Chapter 7
A couple of days passed and Tilla was getting stronger. Today she was able to open her eyes fully, see clearly, and stand up briefly on her handfeet. She knew better then to push herself too hard too soon, so she just laid in the nest patiently, waiting for the male to come back.
She flicked her ears up at the sound of someone entering the den and shaking off. After a moment the male entered the nest area and for the first time Tilla could see him clearly:
Like most other males he was larger then she was, nearly four feet tall. His mane was thick, went all the way down to the base of his tail on his back and was nearly white. The rest of his fur was a pale yellow-green and his eyes were a pale orange. She notice he had a kink in his tail, most likely from getting stepped on by a large animal. Other then that he was a rather handsome looking male.
"Sorry no food for a bit..." he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Bad storm came in." He noticed she was looking at him, "Ah...you can see clearly now. Good, that means you'll make a full recovery."
"Why are you helping me?" Tilla asked, "And you never did tell me who you are..."
His face crimpled into one of disgust.
"I never did like how the other single males treated females during the winter." he said, "Especially how bad winters have been lately. We should be helping each other to survive...not kicking each other out of our burrows to freeze or starve to death."
"The majority of the others don't feel that way I'm afraid..."
"Yeah I know...but they should at least help the pregnant females that have lost their mates. I wish I could have found you before you lost your pup." he said with a sad sigh as he climbed into the nest with her.
"As bad off as I was at the time...I doubt you would have made a difference..." Tilla said sadly, remembering how eager she was to have a pup, before her mate disappeared...
"By the way..." the male said suddenly, interrupting her thoughts, "My name's Ryke."
"Tilla."
"Tilla..." Ryke repeated, "That's a pretty name..."
Tilla smiled and purred softly.
|