Chapter 12

The more Diego thought about whether to go live with and mate Sierra, the more it seemed less like a choice he had and more like something he had to do. As though it was his fate. It wasn't a choice anymore. It was an obligation.

In the morning, Diego waited until everyone was awake, and got their attention.

"Guys, I've got something to tell you," he said. They were all looking at him, and Diego suddenly felt nervous. There was no turning back now. He still could, if he wanted to, but Diego saw past that. He didn't have a choice. "I'm going to leave," Diego said. "I've been talking to Sierra, and…we've decided to get mated. I'm going to go and live with her pack from now on."

"What?" a few of them said at once.

"Diego, I'm happy you two decided to mate, you can still stay, can't you?" Ellie said. "Sierra likes us, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. And we all like her."

Diego shook his head. "We can't," he said. "We can't stay here. Sierra has a family, and we're going to live there. I'm sorry."

"Come on, Diego, you can't leave," Manny said. "Do what I did, like Ellie said. Bring her with."

"I said I can't," Diego said. "We're leaving tonight. I'm going to go and live with her and her herd. I already decided."

The possums seemed only slightly disappointed; they enjoyed making fun of him or playing with him sometimes, like when he tried to catch them but they kept dodging in and out of holes.

Diego looked at Sid, who hadn't said anything yet. He wasn't looking at Diego. He wasn't looking at anything.

"Sid?" Diego said softly, almost nervously.

Sid blinked at him. "What?"

"A…aren't you going to say anything?"

Sid shrugged. "I don't know what to say. I misjudged you. But I guess it's not the first time." He got up and walked away. Diego and Manny watched him.

"Gee, you sure gave him a lot of thought when you made this decision," Manny said sarcastically.

Diego opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again for lack of anything to say.

"You're a hypocrite, you know. You got all upset when he left, and now you're doing the same thing. I'm surprised at you. What made you change your mind, anyway? Last week you said you didn't want to mate Sierra. What happened to just friends?"

"Nothing happened," Diego said. "Sid's overreacting. If he cared about whether or not I was in his pack, he would have come back. That showed he didn't care. So now I'm leaving, and if he can't deal with it, that's his problem."

"If you're all ready to go leave him now, then why were you so eager to get him back in the first place?"

"This is different," Diego said forcefully. "I have my own reasons for leaving, alright? I don't need you to interrogate me. I…I'm going for a walk." Diego passed by Sid as he left, and looked at him to see if Sid would return the glance. He didn't. He was just staring at the ground. After he passed, Diego sighed, and looked at the same thing. He didn't see anything. Not anything worth seeing.

I know it's not much, but I'll be back again as soon as I can, I promise. Hope you're enjoying it, and for those of you who think you're going to be dying in the near future, please hold on, because hopefully the ending will be worth reading, and if you die before I get a chance to write the next few chapters, you won't be able to read it, and that will make me sad :( anyway like I said I'll update again ASAP.