"You vanished again!" Kyra yelled as soon as Felicity rounded the corner into the street. She charged over, smacking her hard in the side.

"Ow!" Felicity complained, jumping back. Her friend tilted her head, the slightest annoyance sparkling in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I needed to... take care of something."

"And what something would that be?" Mak asked, appearing over Kyra's shoulder. He peered at her with narrowed eyes, his expression analytical. Thankfully, she had an answer at the ready - something she'd formulated on the way here, and was quite excited to carry out.

"It's a surprise," she replied simply.

Kyra's worry transformed into curiosity in an instant as she bounced on her paws, excitedly unleashing a barrage of questions. After every one, Felicity shook her head or offered a vague answer, smirking the whole time. She hoped it was a convincing act. Not that her words were technically lies - she had prepared a surprise on the way back from Rowtag's mansion. It just wasn't the reason she'd left.

Eventually, Kyra got bored of the ambiguous nature of Felicity's secret and dragged her over to join the Earthwylves again. They all cast her a suspicious glance, but when Kyra announced, "She says it's a surprise but she won't tell me what," their interest seemed to lessen. Just another silly Glitterwylf game.

Only Mak's gaze remained on her as they resumed their discussion - something to do with a wolf they all knew. She quickly tuned out. It wouldn't do her any good to hear about the past they'd all shared together. But she at least expected Mak to join in.

Yet he didn't. For the entire duration of the conversation, he stared at her, trying to make eye contact. She made sure not to comply. The last thing she needed was another whispered pep talk with Mak.

And that was how it was for the entirety of the afternoon. The talk drifted from topic to topic, with the occasional game, and everything stayed lighthearted. At some points, Felicity even felt brave enough to comment on their words, but then she would fade into the background and merely watch them again. Every so often, Kyra would drop a question, when she thought her guard was down, but Felicity never gave it away. But all the while, Mak's penetrating glances followed her, no matter how many times she tried to evade them.

But he didn't come over. He moved towards her a couple of times, but never fully approached. So she was able to keep pretending.

When Kyra announced that she was tired, and going to head back for an early night, Felicity took the opportunity to leave alongside her. They walked back to the Fog District together, Kyra trying to relax her with easy conversation before slipping in another interrogation about the surprise. With a chuckle, Felicity said, "If I tell you, it won't be a surprise." That seemed to satisfy her, at least for the time being.

As they reached their twin houses, Kyra turned to Felicity, her expression saddening. "Whatever you're doing, I hope it doesn't mean you leave me again."

Felicity frowned. "I'm sure you can go a few hours without me. We only met each other about a week ago! And you've got loads of friends!" She flicked her tail in the direction they'd come from, back towards the Leaf District.

Shaking her head, Kyra sighed. "But it's different with you. I feel like I can really talk to you about things. I mean, I can talk to Mak, but... he's always with the others. And he lives so far away," she added wistfully, gazing up at the sky.

Shifting her paws, Felicity glanced down at the ground. If only she could talk to Kyra about her own problems. But not even she would understand what lurked deep inside her.

She shook out her fur. Dwelling on herself changed nothing. Tonight, she'd promised herself that she would think about Kyra.

"Why don't you move in with him?" she suggested, nudging her friend. She stared back, eyes wide and fearful.

"No, I could never do that. My mum wouldn't allow that." Her pale ears twitched. "Or my dad."

"Why can't he move in with you?"

"Why would he want to do that?" Her voice was soft, but there was a harshness lacing the tone. "He wouldn't want to give up his nice house for that." She jerked her shout towards the one-roomed building beside Felicity's, the slightest bitterness turning the final word to a growl. Instantly, she dipped her head, looking embarrassed.

It took all of Felicity's effort not to lash her tail and respond with a growl of her own. Hurriedly, she swallowed her anger. "Have you asked?" she said instead.

Kyra's gaze drifted back to the clouds. "No," she breathed.

