Patch of Shaded Grass

Mate of Sparrow

Father of Robin, Lavender, Shade, Chomp, Sunshine, Pigeon, Branch, Splash, Dapple and Fog

Fathered Fog, Crag, Wing, Hail, Thistle, Bark, Fire, Cloud, Breeze, Newt, Duck, and Puddle

Former scout and former member of Strong team to take Song's place

Now a mentor until he joins the spirit world

Buried by the Great Oak in the Deciduous Forest

Sparrow was out scouting with her father Frostbite one day when they came across Patch, who was half starving and scared for his life. They brought him home so he could become one of the pack, and most of the pack thinks that he will be chosen as Sparrow's mate when they come of age, though Shadow might not allow them to breed right away if she or Frostbite is not ready to step down.

***

Patch mourned Frostbite along with the rest of the pack, though he did not know the male well. All he knew was that Sparrow was his daughter, and they had wanted him to oversee the mating ceremony. He hasn't been able to approach Sparrow yet, as she is grieving with her mother and siblings.

***

Patch shifted uncomfortably on his paws as he waited outside Shadow's den. Sparrow had insisted he try to talk her out of her early retirement, though he was not sure how much good that would do. The Alpha had never been the same after Frostbite's death, the fact made painfully clear when she returned from a trip one day pregnant with an outsider male's pups.

"For the good of the pack," she had said, though Patch often wondered if the pups were just another way to distance herself from the pack and her pups from her last litter, Mink and Lark, who were almost yearlings. His heart ached at the reminder that the pups, born the day Frostbite died, never knew their father and were growing farther from their mother by the day.

Soon after Shadow had given birth to her newest litter, she had announced to the pack that she planned to step down as Alpha once her pups were weaned and make her journey to the spirit realm early to be with her lost mate. Sparrow immediately began fighting back against that decision, and Patch only assumed that it meant Shadow would take her own life as soon as the pups were weaned, which was not long from now. He wasn't sure how much he believed in the spirits, but Autumn seemed to feel like they were real enough, so he wasn't in the best position to argue.

He took a deep breath and poked his head into the small den made from wheat grass braided together. Shadow's sleeping form was curled around Dove and Raven, the two males she had birthed soon after moving to the grassland. Patch softly cleared his throat to get her attention without waking the pups. Her head shot up immediately, hackles rising until she saw who it was.

"I'd like to have a word with you, Alpha." He stepped back into the mid-morning sunshine to let her follow him.

Shadow fixed her green eyes on him as she exited her den. "You have my attention, so speak freely."

Patch gulped as he realized there was no easy way to dance around the subject, so he decided to do as Shadow said, "You should not retire from lead so early."

Before she could open her mouth to argue, he went on, "Prey is running well now, but you are easily the strongest wolf among us and Sparrow has little experience until recently because you were excluding her from your decisions. What happens if Sparrow is Alpha and none of the hunting parties are bringing in prey? What if illness spreads in the camp? This pack is not ready for a new leader, YOU need to train Sparrow to be prepared for any possible event."

Shadow cocked her head to the side, considering him as if he were a piece of prey. "I understand the sentiment. Fine. I will wait until Raven and Dove have received their full names and consider then how prepared Sparrow is to lead." She stalked back to her den, muttering as she went, "Sparrow chose well in making you her mate."

Patch nearly slumped to the ground in relief. He would have never heard the end of it from Sparrow if he wasn't able to convince Shadow to stay Alpha for a bit longer.