Her time was up. Neha had known it was so as soon the colder temperatures at night chilled the air. With a wistful look in her soft brown eyes, she gazed upwards to the forest canopy. Was it really September already? Had time flown by so quickly? The answer was yes. There was no denying it, in the proof that stared back at her in the leaves. Their vibrant greens had faded, slowly transforming to a lemon yellow. In a few weeks, fall would be officially here. It was time for her to leave the familiarity of her other family in Grizzly Hollow and return to her lakeside home. The agreement had been as such that she would stay only through the spring and summer months, to bond with relatives and study healing as much as she could. Neha knew that while she would be gaining valuable learning experience here, that back home, she would also be missing out in miracles of a different kind.

She was a big sister now. There were two younger princesses back home waiting to meet her. To learn from her, to frolic with. There was Cernan, left alone to look out for his sisters without her. Draven was there too, the dark male whom had paid her a visit here in these woods. The mere thought of the grown wolf made the Vuesain's heart flutter. The realization had not yet dawned on her that she was developing feelings for him. Feelings that extended beyond that of simple friendship. And there were her parents of course, both idols of whom she adored and looked up to. She knew they would be proud to see how their daughter had grown, not just in body, but in mind as well.

An ache stabbed in her chest as she stood in the first rays of early morning light, just shy of the borders. Staring back into the warm, welcoming depths of the homey forest made the young woman smile inside. While Veho and Oula were busy with their lives, they had never failed to make her feel perfectly at home. Their children held promise, she knew. And Nineva, the Hevrok female, was a wolf who had earned her admiration. Neha only felt guilty for being so caught up in her own business, that they had not the chance to spend more time together. Still, she considered her a friend. There were many here, that she would miss. Her personal den cleaned out and supplies of herbs gathered in her turtle shell, she carried these meager belongings with her to the borders. Silently, she slipped past that invisible boundary, allowing a few scrawny branches to drag through her thickening coat. Once she had passed, she paused and dropped her items down. Proudly, she raised her head to the sky and said her goodbyes in a sad, but joyous cry for the Grizzly Hollow wolves. And then, she was gone.