Chapter 25! I've got testing next Tuesday and Wednesday so wish me luck!

"Dad!" Diego heard his daughter cry out fearfully. This wasn't a good feeling for him.

"Flora?" he called out.

"Daddy, help! Please!"

"Flora, hold on! I'm coming!" Diego darted off to find where Flora was screaming from. His paws ached from running hard and he was breathing heavily, but he didn't care. All he cared about was reaching his daughter.

"DADDY!" the closer Diego was getting to his daughter, the louder her her pleas for help grew.

Diego stopped running. His worries heightened when Flora was no where to be found.

"Flora! Where are you?" he asked worriedly. As thunder clashed in the sky, Diego only saw Flora's shadow for a split second until it disappeared. The thunder clashed again this time revealing Flora's shadow with another mysterious one pouncing on her hard, letting a terrifying, ear-splitting, painful screech.

"NO!" cried Diego in despair. "Flora!"

Diego woke up, breathing heavily, sweating and his heart picking up the speed by every beat. This was one of the worst nightmares he has ever had.

The saber had quickly jumped off from the spot he was sleeping, running as fast as he could.

"Diego?" muttered Shira. Squinting her eyes open, she saw that Diego had left. She heard the splashing his paws caused by running through the puddles. After getting up and stretching, Shira went after her mate.

"Diego!" Shira yelled out to him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for Flora!" answered Diego.

"At this weather?! You'll freeze to death with this below zero rain!"

"I don't care! All I care about is finding my little girl. Then, I'm never letting her out of my site again!"

Shira quickened her pace finally catching up to Diego, pinning him down in the cold, gooey mud.

"Shira!" growled Diego annoyed. "What did you do that for?"

"We gotta talk." declared Shira. "Now."

As the two sabers walked back to the willow they were sleeping in, Shira started their conversation.

"Diego, remember the oath that you and I made when the cubs were born?"

"Of course. Treat them like young adults and trust them." Diego recited the oath that was sworn all these years the cubs were born.

"Yes that, and not to interfere with things such as friends and love life unless it's absolutely necessary, remember? I've been waiting for you to remember that for the past two weeks."

"I remember. What does that have to do with anything?"

"You're doing that to Flora."

"What? How?"

"When you saw her talking to Sam, you threatened him. When you talked to Flora about it you said that she couldn't see him until you said so which was probably gonna be when we're both old and weak. And when you found out that Flora and Sam have been seeing each other, you yelled at both of them and grounded Flora for six months. No wonder she ran away."

"So you're saying it's my fault?" Diego questioned venomously. How could his mate be accusing him of something like that?

"No I'm not saying that at all." huffed Shira. "I'm just gonna spell it out for you. You're becoming way over protective of Flora."

"What? No I'm not."

"You are. You're trying to keep her away from a boy who didn't even try to hurt her and was treating her with kindness and courtesy. I really hate to be the one to say it, but you're starting to be like Manny now."

"What? No, no, no, no. I am nothing like Manny. Manny tried to shelter his daughter from the world. I only tried sheltering Flora from one boy. Just one. I'm not keeping her away from her surroundings."

"Diego, I understand that you're worried about Flora, and you have every right to be. It's a father's instinct to protect his daughter. But Flora needs to experience those things without her daddy breathing down on her neck. Now I'm not blaming you. I'm just saying that even if it's just this one thing that you're fretting about, Flora needs trust and support from her family. Especially her father."

Diego was deep in thought about what Shira just said. She was right. He was being protective of Flora. But he had his own reason.

"Diego, you okay?" asked Shira noticing he was spaced out.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine." replied Diego. "Listen Shira, can we talk about it tomorrow? I still gotta get some sleep."

"Of course. And don't you worry. We will find Flora. Wherever she is, we know that she's alive. She does have survival skills."

Diego smiled a soft grin that said "You got that right".

"Sleep tight."

"Will do."

Back at the saber's camp, Zeke was rushing back to tell Soto the news. The leader was not too happy with what he had to say.

"You were spotted?" growled Soto at Zeke's ignorance.

"Yeah but it was just two stupid teenagers going for a romantic stroll. They know nothing. Especially when I knocked down boulders right when I got the chance, so I probably crushed them to death with it." Zeke replied proudly. Soto was still not satisfied.

"That's the last time I'm sending you out to hunt. Stay hidden next time. Idiot."

Zeke walked away with a sad look on his face as Oscar went up to Soto.

"How long do you think it will take them to find the girl?" asked Oscar.

"I'd give it one more week the most. We are in a very deep part of the forest after all. But once Diego and that other prey comes in, we will be enjoying nice, bloody and juicy, revenge.

Poor Diego! He's so worried about Flora that he's starting to become a safety freak over her! Now we know what Shira has been waiting for Diego to remember. What will he say tomorrow? And how do Soto and the rest of the pack intend to have their revenge? Find out either tomorrow or Saturday!

What did you think? So after I post 26, the next few chapters will focus on Sam and Flora working things out. It will be kind of bumpy at first, but, well. I'm not gonna spoil it for you guys! Please review! :)