Chapter #9 The Betrayer -

Blackrose slipped back into camp unnoticed, or so she thought. Ryestripe came trotting after her, his silver coat shimmering in the weak rays of the sun that the sky exceeded upon him. She turn and saw he was in her space. She hissed at him and he shook his head back and forth.

"Oh my little Rose, please understand..."

Blackrose froze, he called her Rose, just as Ravenwing did. The name always made her feel assured that she was in safe paws and that her mate meant the world to her. But this was not her mate, and not her clan. She figured if she could get Ryestripe to jump into the lake, she could get away. But he always seemed vital. It was surprising that the silver tom didn't follow her to the Half-bridge, then to the thunderpath, where she lied Inkshower's body, until a Monster crushed his body, then she retrieved it and placed it at the edge of the thunderpath, where hopefully a patrol will find it and never suspect her.

"So, is there another tom?"

Blackrose got out of her flashback and looked at Ryestripe. She never noticed how sleek and bold he was. He had several scars on the sides of his face and one going diagonally through a amber eyes, a black nose, and ending in the center of his broad chest. Blackrose figured that she wouldn't see Ravenwing for a while, although the full moon was tonight, she was never allowed to go to the gatherings. Next to that she had to tell Blackstar something, since Fogbank's kits were to be Inkshower's, they had to go. As much as Blackrose wanted to be a wise grand-mother, it wasn't possible to look into the eyes of a kit that filled her up with hate.

"I have to tell Blackstar something..."

"Blackstar is your mate!"

"No! I didn't say that! My mate, Ravenwing, is in ThunderClan!"

"He'll be in StarClan if I don't get what I want."

Blackrose normally would have spat at him and said, 'I'd like to see you try!' but Ryestripe wasn't as flimsy as she always thought.

"Okay," She hated herself for saying this, "I'll mate with you under one condition."

"What?"

"You forever stay away from me, and my kits, including Dewsoot and Fogbank!"

"Fine." He looked excited and strong. Blackrose sighed.

"But I have to do something first."

She strolled away, tail high in the air. Behind her, she could hear Ryestripe telling two of his warrior friends that he nailed his first mate. One of the warriors, Darkstag, eyed Blackrose suspiciously, she didn't look, but she could feel his eyes burning a hole in her pelt. She came to the leader's den and walked inside. Blackstar was humming to himself while in a sleep position.

"Blackstar?"

The white tom shot up. "Oh," He paused, looking her over. "Cedarheart's daughter, how are you?"

She sighed. "My name is Blackrose. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you regarding my daughters kits. As much as I'd love to allow the passing of Cedarheart's blood to go through your clan, I must say that she mated with Inkshower, Who I know to be a kittypet. After hunting with him today, I've noticed he was quite frail and slow. Something we wouldn't want to see in a warrior of this time. Word is also going around camp that he forced my daughter to mate with him. I'm not sure if this is true but these kits will just be a burden if kept, and its not worth the trouble of keeping them."

Blackstar was silent for a few moments, his gray eyes heavy with thought. His voice was cracked and hollow when he finally spoke. "Yes, yes you're correct. Although I've heard it was Inkshower and Darkstag who mated. So if Darkstag's kits are born, they may live. To make sure of that, Darkstag may do the deed of exterminating the bad kittens."

Blackrose nodded and turned before she left Blackstar spoke up.

"Don't worry about Ryestripe, he's my first son and if you mate with him, your kits will be beautiful."

He winked at her before she left. When arriving to the clearing Ryestruipe greeted her.

"Ready, Rose?"

She looked at her paws, "If you hurt me, I'll claw out your ears."

"Deal."

Blackrose walked back into the camp, then the warrior den. Ryestripe followed, ears perfectly intact, large grin of pearly white teeth, too.