Jagged Peak’s gaze dropped suddenly. “So Clear Sky didn’t make you leave.”
Thunder shifted his paws impatiently. What did it matter whether he’d left or been banished? “I came back to help my old friends!”
“And we’re supposed to be grateful?” Jagged Peak snorted.
“No! I just—”
Jagged Peak cut him off. “You wander from moor to forest and back again, depending how you feel. Those kits—” he flicked his muzzle toward Sparrow Fur and Owl Eyes who had flushed Pebble Heart out from beneath the gorse and were chasing him around the flat rock. “Those kits were born here. They belong here and if I want to teach them how to defend what’s theirs, then they should be allowed to learn!”
Thunder scowled at him. “Thanks for making me so welcome!” He turned away. It was pointless to argue. Jagged Peak seemed determined to hate him. Thunder padded across the clearing, sadness pressing like a stone in his belly. As he reached the soft grass edging the hollow, he spotted Gorse Fur watching him from beside the flat rock, his gaze cold.
Thunder’s pelt burned. Did no one want him back?
“Is everything okay, Thunder?” Hawk Swoop was crossing the clearing toward him, her orange pelt pricking with worry. “I saw you arguing with Jagged Peak.”
“It was nothing.” Thunder touched his muzzle to her cheek as she reached him.
She purred. “Jagged Peak’s a good cat,” she assured him. “He’s just a bit misunderstood. It must be hard relying on others for prey. We mountain cats are used to feeling independent.” Her eyes were sympathetic. She broke into a loud purr and pushed her muzzle along his jaw. “It’s great to have you back! I’ve missed you so much. I know how desperate Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail are to share news.” She glanced at the gap in the heather. “They’ll be back soon.”
At least someone’s glad to see me.
Hawk Swoop’s gaze flashed quickly toward Gorse Fur. The thin, gray tabby tom was still watching. “Give them time,” she soothed. “We’ve seen so much change. I guess some of us have grown wary of it. They’ll adjust.”
Thunder pressed his cheek against hers gratefully, hoping she was right and that he’d be accepted soon. These were good cats. They’d helped to raise him. “Perhaps I shouldn’t have left,” he whispered. A wave of shame washed over his pelt. Had he been disloyal to go to his father?
“You wanted to be with your kin.” Hawk Swoop sat back on her haunches. “That’s the most natural feeling in the world.”
Thunder felt a purr welling in his throat. “Thanks, Hawk Swoop.”
“Come on.” She stood and headed for the bramble. “I’ve got some spare moss you can have for your nest.”
As he followed her across the clearing, paw steps thrummed the earth behind him.
Stiffening, he began to turn.
Before he could see who approached, paws slammed into his side.
With a yelp of surprise he tumbled to the ground.
Pelt spiking, he tried to struggle to his paws.
“Thunder!” Lightning Tail’s happy mew sounded above him.
Chestnut fur flashed on the edge of his vision. Acorn Fur was circling him, her thick tail swishing with delight.
He leaped up. “It’s you!” He blinked in surprise. “You’ve grown!” Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail were adult cats now—not as big as him, but far bigger than the kits he’d played with before he’d left the moor. He felt a sudden pang as he saw Lightning Tail. He looked like a hunter, his forehead and shoulders broad. Not the sort of cat who’d trail after Thunder like a shadow as he’d done as a kit. “How are you?” He butted Lightning Tail’s shoulder with his head.
“I’m the best stalker on the moor.” Lightning Tail’s eyes shone with pride.
Acorn Fur nodded. “He can stalk a hare from the moortop to the gorge without it scenting him.”
“And Acorn Fur can kill snakes!” Lightning Tail gazed proudly at his sister.
“I only killed one,” Acorn Fur protested.
“That’s one more than me!”
Thunder purred, pleased to see that, even though they’d grown, Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail still felt like kin.
Acorn Fur’s gaze flitted across Thunder’s pelt. “You look strong.” Her eyes flashed admiringly. “And sleek.”
Heat flooded beneath Thunder’s fur. “Thanks.” He glanced self-consciously at his big paws. “You look great too.” Her dark chestnut fur was thick and short and shone in the sun. And her squashed kit’s nose had lengthened into a smooth, straight muzzle.
Lightning Tail wove around him. “So what was it like in the forest? How was Clear Sky? Are you glad you went to live there?”
“Stop interrogating him!” Acorn Fur flashed a stern look at her brother before softening her gaze for Thunder. “You came back because you missed us, didn’t you?”
Thunder blinked at her gratefully. She was sparing him from explaining the real reasons he’d returned. But part of him wanted to share what he’d seen: Clear Sky’s deadly fight with Misty, the kittens needlessly made orphans by his father’s greed for territory, Frost’s heartless banishment.
Acorn Fur’s amber gaze darkened. “Is everything okay, Thunder?”
I never want you to see any of the things I’ve witnessed. “Everything’s fine,” he lied.
“We’re not kits anymore.” Lightning Tail must have seen his pelt pricking. “You don’t have to protect us.”
But I do. Thunder shook out his fur.
“We hear what the other cats are saying about Clear Sky,” Acorn Fur told him.
Lightning Tail leaned closer. “Are we going to go to battle?”
Thunder gazed past them, past the heather, across the rising moor. Would they have to fight to keep all this?
“Are we?” Acorn Fur’s gaze sharpened.
“I hope not,” he breathed.
“Lightning Tail!” Wind Runner’s mew sounded across the camp.
Lightning Tail turned.
The rogue she-cat was striding across the clearing, Gorse Fur and Jackdaw’s Cry at her heels. “You and Acorn Fur can come and practice battle moves with us.”
“Battle moves?” Lightning Tail stared at her.
“We only know how to hunt,” Acorn Fur chipped in.
“Then it’s time you learned some fighting skills.” Wind Runner stopped at the edge of the clearing while Gorse Fur and Jackdaw’s Cry took up positions in front of her.
Thunder stiffened. It wasn’t just Jagged Peak! All the cats were preparing to fight. Did they believe battle was unavoidable?
Lightning Tail padded toward them. “I suppose we could adapt some hunting moves,” he suggested.
Acorn Fur followed. “We could turn a hunting crouch into an attack crouch.”
A chill ran along Thunder’s spine. This was the sort of thing Clear Sky would do. Not the moor cats. He scanned the clearing. Where was Gray Wing? Had he approved this? There was no sign of the gray tom. His nest was empty.
Tall Shadow was lying on the flat rock. She was watching the cats, her eyes round with interest.
Gray Wing wouldn’t want this. Thunder hurried after Acorn Fur. “Wait. There’s no need to practice fighting. Gray Wing’s going to speak with Clear—”
Wind Runner darted forward and blocked his way. “Did I ask you to join us?”
Jackdaw’s Cry and Gorse Fur backed away. Acorn Fur and Lightning Tail turned and gazed uneasily at Thunder. Wind Runner was glaring at him challengingly.
Thunder halted. “I’m just saying you don’t need to practice battle moves yet.”
Wind Runner narrowed her eyes and padded slowly toward him, her plump belly swinging. “You’ve just arrived. Don’t start telling us what to do.”