Chapter 24:
"Where have you been?" Flamestar was seething with anger.
Lakeshadow stared at the ground and tried to think of a good response.
"We wanted to help the alley cats." Crowclaw answered quietly. "We wanted to help Lakeshadow."
"I told you that you were not to go back." Flamestar snapped.
"I know but I wanted to help." Lakeshadow replied in a small voice.
"It would have been one thing if you went on your own but it's another altogether that you convinced your clanmates to go with you." He glared at Snowfall and Darkfang who both crouched respectfully.
"She didn't make us go." Darkfang murmured.
"She shouldn't have mentioned it!" Flamestar retorted hotly.
Darkfang looked away.
"I want to hear nothing more of these alley cats." Flamestar growled fiercely. He turned his burning amber gaze to Crowclaw. "Why did you do? You are my deputy and I thought better of you."
"Because. . ." Crowclaw glanced at Lakeshadow and then back at Flamestar. "I love her."
Lakeshadow stared firmly at the ground.
Flamestar sighed heavily. "Just go."
~*O*~
"Look it's the traitors." Maplefall crowed.
"Figures it's the three kittypets." Icebreath snickered.
"Shut up!" Foxtail hissed. "That's your deputy!"
"Some deputy." Maplefall muttered.
Foxtail curled her lip and stalked over to Wolfspirit and Tinystorm.
Crowclaw watched Maplefall and Icebreath carefully.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Darkfang asked him incredulously.
"Why bother?" Crowclaw shrugged.
Lakeshadow shifted her weight as Russetfall and Grayleaf bounded over.
"What were you thinking?" Russetfall gasped.
"What did Flamestar say?" Grayleaf asked.
Lakeshadow turned her head away, feeling ashamed.
~*O*~
Lakeshadow sighed and curled up in her nest near the edge of the den with her back to the other cats.
Mothwhisker lay down next to her with Echostorm.
"Are you going to scold me too?" Lakeshadow buried her face in her paws.
"No." Echostorm replied softly. "We think you were right to try and help the cats there."
"Yeah right." Lakeshadow snorted,
Darkfang lifted her head from the nest on the other side of Lakeshadow. "Please be a bit louder. Flamestar won't be making me, or you for that matter, do vigorous patrols for the next lifetime or anything so it's not like I need to sleep."
"Sorry." Mothwhisker shrugged.
Darkfang rolled her eyes and lay her head back down.
"The other cats will be over it in a half moon." Echostorm continued.
"But Spottedsky's patrol found Riverclan scent on our side of the border." Mothwhisker whispered. "So Flamestar says we need all our warriors for this."
"And that's why he was so mad." Echostorm nodded to her brother.
Lakeshadow bolted upright. "If Riverclan's leaving scent they're probably allied with Shadowclan."
"Probably." Mothwhisker agreed.
"I asked you once and I won't ask again!" Darkfang snapped irritably.
~*O*~
Lakeshadow shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. She needed some solitude since she came back from the alley. Flamestar had been reluctant to let her but he had finally said she could go for a walk.
Crowclaw had wanted to come with but Lakeshadow felt uncomfortable around the clan deputy since they first got back. Sure she liked him but she wasn't so sure she loved him. Perhaps there had been hints and maybe she had led him on but she had never expected him to say anything. Or at least not in front the clan leader and her best friends.
The wind blew a chillingly familiar scent towards her.
The fur lifted along her spine. It was the scent of the alley but it belonged to one cat in particular. It was something she never expected since being driven off by the alley cats.
Fang She shuddered and turned her paws toward camp but didn't move. How had he found her?
Lakeshadow had been about to take off when the huge black tomcat stepped over the ridge. His icy blue eyes glittered menacingly.
"I've been waiting for you. Looking for you." His voice was a cross between a purr and a hiss and it sent chills down Lakeshadow's spine.