HEY EVERYONE, UNCLE SAM AGAIN! Bringing you the next chapter of Remember the Past, Live for the Future! So, with that said, on with the story!
By the time evening rolled around, it was very clear that rain wasn't going to let up. So, the group decided it was best to hunker down for the night and, hopefully, resume their journey tomorrow. After having a lite dinner of berries from nearby bushes, one that involved a lot of tension between Eve and King, the traveling party of wolves prepped themselves for sleep.
"Rest up, everyone," Sam announced with a yawn as he laid down beside his mate who had already started drifting off to dreamland, "we got a whole lot of walking to catch up on tomorrow." With that said, Sam rested his head atop Terra's, his eyes closing a she succumbed to the restful sleep he needed. All throughout the makeshift den, the others did the same. After kissing each other goodnight, much to the chagrin of he parents, Claudette and Fleet fell asleep as well, closely followed by Humphrey and Kate. At the same time, Magril nervously inquired to Stinky if she could sleep next to him, under the guise of sharing their body heat in the chill night. With a blush, Stinky agreed. Meanwhile, Anna, after sending Runt a flirtatious smile while batting her eyes, snuggled in next to her parents. Runt, after recovering from the very deep blush that shown through his fur, joined his parents as a dopey smile spread on his face.
As he watched the others drift off to sleep, King prepared himself to join them when he noticed that Eve had moved to the mouth of the den, watching the rain fall as a breeze flowed into the den. When that happened, King noticed that Eve let out an involuntary shiver. Even though the tension between them was so thick a bear could swipe it with it's claws, King thought it would be ungentlemanly not to check on Eve's physical well being. Walking cautiously toward the golden Alpha, King couldn't help but admire her still physically fit body. And while she had put on some weight since he left Jasper, he felt that hey added to her naturally curvy frame. Shaking those thoughts from his head, as those thoughts had gotten him in to his current predicament to begin with, King reached the mouth of the den,sitting a good few feet away from Eve so as to give her space. For the first few minutes, the pair sat in silence. But, eventually, King couldn't take the silence anymore. Wanting to strike up a conversation, king didn't know what to talk about.
"My mate and I would always do this after we had a fight," he suddenly blurted out. Casting a sideways glance to Eve, King let out a quiet sigh of relief as he saw her face relax, even turning her head slightly so as to look at him. Taking this as a good sign, King decided to continue. "Yeah, she would always sit at the foot of the den, acting like I wasn't there. I would sit beside her, just sitting in silence. Eventually, we would start inching closer to each other..." To emphasize his point, King began to cautiously scoot toward Eve, a hopeful smile on his face. The smile grew larger when he saw Eve do the same, sporting a small smile of her own. "...until," he continued, "I finally felt her rest her head on my shoulder." And it was at that moment that King felt Eve do just that. With a smile, King nuzzled his head into Eve's, the latter giggling as he did so. At that point, Eve felt she couldn't stay angry with King. Letting out a sigh, Eve began to reminisce about all the good times she and King had in their youth.
"Whatever happened to us King?" she inquired with a giggle. Even though she meant it to be lighthearted, she instantly regretted asking that question as she felt King tense up, a low growl escaping his throat.
"Winston." It was at that moment Eve, after moving away from King after he began to growl, that she instantly remembered exactly what HAD happened, the memory even more painful as she saw King's face change from one of anger, to one of sorrow. "I LOVED you, Eve," King said in a pained whisper, tears forming in his eyes as he spoke, "I loved you so much that I was willing to do anything for you. But then, Winston came along, and it was as if I suddenly meant nothing to you." It was at this point that King's tears began to fall down his cheeks, a pained sob escaping his throat as he clenched his eyes shut, desperate to stop the tears that fell. The clear heartbreak on his face made it clear to Eve how badly she had hurt this wolf, tears of grief and guilt falling freely down her cheeks.
"K-King," she quietly sobbed, "I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know..."
"Well now you do," King interrupted, his voice now cold as ice, tears still falling as he sent a hard glare toward Eve, who shrank back in submission, a lite whimper escaping her as she cast her eyes down in guilt. Having grown tired of the conversation, King began to walk to the center of the den. But, before he did, he sent one last jab to Eve's conscious. "By the way, the night you chose Winston over me, was the night I was going to ask you to be my mate. I hope it was worth it to you." With that, King plopped down hard on the ground, facing away from Eve, mainly because he didn't want her to see his cold demeanor break as fresh tears fell from his eyes. Said female, at this point, was sporting a shocked expression. But, the shock soon faded as the weight of her actions came crashing down on her.
"I wish it was," she silently admitted before returning to the center of the den as well, keeping mind to give King his space as she drifted to sleep, unaware that an unknown presence had heard the whole conversation.
"You disgust me King," the unknown wolf spat to no one on particular, only for a devilish smile to form on their muzzle. "But don't worry, you will suffer more pain until I finally decide to put you out of your misery."
By morning, the storm had subsided and the sun was shining bright. After a quick caribou breakfast, courtesy of Sam and Kate, the group set off. Although thing was clearly certain to Terra and Kate. As they observed, King was keeping his distance from Eve, hints of pain and sorrow evident in his expression. The same could be said for Eve, as she seemed to lag behind the group a little bit, her head low as she would cast occasional glances in King's direction.
"You seeing this to?" Kate whispered to Terra, an uneasy expression on her face. Terra nodded, her face scrunched up in suspicion as she looked between her father and Eve.
"Something is definitely up between those two," Terra whispered back, earning a nod of agreement from Kate. But, for the time being, the two females decided to let it go as the group continued on their journey, all while their uninvited guest stalked close behind.
THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! Looks like King has more beef with Eve than Eve has with him! And who is this mysterious wolf following our favorite group? Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out! Now I turn it over to Dax for the next chapter! So until then my friends, take care, and as always, HAPPY READING!