference?" He asked, obviously mocking me. I sighed and, after a moment, said "Alright, fine! Maybe it is a date...I don't know."

"Alright, alright. Calm down...Hold still, I'll take care of your fur." He said, walking outside and getting a pine-cone. He came back in and quickly brushed my fur down. I looked it over when he was done and said "So, do I look okay?"

"Yeah, you do." He said, dropping the pine-cone. He looked outside and up at the moon and said "Whoa, we need to go! It's just about midnight." I nodded and we ran out of the den to Howling Rock. It only took us a couple minutes to get there. We sat down at the bottom of the slope leading to the top to wait for the girls.

"I'm nervous..." I said. He smiled and said "I don't blame you! Lilly's a beautiful girl...You're a lucky guy. There's a lot of other guys that always ask her, but they're assholes. They treat her like crap and only show her off to their dumb friends."

"Wow, really? I didn't know that...So, you're saying, I'm different from the others?" I said. He nodded and said "Yeah, you are. When we met, I could tell you weren't just some scumbag that was looking for a free ride."

"Thanks, man!" I said. He smiled and we shared a quick hug. A few minutes later, Lilly and Janice came into view. We were both completely blown away! Lilly looked so beautiful, her fur perfectly brushed and shining...Her lavender eyes sparkling in the moonlight...Everything!

My jaw dropped open and so did Salty's when he saw Janice. She was beautiful as well, but couldn't compare to Lilly at all. Lilly walked up to me, blushing madly, and said "Hey, you!" I couldn't say anything at the time.

She reached up and closed my mouth, giggling. I quickly shook my head and said "Lilly...You're beautiful!" She blushed even more and turned her head, saying "Thank you..."

I smiled and said "I'm glad you said yes to going with me." She turned back to look at me and said "Of course I said yes! You're really sweet...Who wouldn't want to go with you?" Now I was blushing and she giggled seeing that.

"Think we should go howl?" She nervously asked. I nodded and said "Good idea. Sure beats standing here all night." She smiled and we started walking up the hill side by side. About halfway up, a wolf sitting on a rock off to the side said "Wow, Lilly! You're HOT tonight!"

She just hung her head and quietly said "Thanks..." I looked at her and said "Hey, you okay?" She quietly nodded and we kept walking until we found a spot to howl at. We sat down, but she looked like she was about to cry.

"Salty told me about what some wolves did to you...Was he one of them?" I asked. She nodded and said "Yeah...Carlos." I was starting to get mad and said "Wait here..." I walked back down to where "Carlos" was and said "Hey, you got a minute?"

"What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy with this hot girl?" He said, turning to look at his date, who looked PRETTY irritated. I nodded and said "Yeah, I can see that. Can you see this!?" He turned to look at me, only to be met by my claws raking down his face from his ear to his nose.

He fell back onto the ground, holding his face and yelling in pain. "What the fuck, man!?" He yelled. I stood over him and said "NEVER will you call Lilly "hot" again! Don't even LOOK at her! She's not hot. She's BEAUTIFUL!"

"What's the difference!?" He asked, still in pain. I leaned down to him and said "Respect!" I got off him and walked back up the hill to Lilly, who was smiling again.

"That was amazing, Cody! No one's ever done that before!" She happily said. I smiled and said "It was nothing...Those kinds of guys really tick me off. You don't deserve any of what he did to you."

"Either way, thank you!" She said. I chuckled and said "Anytime. How about we howl now?" She instantly blushed and said "I-I'm not sure..."

"Oh, come on! Have you never howled before?" I asked. She shook her head and I said "Well, then you're in for a good night! Just listen to your heart...You'll know it when you hear it."

She closed her eyes and smiled, then lifted her muzzle into the air and let out the MOST beautiful, perfect song I'd ever heard! I gasped at how good it was and could see her blush, but she kept going. Everyone else stopped what they were doing to listen. I looked around at everyone and saw Salty sitting not too far away. He looked at me and motioned to Lilly with his head, telling me to join her. I nodded and started howling with her, forming a perfect song together.

