It had been a long time, but Tikhi k we she would recognize him on sight. It was hard to forget the face of the man who had broken your heart, after all. Yet here she was, coming to find him. He OWED her. She'd saved his life. He'd fought for them and helped save Hawthorn Ridge, sure. But that wasn't enough. Her father may have been content to let him return to his old life, but now he was dead and they were in need of a leader.
Tikhi had never stopped thinking about him. She dreamed of him every night, his handsome but rugged face taunting her. That single green eye that she longed to peer into every night, that she wanted to see in her children, sparkled as brightly as the stars. Everywhere she turned, he haunted her.
That was why she was here, struggling through the snow up the side of a mountain. He'd spoken of this "Fallen Tree Cove" often and with longing. She should have known he would eventually return here, but she'd hoped... nevermind that. Things were different now. Perhaps he would come home to bid her father farewell and stay this time. Perhaps all her dreams would come true.
She knew that finding the cove would not be easy; he'd often talked about it's seclusion. Maybe that's why he liked it so much. She didn't understand how he didn't get bored. Never fear, my love, She thought, peering up towards the top of the mountain. Things are about to get exciting again. I'm coming for you, Tagg. I'm coming.
Tikhi walked for so long she was beginning to lose track of time. Had she been going up for days, or was it weeks? Was she going in circles? She wasn't going straight up, that was for sure; she often had to stop and backtrack and find a safer path, or find food. She was weaving her way across the slopes, searching for this elusive pack. Assuming it even existed anymore, and that Tagg was still there. If he wasn't, she would find him and take him home with her, no matter what.
Finally, finally, she reached a pack border. The scent was... thick. Musty. Comforting, somehow. It smelled like him. Like what he'd smelled like when they'd met. This had to be the place. Tikhi smiled, fighting the urge to dash into the territory and find him. She was already taking away their packmate. She could at least be polite about it. She tilted back her head and called to Tagg, her love, the man who would change everything...