Private with Fire

He stared at her to get her full attention for a few seconds, then began slowly, "It seems as though you've been having some issues lately."

Pineleaf didn't catch the sinister tone, sitting down in front of him. She waited for him to speak, assuming he was going to reprimand her for fighting with Stormfur (even though, technically, she hadn't been fighting with him).

Stormfur turned his head away as Redstar led the she-cat into his den.

Redstar stalked over to his nest, his tail held high, and sat down in it and turned to face the she-cat. "Sit..." he ordered in a kind voice with a hidden sinister meaning, motioning with his paw in front of him.

Pineleaf nodded wordlessly, her gaze fixed on her paws.

Redstar glanced at the she-cat and her mate, the quarrel interesting him immensely. "Pineleaf, we can't afford to have arguments between ourselves in these times. Please come with me," he laid his tail on her back.

Pineleaf bowed her head, not wanting her leader to see the years in her eyes as she stared miserably at the ground. "Yes, everything is fine," she whispered.

He drew his lips back in a snarl and opened his mouth to give a stinging reply when Redstar appeared at Pineleaf's side. "Everything alright here?" he asked, tipping his head.

Tears brimmed in her eyes at his hurtful words, her starting to tremble. "N-no! I love you, Stormfur!" She said desperately, her ears going back. She didn't want to lose him.

Stormfur sneered, not even stopping when he saw his clan leader, Redstar, walk out of his den and glance at them. "What, you didn't think I wouldn't notice you and your new mate prancing through the woods like lovers? Is that really all I meant to you?" his voice trembled at his last words.

She recoiled from the grey tabby(I think), her deep green eyes flashing with shock and hurt.

"What?" he growled, not sure if he was angry at her or at himself. "Please, don't let me interrupt your special time with that dumb rogue."

Pineleaf tentatively approached her mate, her ears flattening nervously. "Stormfur?"

Black noticed the situation and sighed, stopping him and Pineleaf in the middle of the camp. "Go to him," he advised gently, "At least talk with him."

Stormfur snarled to himself when he saw Black murmuring quietly to his mate, and he unsheathed his claws to dig them in the dirt.

Pineleaf was laughing as she ran into camp, but it died in her throat at the sight of Stormfur. She looked away from the tom, all the thoughts about her problems surging back.

He purred and chased her all the way back until they sprinted through the tunnel, where Stormfur where grooming his fur in a patch of moonlight, and he turned to watch the pair tumble into camp together. He narrowed his eyes and looked away.

"Never!" She said cheerfully, suddenly taking off in the direction of camp.

He growled lightly and said in a pretend fierce voice, "Get back here!"

She squealed, jumping away from him. "Hey!"

He purred and withdrew his tail momentarily before returning it to her flank and tickling her purposefully.

She padded alongside him, shivering whenever his tail tip flicked against her. "That tickles, Black," she whined playfully.

He murmured sotthingly and began walking to camp with her, letting his tail tip flick across her ribs occasionally.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I mean, I love him, but I want a family so much." She sighed again, standing up with him.

He frowned at her words, and stood up and decided it was time to head back to camp. "Alright then, if that's so, what will you do if it doesn't work out with Stormfur?"

"I might not though," she murmured, looking up at the sky. By now, she sincerely doubted that Stormfur would be able to control himself during mating. And she certainly wasn't going to go through that just si she could have kits with him.

"You have a lot to look forward to, raising a family with Stormfur," he said wistfully, backing his head away from her tail. "Kits are the best thing in the world."