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Rose replaced the bookmark in her novel and set it carefully on the thick branch to her right. If the wind blew just right it would fall to the ground 30 feet below her. After the events of tonight's pack meeting, she was having a difficult time concentrating on anything besides her pain and disappointment with various people within the pack. She didn't want to admit to herself she was upset, which was why she was trying to distract herself by reading her novel. She took a deep breath of the cool, autumn air. She placed her hands on her face, trying to rub the frustration out of her eyes and temples. Leaning against the tree trunk behind her, she closed her eyes to try and clear her head. She couldn't even get through her favorite novel; one Levi had given her for her birthday last year. The decision from the pack was something she was expecting and even prepared for...why is it bothering her so much that it hasn't changed?

Rose was shaken from her thoughts by the random change in wind direction and the faint sound of a leaf being crushed under a foot trying to remain silent. She instantly became more alert; taking her head off of the tree and looking out into the woods that was laid out in front of her. No one could be seen within the shadows of the trees around her. As the wind blew gently against her face, she took a deep breath through her nose to try and catch a scent, and let it out slowly through her mouth. Relaxing, she sat back against the tree and spoke in a normal volume out into the darkness.

"Levi, you know you can't sneak up on me, why do you keep trying?" She heard a low sigh and a man step out from behind a tree about 50 feet from the tree she was sitting in. He began walking towards the tree Rose used to hide from the world for some alone time.

"I was trying to surprise you," Levi replied, also speaking in a normal volume. "I can only imagine how you're feeling right now after the pack's decision; I wanted to make sure you were okay. May I join you?" He asked as he approached the bottom of the tree, stopping three feet from the trunk. He looked up at her hopefully. He was always such a gentleman.

"You know this is where I go to be away from everyone, hun. I'm...I'm fine, okay? I just need a little time away from everyone to think. We both knew this would happen again so there's no reason for me to be upset. I do this even when the pack hasn't given out a decision like this, so it's nothing new. You know that." "Angel, we both know you were really hoping for them to say yes this time, no matter how hard you tried to hide it. I'm not even sure your parents even noticed how badly you were hoping to hear a yes. After 17 years of living with the pack and being raised among the pack, we both thought there was no way they would say no again...If you won't let me come up, at least come down so we can talk about this? Please, Rose?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Don't be like that. As soon as Parker announced the results of the vote, you ran off into the woods before anyone could even see your reaction. You're parents are worried sick, it took all I could to convince them to let me come out here and find you by myself. Honey, please come down and talk to me. Even if it's only 10 minutes."

There was nothing Rose could do. Levi knew exactly how to talk to her, knew exactly what to say to get her to him. Why is it she could never dispute what he said when he talked to her like that? If it were anyone else, she would have told them to go screw themselves. Of course, no one else knew where to find her when she came to her tree, not to mention no one in the pack actually took the time to talk to her. . . With a long sigh, she started to slowly climb down from the tree. Branch by branch the ground came closer to her feet. Branch by branch she lowered herself down to Levi so they could talk. She wasn't the most graceful human ever but she knew this tree so well, knew all the locations of the branches as if it were an extension of her. Climbing down was as easy for her as changing from human to wolf. Finally, her bare feet touched the soft dirt and leaves at the trunk of the old tree. Turning around, she didn't look Levi in the face. She looked down at her feet and at his chest, but she couldn't look into his eyes. She knew that if she looked into his eyes she would have to face the truth of how she felt about the decision. She expected him to take her chin and have her look at him but he did something completely unexpected. He wrapped his left arm around her back to hold her shoulders, and his right arm behind her so that his hand was on the back of her head, and he pulled her into him for a tight but gentle hug. Her head was on his right shoulder.

Shocked, Rose just stood still, frozen for a second, unsure of how to react or what to do now. She slowly placed her arms softly around Levi's waist, and allowed herself to relax in his arms. Letting go of her tension, a rush of emotion hit her. She started crying in great heaves, bawling so hard she couldn't control her body or keep it from shaking violently; she just held onto Levi as tightly as she could while he held her and let her cry. She continued to cry on his shoulder for what seemed like several hours to her, while Levi stood in silence just holding her and lending her strength. Finally, she was able to calm down enough to stop shaking and breathe regularly. The tears stopped rolling down her cheeks and she stepped away from him and he lowered his arms to his sides. He looked down at her, with a loving smile on his face.

She back away from him and leaned her back against the tree and looked up at him as she wiped away the tears left on her cheeks.

"How come you always know what I need?" She asked him, while wiping her nose on a tissue Levi had handed her from his jeans pocket.

"Because I'm the only one who truly knows you, love." He raised his right arm and touched her cheek with the back of his fingers. Not wanting to cry again, she sniffled and tried her hand at a joke to lighten the mood.

"Alright, enough with the mushy stuff." She said as she grabbed his hand and kicked the ground softly. Levi laughed at her courage to joke after everything that had happened that night, and what was still left to do. "You head back to the cliff and I'll meet you there."

"Why can't we walk together?"

"Because I left my book up in the tree and I still kind of need some of my alone time to be 100% in front of everyone before we can finally close the meeting for tonight."

"Alright, sweetheart," he said, placing his hand on the back of her head and pulling her to him gently so he could kiss her forehead before slowly backing away from her. "Just don't run off this time, I'll be waiting for you at the cliff so I can drive you home."

"You know I'll do my best, hun. I'll see you soon." She waved him good bye as he turned and walked into the woods. She watched him leave until she couldn't see him anymore, but could still hear is gentle footsteps and the crushing of leaves under his shoes. She turned her attention back to the tree with a smile on her face. He always knew what to do and what to say to make her smile. She placed her hands on the branches and lifted a foot to begin her long climb back up the tree.

Lifting herself up to the first branch, the sound of a car coming to a screeching halt stopped Rose in her tracks. She turned around to face the darkness, now fully alert. She could see headlights in the distance in the direction Levi had walked off in. A million thoughts rushed through her head as to what was going on as she pulled off her shirt and ran toward the fading headlights. Without a second thought, she went from human to wolf in an instant and began running after the car as fast as she could. She could no longer see the headlights but was starting to see the red break lights on the back of the car; however, those seemed to fade quickly into the shadows in front of her as well. Sniffing the air as she ran, she followed Levi's and the car's sent as long as she possibly could. She ran as fast as she could, hoping it would give her an advantage but to no avail. Rose was the fastest wolf within the pack because of her ability, and still the brake lights seem to get farther and farther away from her. She reached the highway and looked everywhere but couldn't see the car's back lights. She sniffed and pawed at the ground to try and find the scent again but it wasn't there; it had disappeared. Sitting on the side of the highway, she lifted her nose and felt the gentle breeze flow in and out of her fur. No help from the breeze this time. She whimpered as she continued to sniff the ground for some sort of evidence of which way the car had taken off in with Levi. Giving up, she whimpered louder and howled up at the moon for the other members of the pack to come meet her at the highway where she stood. They were on their way but she already knew the truth of the situation. Levi was gone and they weren't going to find him, or even a scent of him, any time soon.