Their thoughtful silence only lasted a few moments. "Anyway, I'll get to bed," Kyra said. Her eyes sparkled a little, but there was still a lingering dullness - no doubt caused by the thought of her parents. The writhing fury in Felicity's heart constricted.

"Alright," she replied, keeping her voice even. "See you in the morning."

With a quiet, "Goodnight," Kyra bounded through her door and vanished from view. Taking a few steps towards her own, Felicity surveyed the street. The pups she'd seen the previous day were just returning to their house, retreating from the darkening sky.

She paused, recalling the information she'd gained from the helpful Watchwolf, during her journey from Rowtag's mansion back to the Earthwylves' gathering place. To buy and register a service building, go to meet Abelard, the noble in charge of Moongarde's businesses. If he approves, he will give you a special card, which any Watchwolf will accept when you are setting up your service.

Felicity's eyes glittered as she took the final few steps through her doorway, reaching under her makeshift bed to retrieve her black fur dye. Maybe Pynk would be useful, just one more time.

Simple thievery. What harm could it do?

Once again, Felicity slid through the shadows, her fur a piece of the night's void. She focused on keeping her breathing even, and her mind clear.

Whatever she saw, she had to remind herself what she was here for. Kyra's dream.

The Watchwolf's directions led her paws to a house only slightly smaller than Rowtag's towering mansion - though this one, to be fair, wasn't painted with pretentious flames. She slipped into a crack between the houses across the street, her eyes surveying the area. Ducking her snout, she hoped that the strip of pink fur across her snout was hidden well enough in the shadows.

Once she'd confirmed that the area was empty of witnesses, she prowled the width of the path, approaching the door silently. Her ears twitched. There was a shuffling on the inside, and the sound of a wolf's mutterings. She crouched down hurriedly, slipping to the side of the doorway, her ear still pressed into the wood. The words, "So illogical," drifted through the material, murmured in a voice hissing with irritation.

That must be Abelard of Thunder Pelt. From what Felicity had seen, Thunderwylves were often very logic-based. She and Felix had never been too bothered with their fascination with facts and figures.

After a few moments, Abelard announced to himself that he was tired of this, and he was going to bed. "I'll give them a piece of my mind in the morning," he added with a stiff growl. Pawsteps thumped upwards, growing fainter, and then she couldn't hear him at all.

Just to be safe, Felicity stayed there for several minutes more. A couple of nightly wanderers passed the building, but she easily avoided them, the nooks and crannies of the house - plus her inconspicuous disguise - providing the perfect concealment.

Eventually, she deemed that he must be asleep by now, and made to nudge the door open with her snout. It didn't budge.

She had to resist cursing under her breath. Locked. Her claws scraped uselessly at the sealed gap. She even tried reaching out a few tendrils of magic, shoving at the door, but it still wouldn't shift. Magically locked.

Of course an important noble would lock his front door. She'd only managed to slip into Rowtag's house because of his all-inclusive Gold party. Her tail lashed behind her, furious at herself. Why hadn't she thought of this before?

As her panicked gaze flitted about the place, she suddenly noticed a window, positioned a good leap above her head. It was ever so slightly ajar. Felicity's fangs flashed in a triumphant smile. Thank Luna.

She moved her magic's focus from the door to the window, glittering sparks only visible to her trained eyes leaking through the gap. A quick test of the lock confirmed it had also been magically sealed, but thankfully the small opening was enough for her to get a hold on it. One forceful tug, resonating deep within her chest, and it swung open.

It clattered into the wooden wall. The resulting bang made her wince. Before any suspicious neighbours could emerge, she tensed her paws and leapt, pushing off hard from the compacted earth.

Only her forepaws reached the gap and she frantically locked them in place, ridging her claws into the inside wall. Then, with all her might, she pulled upwards. Her hind legs scrabbled at the wood. The action had no effect, but it somehow felt necessary.

After several moments of effort, her snout jerked forwards and she tumbled into the room. Her face collided painfully with the floorboards. "Ouch," she muttered, drawing a paw up to massage her throbbing nose.

