It was dawn when Arielle woke.

The pretty she-cat shook out her shiny silver pelt to rid it of any dew it had collected during the night. She shivered a little- the nights were getting colder and colder.

Grumbling about the impending winter bearing down on them, the queen-to-be slipped from her den into the chilly morning air.

The sky glowed with impossibly beautiful colors- cream, shell-pink, and light violet. Arielle stopped in her tracks just to stare in awe. How lucky was she to see this? Every freaking morning? But no matter how many times she got up this early, which was about every day, the sky always stunned her with its pure natural gorgeousness.

A tail brushed her flank.

She whipped around, snarling dangerously. The first thing that popped into her head was that Harvey was finally coming to rape her. But when she saw the tom's dark blue eyes, she realized with a sigh of relief that it was only Milo.

"Woah, woah, woah!" The splotched tom backed up abruptly, eyes bright with shock. "Good morning to you too!"

Embarrassment burned her pelt. Immediately she softened her eyes and retracted her claws.

"My bad…" She muttered. "Sorry…" Arielle couldn't meet his eyes- she felt like a total idiot. Which, of course, she was.

Milo seemed to notice her discomfort and laid his tail gently around her shoulders and purred. "I'm fine, really. I just wasn't expecting you to go all 'woman-crazy' on me."

When she didn't say anything, he scooted closer to her. "You're shivering…" His mew was filled with concern that made her twinge. "Arielle, are you ok?"

She took a deep breath and attempted to slow her racing heart. When she felt like she could talk without bursting into tears, she raised her purple eyes to his blue ones and put on the most convincing face she could muster.

"I'm fine. You just scared me." Although her voice and eyes were bright, her spirit was still shaken- she was terrified of someone doing something horrible to her. And Harvey practically promised it.

Although he looked unconvinced, Milo let it go.

With his tail still around her shoulders, they padded towards the main clearing together.

She was strangely aware of his pelt brushing hers the whole way, his scent mingling with hers. He really was a very handsome tom…

"Arielle!"

Her mother's voice rang from the other side of the clearing. Arielle flinched and stepped quickly away from Milo- no need to create an awkward situation. Marie's brilliant blue eyes simply glowed as she padded across the clearing towards them.

"You'll never guess!" She grinned, tail swishing joyously behind her. A young grey tom, Ash, stared at it like he was about to pounce on it. Arielle scared him off with another murderous stare.

Her mother, either oblivious or uncaring of the situation, continued excitedly. "We got three new toms!"

Milo raised his eyebrows. "Did Mae have her kits?"

Arielle's mother shook her head and beckoned three brawny toms Arielle didn't recognize with her tail. "Full grown toms…" She whispered.

Arielle lit up- more toms meant more genes! This would be great for The City.

As the toms approached, she put on a polite smile. "Hi there." She purred, allowing her voice to dip a little seductively. Both her mother and Milo shot her surprised looks- this wasn't a card she usually pulled. "Welcome to The City."

The toms exchanged excited glances- a hot she-cat flirting with them in their first four minutes? Score! A brawny black-and-gold tom stepped forward quickly.

"I'm Luca. Those are my friends, Noah and Chase."

She nodded slowly, making sure not to break eye-contact with the tom as she did. "That's just wonderful! I'm Arielle, by the way." She giggled, like her name was the funniest thing in the world.

Now her mom and Milo were looking a little confused- was she really into this cat or was she just playing him? A quick glance over her shoulder told them that she was just trying to goad them into staying.

And it was working.

She flicked Luca's nose with her tail. "I really hope you're staying…" She slid her tail down his spine and he shivered- with cold or lust, she didn't know. "It's been a long time since we've had a real tom around…"

Oh god, she was repulsing herself…

But the toms were totally buying it. The one named Noah, a dark brown tom, shot to his feet with a needy gleam in his eye.

"Well, you won't be disappointed, Arielle- we're totally staying!" He nodded quickly. She felt them eyeing her girlie-ness and felt a tad sick, but mustered another simpering smile.

"Wonderful."