Narimé was often heading into Hush Meadow recently to hunt. It was a good place to go for deer because the landscape was so open. The wind swept away most of the snow leaving bits of tall grass poking through the crust. The deer liked to forage and dig at the snow to get to the plants underneath.

Te silver she wolf was creeping up on a pair of does with scrawny fawns at their sides when the yowling of some crazed wolf spooked them. Narimé didn't even try to chase them as the four deer bounded away towards the safety of the forest. Cursing under her breath the young woman turned her body towards the sound of the wolf yowling. The voice was very familiar to her, then suddenly Nari realized that the voice was that of her pack mate Shade.

Worry pricked at her heart as the young hunter loped towards the sound of the darker males voice. Her paw steps brought her to a very depressed Shade. What happened? Why's he so depressed? She thought silently while giving him a "woof" for a greeting.

"Hey what's wrong Shade?" Narimé rubbed herself against his side then playfully butted her head against his dark shoulder.

Narimé furrowed her brows in concern for her friend. She had snapped at him during her reunion with Sloane because she had not wanted him or anyone from the pack to know how close she was to an outsider. The young woman believed that Shade might be angry with her still. Even if he tried to hide his sadness Nari was good at pciking out her friends and families emotions. She knew how down he really was.

"Well maybe we could help each other out some..." Narimé sat next to him though not too close and closed her eyes sighing. {I}Was it okay for him to know about her and Sloane? Were Shade and Rosealia having trouble too? Nari knew that they had been close, though she didn't know about them being mates. She noted how they had once been very close but for some reason had drifted a part, and for the longest time the silver wolf had been curious about them. What was their real relation to eachother?

A few minutes passed while Nari tried to figure out what to talk about. She had been so confused as of late. She didn't know what to think about much of anything. Who was her real family? Who were just friends? Where did her loyalty lie? She had no idea.

"..Do you....well.. What. What is love? and I mean not like family bonds but real love? How do you know if you have found it?." She yipped the question out quickly blushing at the same time. What a stupid question to ask, but maybe Shade might know, if he had really loved Rosealia...

Narimé twitched her tail nervously after Shade asked why she had wanted to know what love was. Her skin prickled uncomfortably under her fur as she blushed.

"Well..ahhh.. I think I might love someone, but..I don't know what to do about it.. Nor did I know if it was really love that I had for him.." She didn't speak his name.Though after a bit of thinking Shade might have come to the conclusion that it was Sloane. Especially since she wasn't really close to any other male within the pack spare for Shade and maybe Guiness.

"I..I always thought love was trusting someone who trusts you back...an..and that you wouldn't ever want to leave that someone's side..." Nari flustered while she spoke then shook her mane and began grooming her chest fur just to calm herself. Shade was a friend. There shouldn't be any problem talking with him.

Thinking back on her meetings with Sloane, Narimé evaluated her memories. Back then she didn't know why she felt such a pull towards the male. She knew he was kind and caring to all, but even his personality couldn't have been the reason for her to want to be with him was it? The young wolf wondered if he liked her as much as she thought she loved him. Don't be silly Nari, if he didn't love you back then he wouldn't have come back to the Lagoon just to find you.. She told herself quietly while she sat beside the dark guardian.

"D..do you love Rosealia?" She asked tentatively wondering if she might overstep some invisable line and make the black wolf angry.

So that's how it is.. Her view on Rose and Shade had been correct. They were close. Nari thought about the word mates. You had to have absolute trust, faith, and loyatly in your partner in order to even think about choosing them as a mate. Closing her bluish purple eyes Nari thought about the word further and how it compared to her own life. Her face serious and thinking as Shade spoke.

Then Shade spoke about how he'd run into Nina while visiting his sister. He fretted over how she had gotten the truth out of him about Rosealia being his mate, plus how she knew about something bad that the guardian had done in his past.

Narimé's eyes opened and she looked at him in surprise. She couldn't think of Shade having done something bad to anyone, but then again perhaps she really didn't know him all that well.

"Shade.... I don't know what you did in the past, but ever since I have met you, you have been a caring wolf, a great guardian, and a kind soul. Whatever you did back then doesn't make you a bad wolf now. " She tried to help him feel better about whatever was dragging her dark friend down. She didn't bother asking what he had done for that would probably just make things worse.

Then he brought up the love topic again. Shade mentioned that he believed it was Sloane that she was talking about from a few minutes before. Nodding her silver gray head shyly she listened to the black wolf speak.

"I'd say that if he is, you've picked right. He really seems like he loves you. You can trust me Narimé."

She was surprised at his answer, but inside it felt good to know that Sloane did really love her. She grew warm just thinking about it and a smile appeared on her thin muzzle. "Thank you Shade.. " the young womans eyes gleamed brightly as she looked happily to Shade still listening to his voice.

"Nina? aha.hehehe.. " She laughed. It had been a complete coincidence that she had found out about Nina and Koda. "While Nina was in the den still being treated for her injuries I had gone in there to clean up a bit. We spoke for a while about stuff.. She was really nice. But then at the end of our conversation she started getting sleepy.. " Nari smirked at the memory of Nina being high on the smelly plants that had littered the den.

"She started talking about Koda and I had asked her if she was his sister cause Nina told me her last name was Reinier. hehhehe..Well she said no and well Nina isn't old enough to be his mom so..plus she had said she was very close to Koda... I got the idea that they were closer.. " She tipped her head to the side thinking back to that meeting. It was rather amusing now that she thought about it.

Shade must need a stress outlet... She observed how he kept on babbling on about stuff. But Nari didn't care. She was a very good listener, and the young hunter didn't like seeing her friends sad.

"Yeah, well other than the Lagoon this place is one of my favorite places to be. I come here all the time to hunt, plus I feel rather at home on my own out here... " She answered him then stayed quiet wondering if he had anything else to get off his shoulders. It seemed as though Shade had been very stressed lately.

Watching the dark male quietly Nari listened. Her ears twitched at his thoughts on Nina. She couldn't agree. But then again she wasn't on the females bad side. All the silver girl could do was try to help out her conflicted pack mate.

"I guess Nina might be one of those wolves who holds grudges for a long time. But.. I think, you will just have to continue being who you are today. Be the great guardian you are and prove to her someday that you are no longer the wolf you were in the past. Everyone changes Shade.. At least that's what I think." She smiled and wagged her tail. Now Nari truly felt bad about snapping at him when Shade had shown up during her meeting with Sloane. She shouldn't have acted that way and now she knew that.

"Stop looking at all the bad you have done and look at the good." She spoke up after watching the dark wolf lower his head down into his paws. It seemed as though he was trying to hide himself from the world. Narimé had never felt that low. Or maybe.."When Chantille told me about da.. I.. I couldn't do anything but run away.." She closed her eyes remembering the sadness that had engulfed her. "But that isn't the same feeling that he's having right now.." She told herself while nuzzling her friends dark scruff.

Silver fur stuck closely to her skin as Nari felt the chill of a small breeze. She watched closely evaluating Shade's emotions and body language. He reminded her of when she had ran away from Chantille and strayed around lost in the wilderness unwilling to head back to Willow Ridge. She was so lost and confused back then. All until she finally cried howling her grief to the moonless black night. Then a few days later she had felt hollow but better and decided to come back here to the willows. Even with her youth Narimé knew that sometimes you just had to tell others about your feelings. That was partly what howling could help with.

"Just let all that feeling out... " She stepped back not knowing how else to help the older wolf. Then she raised her silver head and let out a howl. The howl was filled by her lingering sadness over Sibo's untimely death. "I didn't even get to see him before he died.." She closed her eyes and continued her howl.