A delicate silver she-cat lay in a moonlit clearing that illuminated her pelt. Her tail was gently curled around her belly, and her head rested on her paws. Her beautiful, honey-amber eyes dreamily gazed off into some spot in the distance.
Her stomach was pleasantly swollen with the promise of kittens, and she occasionally stroked it with her tail, just for the intense blossoming of love that warmed her to her ears. She imagined how beautiful her kits would be, picturing them tumbling around in a clearing while she and her mate sat side by side, watching them.

The ferns surrounding the clearing rustled, and storm gray ears poked in. The queen lifted her head and purred as she saw her mate step into the grassy clearing. His dark blue eyes gleamed with excitement as he approached her.
"Stormheart," the she-cat stood up to nuzzle him, and he responded with a deep purr.
"Why did you want to meet here, Skymist?" The dark-furred tom inquired, twining tails with his mate.
She meowed, "I have news for you." She twisted to gaze into his eyes, and her mate's eyes, pools of deep blue water met hers, which resembled bright golden suns.
Stormheart breathed, "And what would that news be?" He almost certainly guessed what she was talking about, but he didn't exactly want to think it was true.
She laughed, "I'm expecting kits!" She examined her mate's face for the signs of joy that were sure to come, as he was loving and gentle and would be perfect with kits. But none came. Instead, Stormheart shifted his paws and looked away.
Anxiously, Skymist tilted her head to make eye contact with the tom again, bewildered. Why is he acting like this? I thought he would be happy. Maybe… could he not want the kittens? Instantly, her thoughts, which had been calm and tranquil a moment ago, descended into chaos. He's going to leave me, and what will I do, with kits of my own, nobody to raise them. I'm ruined, what will I do?

Her mate sighed, and the sound brought her out of her thoughts. "Look Skymist," Stormheart started, staring determinedly at his paws, "I know this isn't probably a good time to tell you, but I can't raise those kits."
Skymist wailed silently in her head. I knew it! She softly cried out loud, "Why not? Did you not want kits? I'm sorry Stormheart, just please don't leave me!" He was her life, her bloodline, he couldn't leave her.
Stormheart groaned. "It's not because I don't want them, or I don't love you."
Skymist sat up again, eyes wide. A wave of relief washed over her, but her features were still wrinkled with confusion. What could possibly keep her gentle Stormheart from wanting to raise kits? He had always been the one who shared his dreams of being able to play and hunt with his children.

The dark gray tom awkwardly sat down. "The thing is," he began. "I can't father your kits, because Quailflight is about to give birth to my kits."

Amber eyes blinked at his response. Skymist knew Quailflight and Stormheart were close friends, but kits? She hadn't even known they liked each other, let alone love and have kits together. This couldn't be happening. But it was.

How could she be so stupid? The signs were there the whole time, how Stormheart had suggested that they keep their relationship quiet, just so they wouldn't be gossiped about. How he always met her in secluded clearings, sneaking out of camp, sometimes in the middle of the night. A thought occurred to her. Nobody actually knew about Skymist and Stormheart being mates besides Skymist herself.

Stormheart timidly glanced up, searching for anger or misery in his lover's face.
Instead, Skymist began to laugh. Her laugh was gentle and tinkling like silver bells, as if he had just told her a delightful joke. She giggled, rolling around in the ferns like an ecstatic kit. "I see it all now," she chuckled.
Suddenly, she stood up, humor drained from her face. "You pathetic little rat," she breathed.
It was so quick, and not even Skymist knew what she was doing. She only started smelling blood, and when she looked down, she observed that Stormheart was at her paws, dead.
Only then did Stormheart's words fully settle down on her. She staggered down, and tears came to her eyes. After all I've done for him, this is how he repays me? I followed him and trusted him with my life. I loved him more than I've ever loved my family, my mother or my father. And he goes and cheats on me with his best friend. Or, did he cheat on Quailflight with me? He can't even stay loyal to one she-cat. What will I do now?

She closed and opened her eyes. With a critical light in her eyes, she observed the body of her former lover. If anybody finds out what I did, I'll be exiled for sure. How will I be able to survive, with kits on top of that? Nobody can know I did this.
She ran her tail over her stomach again, and felt a small wriggle and kick. She was holding a cheater's kits, she thought. No, she decided, these were not his kits. They were her kits solely, and she would raise them as their only parent. Their other parent was dead and gone. She tilted her head, reconsidering. No, he might have been the father of her kits, but to her, he never existed.