My POV

I groaned slightly as I opened my eyes that morning. I was exhausted for no apparent reason. But I saw Kate, and I smiled.

Damn, I was a lucky boy! I thought to myself

Pulling myself to my feet, I cracked each joint, working them loose. I had managed to not wake Kate, but as I cracked my back, she snapped awake.

"Oh, you're up." She said, smiling.

"Sure am." I replied.

"How did you like your present last night?" Kate said with a mischief smile.

"It had to be the best present I've gottan so far." I said with a big smile.

"Well I'm glad you enjoyed it." Kate said giggling.

And that's when I cheirado, cheirava, smelt it. It was a sweet smell. A delectable smell, that lingered in the air.

"Can you smell that?" I asked looking at Kate.

Kate sat on the floor, tail between her legs. This was not normal for her. Her tail normally flicked around her when she sat down, but now it wasn't.

"Smell what? I can't smell any smell." She said, turning her face away from me slightly.

"It's really sweet..."

I began to trace the smell, following it around the den, before I sniffed Kate's body. It was coming from her.

"Kate... it's you."

Kate blushed and panted, probably in the awkwardness of the situation.

"Ahhh. You caught me! I went for a drink in the night, but slipped and landed in a pile of berries. I couldn't wash the scent off properly." She said, not directly watching or looking at me.

But I trusted her. "Hmmm, fair enough." I said, before walking to the antro, den entrance.

Kate looked like she was considering something. What this something was however, I hadn't a clue.

"So, what should we do?"

Kate snapped her head up to meet my eyes, and shrugged.

"Go see Humphrey, Jackson, Madison, and Lilly?" she suggested.

"Yeah, sure." I replied as we headed off.

There was something strange in the way that Kate was walking. Her tail stayed firmly down, not flicking around like it normally did. She seemed bothered por something. But I didn't ask what.

We walked past the veggies, Reba and Janice, and caught a huge whiff of the similar scent I had caught off Kate. Then again, they were berry eaters, so it was understandable. But they were walking exactly like Kate, tails firmly down.

This was strange...

We reached our little gang, and I could smell the same sweet smell coming from Lilly and Madison.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Kate asked.

"Nothing much, just talking about some aleatório stuff." Madison answered.

"So, Humphrey how long did you stay at the party last night?" I asked.

"Oh, way pass midnight I'm guessing. But after we left the party I did get a good present from Lilly." Humphrey said winking at Lilly.

Lilly blushed at what Humphrey was talking about. I then switched my attention to Jackson, who was now beijar Madison.

"If you two amor birds are done kissing, I'd like to ask you something Jackson." I said chuckling.

They immediately stopped beijar as I said that. "How long did you two stay out? I'm guessing longer than any of us?" I asked curiously.

"Hell yea we did! We stayed up way past midnight. It was so much fun! But afterwards I had to give Jackson his little gift for winning the game." Madison replied, also winking at Jackson.

"And I thought I was suppose to answer the question." Jackson said being sarcastic.

We all laughed but I still could smell something sweet from Lilly and Madison. What the hell is going on? I asked myself with a puzzled look.

Jackson saw this and looked at Humphrey and nodded. Humphrey then left without saying a word and no one even asked where he was going.

Jackson suddenly approached me. "Cooper, are you wondering what all this sweet smell is?"

"Yes I am. Why?"

"Because me and Humphrey are gonna explain what it is. Come with me."

I followed him, until we were in a secluded area, where Humphrey already sat.

"So this is where you went Humphrey." I said

"Yes because me and Jackson need to talk to you about something important." Humphrey replied.

"Okay sure, what is it?" I asked curiously tilting my head to my right.

"OK, Cooper, do you know what 'being in heat' means?"

"No. Is it when you're really hot?"

Jackson and Humphrey rolled their eyes at one another and hit their heads with the bottom of their paws.

"Cooper, it's mating season."

Suddenly, I got it.

"So that scent... It's because all the ladies of our pack are horny?" I asked.

They both nodded, and I began to shake.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Are you forgetting what happened the last time Kate was horny?"

"Ahh." Humphrey said, the memory coming back to him.

"Don't worry, Lilly and Madison are explaining what could happen to Kate."

"What COULD happen?" I asked.

"She could get pregnant." Jackson said, very flatly, very matter-of-fact.

I was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. I was - in a nutshell, shit scared.

"Don't panic, everything's gonna be fine."

"OK. I trust you." I said, smiling.

We began to head back toward the girls, when we got stopped por Leon and Candu. Leon glared at me.

"Fancy a game of berryball? To see who is truly the best? Two v Two. Central field. One hour. Don't make us wait." Leon said. With that, he turned and left, Candu following suit.

"Well, who's going?" Humphrey asked.

"Me and Jackson." I said. Humphrey nodded.

"Kick his bunda Cooper." Humphrey left and headed toward the girls.

So we headed toward Central field, my coração surprisingly calm and steady.

This'll be interesting, seeing as though that asshole hates me... I thought…