I could hear a couple girls start crying while they listened to us and could see tears forming in Lilly's eyes, as well as mine. We kept it going for a few minutes until we were both out of breath. We lowered out muzzles at the same time to meet each others eyes.

She was ready to cry and said "That...was amazing!" I smiled and said "Yes, you were!" She broke down crying and I pulled her into a hug. She buried her head in my neck, softly crying in happiness. Other couples started howling, but no one could match us.

We sat there a while longer, at least an hour or two, until I noticed everyone else had left. We were the only two left on the mountain, not that I was complaining. She was quiet now and I looked down at her to see she fell asleep.

I smiled and quietly said "Okay, time for bed..." I gently picked her up on my back and started walking to her parents' den. It took about 15 minutes or so since I was going slow as to not wake her. By the time I got there, I was about to fall asleep too.

When I got to the top of the slope leading to the den, I saw Eve sitting outside waiting for us. I froze when I saw her and quietly said "She fell asleep after we howled. We didn't do anything, I swear!" She smiled and said "I know. Why don't you set her down inside? I want to talk to you for a minute."

I nodded and walked inside, gently laying her down in a warm corner of the den and she immediately curled up. I went back outside to Eve and she said "So, how did it go?"

I took a breath and said "Really good. It was great!" She smiled and said "Good, good...Kate told me about Carlos when she got back. Thank you for what you did. He's been really irritating me for a while now, but I can't do anything because his parents are our friends."

"Well, thank you, ma'am. He got me mad, so I felt he needed to be put back in line." I said, smiling. She nodded and said "So, what's going on between you two now?"

I shrugged and said "I don't know, to be honest. I really like her, but I don't know how she feels about me."

"Well, if that howl was any indication, then I'd say she feels the same way. We could hear it all the way down here. Winston was starting to tear up, something he hasn't done in a LONG time." She said, smiling.

"That's a good thing, right?" I asked, chuckling. She giggled and said "Yes, it is. You two must've really gotten to him. He kept telling me how much he loves me and how lucky he is to have me."

"Well, that's great! I'm glad to be of service." I said, laughing. She happily sighed and said "Well, it's late. How about some sleep?" I yawned and said "Yeah, I'm about to fall asleep as it is." We walked back inside and I laid down near the entrance to stay cooler. Eve went to the back with Winston and laid down with him.

I looked up at the night sky and could feel Mom with me. I could tell she was happy for me, which made me smile. "I miss you, Mom..." I whispered. I stayed up a little while longer, a cold breeze washing over me and making me shiver.

I laid my head down on my paws and closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep. I dreamed about when I was a pup still, playing with Mom and my friends in my old pack. It was going good until I was woken from the sun shining right in my eyes.

I groaned and turned my head away, only to suddenly see something soft hit my chin. I opened my eyes to see a ball of white next to me. I instantly realized it was Lilly laying next to me on her side, facing me. I smiled and closed my eyes again, feeling warm knowing she was next to me.

I got woken up again by people talking near me. I yawned and opened my eyes to see Lilly still next to me. Winston and Eve were sitting outside talking, and I could tell it was about us.

"Do you really think we can trust him? I don't want to see her get her heart broken." Eve said. Winston shrugged and said "I don't know, honey. All we can really do is just see what happens. We can't tell her she can't be with him if she wants to."

"I know..." She sighed. I looked back at Lilly to see her just waking up. She stretched out and yawned, slowly opening her eyes to see me smiling at her. She smiled too and whispered "Good morning..."

"Morning. How'd you sleep?" I whispered.

"I slept GREAT!" She said. I smiled and said "Good! Your parents are outside." She looked over to see them looking at us. She blushed and said "Morning, guys."

"Hi, honey. How was your night?" Eve asked. Lilly smiled and said "It was great, Mom!"

"Well, good! Kate told me about what happened with Carlos. We also heard you two howl. It was amazing!" She said. Lilly looked back at me and said "Yeah, it was..." I blushed a little and she giggled and sat up.