A deep breathing entered her unfolding ears, from very close by. She snapped her jaw shut, her eyes darting after the source of the sound. It was Abelard. Only a stride from where she had landed.

Swallowing back her gasp, she pushed herself as quietly as she could into a standing position. Her claws scratched noisily on the polished material. He grunted, squirming. She held her breath, frozen in place.

Then he sighed, and settled again. She dipped her snout in heartfelt relief. Thank all the gods for gifting me a deep sleeper.

With a few, much more carefully placed steps, she exited his sleeping quarters and dodged into the next room, searching for the card the Watchwolf had described. Silver, with blue lacing. Because, she'd realised, nothing official could ever be done in this town without it looking expensive and beautiful.

That room held nothing but stacks of paperwork. Nothing shiny enough to be a card. She retracted her snout and continued her search, scanning every room on the top floor. Nothing. She was just about to abandon this floor and head towards the staircase when something caught her eye. A metal box, not much wider than her snout, glittering a bright silver. A safe.

Turning, she reached out a claw, tugging at the diamonds that adorned the safe's door. It was firmly locked.. It wasn't fooled when she slipped her claw through the keyhole and twisted, like she remembered heroes doing to sneak through locked doors of villains, in the stories her father used to tell.

Her shoulders sagged. It seemed her mission was a lost cause. With one final attempt, she gripped the lock with her magic, fully expecting it to resist.

The safe swung open.

Felicity let out a silent laugh. Idiot. Abelard must have been so sure that his outer locks would work that he never thought anyone - or certainly not any Glitterwylf - would manage to reach this stage in a robbery. Thankfully, his cocky stupidity resulted in her reward.

Just as she'd guessed, the container was filled with stacks of silver and blue cards. She carefully selected one, then let her magic close and lock the door with only the softest click. No wolf would ever guess that one had been stolen. From the amount of cards the safe contained, she doubted even a Thunderwylf would be committed enough to count them all out every day.

Her exit was much cleaner than her entry. She took care to lift her claws as she padded past Abelard, and slipped back through the open window, once again tugging it with her mind to its original position. Exhaustion pounded her head from so much magical usage for that day. She was glad that a good night's sleep awaited her in order to recover.

She walked back across the district as quickly as her limbs would allow, the card clutched in her fangs. Past the golden houses, into the Leaf District, following the streets that felt so familiar now. At least her nightly adventures had helped her to find her way around. She was growing close to her home district when someone she recognised flashed across her vision.

Her.

The preened teal fur was enough to make her tail lash violently. Her heart snarled. Now's your chance. She's alone.

But she shook her head, pushing the voice away with all her might. She couldn't. As horrible as the Seawylf was, she was Kyra's mother. She didn't deserve to die. Just like her Toxiwylf victim.

Yet the debate continued. The dark in her heart fighting the light in her mind. Her paws moved forwards, and then back. Her claws tapped the dirt.

It would all be so easy.

She found herself following the Seawylf as she moved along the street, back the way Felicity had come. Her fur blended with the shadows as they curved down a smaller path, and then emerged, crossing to the house Felicity remembered seeing the pair of them enter.

Her body moved on autopilot. Before she knew what she was doing, glittering wisps were curling around the door as Kyra's mother made to close it as she entered. The door creaked, and a crack remained open.

It was her heart that pushed her to bound across the street, deaf to her brain's protests. Her snout nudged the door. Go. Soon, she'll be at your claws.

But I don't want that.

You lie even to yourself.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Felicity's head snapped upright, ears pricking up at the voice. Her internal debate faded as she laid eyes on a wolf, his brown Pelt illuminated in a patch of lamplight. With a gasp, she recognised him as Damek, one of Mak's friends.

In her lingering debate, she'd let herself be spotted. She was never more grateful for her disguise.

"Who are you?" he added in an accusing growl. His eyes glinted with suspicion.

Raising her head, she let the moonlight bounce off her single stripe of natural pink fur. "Pynk," she snarled back.

Before Damek could step any closer, she whipped away from the house and sprinted away.