Golden Flower was slowly coming to terms with her heritage. Though she had suspected she was half-dog for a while, it still felt unreal. It still felt unreal knowing the harsh reality her mother had to live through in this pack. And it still felt unreal that despite being half-dog, Golden Flower could look so...wolf-like. She supposed she owed that to her father's genes.

It felt nice having Copper Rock know the truth, or most of it anyway. It was nice having a family member who could support her here. She just wished he didn't have to live through some of the discrimination of the pack when she didn't based on her more wolf-like appearance.

Though they still trained and Golden Flower made good progress, she and Copper Rock often devolved into conversation while training, since they could not talk about these things in the pack where any wolf could overhear.

"Do you ever wish you had a mate and pups?" Golden Flower asked one day.

"No. Not like my sister did. I've been okay following this rule, but I understand the difficulties of it. I know that Hazel Branch and Crow's Laugh love each other very much," he said.

Despite the arguments Golden Flower had with her mother when she lived with her family, she could tell her parents loved each other unconditionally. She supposed it was never something that she had quite thought of until now. It was always something she had taken for granted, especially seeing the way some of the other mates here treated each other. Shining River and Feather Wings came into mind especially...

"Will you tell me about them?" Golden Flower asked. Now that she had confirmed her identity, she was feeling more homesick and lonely for her parents, as well as more guilty that she had created a lie that probably had driven them sick with grief. 

"What do you want to know?" Copper Rock asked. "Did they never tell you stories themselves?"

"Well, they told us stories about the pack, but never about them, which I suppose makes sense now since their love was illegal," Golden Flower thought. "But I want to hear more about them."

"Well," Copper Rock said, beginning to stroll further into the woods, "They didn't like each other much at first. Or, your mother didn't like Crow's Laugh anyway."

"Really?!" Golden Flower exclaimed.

Copper Rock laughed. "Not at all. She had been training with me for a while, but soon enough she got split up to train with Crow's Laugh. She would complain to me night and day about her new training partner and how obnoxious and annoying he was. I think your father had loved her from the beginning, but Hazel Branch was annoyed how often he wanted to be beside her."

"That's funny," Golden Flower said. "Then, what changed?"

"I'm not Hazel Branch, so I don't know, but gradually, she became more friendly with him. The two became close, which, at the time, I thought was nice. We didn't have much friends between us being dogs, but I could tell Crow's Laugh saw her to be any other wolf. I was worried though. Our parents had already made clear the law surrounding our futures, and I could tell Hazel Branch was becoming increasingly drawn toward him," Copper Rock said. "She suddenly went from walking on air to being depressed."

"Was that when she realized she loved him?" Golden Flower asked.

"I think so," Copper Rock said. "She frequently would ask me philosophical questions then about whether happiness was better than duty and so on. I had my suspicions, but I kept quiet because I thought my sister knew better. She and Crow's Laugh had a bad falling out at that time, and she was miserable. I didn't like being around her because all she would do was mope. And then, one day, she was happy as could be again."

"They made up?"

Copper Rock nodded. "And they had become secret mates. I was able to figure it out quickly, especially after catching them in the woods together. I feel so horrible about it now, especially telling this to you, since you wouldn't be here if she followed my advice. I scolded her about following our parents' rules and told her that I would trust she would call it off. I think I knew deep down she wouldn't, not when she was so happy, but I worried what would happen if our parents found out. It was so hard to argue for my parents' side, seeing how happy she was. And then one day, she started feeling sick..."

Golden Flower suddenly realized what this meant. "How did you find out...that she was pregnant?"

"I think I knew the moment she was sick, since I knew she and Crow's Laugh were mates at the time. I don't think I wanted to believe it. I kept telling her to go to one of the wolves to make sure it wasn't a serious illness, but I knew better. And when she ran off, I knew for sure that my suspicions were correct. Your father immediately came to me, asking where she might have been. I couldn't hide the truth from him, not when he was that worried about her. So I told him that I suspected that she was pregnant, and that's why she had run off. He took off ahead of the patrol and never returned, but I think it was safe to assume that he found her," Copper Rock said, smiling at her.

Golden Flower again felt guilt for the way she treated her mother. All of the safety measures in her home were meant to protect her and her parents' relationship. 

"She never told me any of this," Golden Flower murmured.

"She probably didn't want to. You see how the dogs are treated here. Many wolves speak ill things about us behind their backs, and our parents didn't even want us having pups. They wanted this to be a temporary thing," Copper Rock said. "But I'm glad you're here with us. Still, you need to keep your identity secret, Golden Flower."

"I wasn't planning on sharing it," she promised. "I know my parents made a great sacrifice for me, and I'm not about to betray them." Still, she wondered how shocked the wolves would be to know that she was half-dog.

"That's good, but sometimes I wonder why they let you go off on your own. It could've been very dangerous, especially if someone found out your identity," Copper Rock said.

"They trusted me," Golden Flower lied. "They trusted I would have a quiet and simple life here."

"Well, I hope they put their trust in the right wolf. Come on. We should probably do a few more training exercises," Copper Rock said, signaling the end of their conversation. 

Once again, guilt filled Golden Flower at the thought of lying to her uncle. She wondered when this lie was eventually going to unravel.