The days continued to march on as they continued their stay in Auster. There were some things she enjoyed about the southern continent. She enjoyed the plentiful prey, the proximity to Fenmyre and Chimera’s family since they had become quick friends, and the vastly varied terrains were interesting to explore. However, no matter how much she tried to make it feel like home, she couldn’t get the north eastern island off of her mind. The caves and cliffs of the mountainous island had truly begun to feel like home before they left and she had enjoyed being more or less stationary to one spot for a time. Their whole family had enjoyed the island as their home which had made it all the more difficult to leave.

She had vowed to herself that they wouldn’t return until she was prepared to found her pack, but more and more she was beginning to question what was preventing her from building up Elysium now. They had more than enough members to justify formally founding themselves and even if many of them still had work to do on their skills, they were still capable of fending for themselves and providing for the group… so what qualifications was she waiting for? She knew the challenge she lost had shaken her resolve whether she had wanted to admit it or not, but now that enough time had passed to let the sting of her defeat pass she thought that perhaps she was finally ready.

Although she knew it was ultimately her decision to make, she knew that she couldn’t do it without Alastor at her side. She had taken a long walk through the surrounding territories around the Wildberry Grove to get her thoughts in order and confirm with herself that this was what she wanted before she came back to where their family had been residing for a while. Her majestic demon was easy to find, spotting him curled around their daughter while Avacyn tinkered away at some little project she was working on. She smiled as she walked over and nuzzled the top of Avacyn’s head before looking to Alastor and nodding for him to follow. "May I speak with you for a moment, my love?"

"Manea Mendacium"

Abyssal black eyes shone with fatherly love and pride for the violet girl his bulky ebony frame was wrapped protectively around, snuggling his daughter while she fiddled with whatever project she’d set her brilliant mind to this time. Alastor beamed, expression brightened with adoration while he watched her at work, relaxing and taking it easy while his body healed and recovered from the back to back violence he’d put it through the past few days. From his injuries from the deathmatch with Kefka to the bites he’d sustained from Manea and the wounds he’d taken at the raid, Alastor’s body had been through quite the rough experience lately. The slashes on his face that had been the most concerning were healing quickly, and though they would likely scar him permanently, he was just glad no one seemed put off by them. Saracyn had even shown fascination with his marrings, the boy lamenting his own lack of violent marks on his youthful form.

Some time passed, and then Alastor heard approaching paws and greeted Manea with an inviting smile. His wife had been so preoccupied in thought recently, and though she hadn’t shared her inner musings with him yet, Alastor just made himself present and supportive of whatever she needed from him. Long, silky tail beat against the ground in a gentle wag when she came up to the pair and nuzzled Avacyn’s head. They both adored their wonderful children and it showed in the way they virtually worshipped their little godlings.

Manea asked if she could speak with him and Alastor gave a simple nod, still measuring each step and response around her since she’d caught him in a rage state attempting to breed Relm. She’d been furious at him, despite him not having any control over his actions, and though they’d fucked out their rages and seemed fine now, Alastor still sensed a tension between them from that moment. So when she asked to speak to him, his mind immediately assumed the worst. Giving Avacyn a kiss on the forehead, the demon dire unwound himself from his daughter and rose, shaking the loose grass and leaves from his long coat and beginning to follow Manea wherever she led him. "Is this about Relm?" he asked bluntly once they were away from Avacyn’s juvenile ears. He was the type to prefer a bandaid ripped off than torturously removed.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Manea waited for Alastor to rise and start to follow before she began to walk off into the trees of the grove once more. It wasn’t necessarily that she didn’t want to discuss her plans and dreams in front of their daughter, but it was one of the very few things in her life that she was slightly unsure and insecure about since the loss at the challenge so it would be easier to speak with Alastor privately about the matter before she brought the decision to the rest of their family. He was behind her as they walked a short distance away to another clearing and she brought him over to a shaded spot between a pair of trees where they were less likely to be bothered.

Just as she turned to face him he asked if this meeting of sorts was about Relm and her ears flicked as a slight flicker of a frown pulled at her lips. While she had a hard time putting the full blame of that situation on Alastor because of how he could and would lose control with that amount of violence and around a woman in heat, it was still something that was on her mind. She had forgiven, but she hadn’t forgotten. In the grand scheme of their lives it wasn’t her priority to figure out just yet and she gave him a shake of her head in response. “No, this isn’t about Relm,” she replied with a sigh, settling back onto her haunches across from him. “I don’t know if there’s anything else to be said about that. At least not right now.” It was simply going to take time for her trust to be rebuilt, but he could start with continuing to be the support system she had always known him to be.

“It’s about the band… Well, more specifically, formally making this band into a pack,” she explained, watching him curiously to see his reaction. “The more I consider it the more I wonder why we can’t simply create our own pack rather than taking someone elses or picking up the remnants of something left behind. There’s more than enough land for us to claim some for ourselves and the band is already larger than some of the packs I’ve scouted. As much as I would enjoy snatching power back from those that wronged us I’m not sure I want to wait any longer. We could go back to our island now and create Elysium how it was meant to be… But I need your support. I need to know you’re still behind me on this.”

"Manea Mendacium"

Manea’s reaction was all the confirmation Alastor needed to know that the issue was still unresolved between them. He didn’t blame her. He had wronged her in a way that was deeply profound to her beliefs. She’d only ever asked one thing of him: don’t put litters in other women, and that had been exactly what his instinct-addled brain had tried to do at that moment. In honesty, it upset Alastor to know that even after all this time, he had such little control over himself when his instincts took over. No matter how good or stable his life got, he was still just hanging on by a thread, and that thread could snap at any moment.

“Understood,” was all Alastor said in reply while he took a seat across from Manea in the empty clearing, empty eyes unable to look at her while he gazed around the quiet grove, looking anywhere but at his wife. If she wasn’t bringing him out here to scold him, then what did she need to talk to him about? Manea answered his unasked question by explaining that she’d been thinking about making the band into a pack. Hmm, well that was a change for her. "You didn’t simply want to make a pack. You wanted to seize one by force," he reminded his violet galaxy when she pondered why she didn’t just make them a pack sooner. Manea had this notion of needing to make an example out of their family’s inception. She had wanted the pomp and ceremony of taking power.

Then Manea asserted that she needed Alastor to help support her and build Elysium with her back on Alias Island, the home they were always meant to have. Though their relationship had been strained and trust had been fractured, Alastor had never stopped supporting Manea. In fact, the insinuation that he’d ever stopped being in her corner or supporting her stung. His expression twitched a little while he hid the flinch of unexpected hurt that hit him with. "You know I support you in everything. You don’t need ask me if I still do." Although now it had Alastor wondering if perhaps Manea was doubting his commitment to her—or doubting if she could rely on him.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Manea frowned a little as Alastor reminded her that she had wanted to take her power and prove the strength of the Mendicium family through that, nodding as she glanced toward the ground in thought. That had indeed been her original intention and as grandiose and satisfying as that would have been she had begun to doubt if that was possible. Besides, she didn’t want to simply snatch a home away from someone that didn’t give her cause. With the northern pack it had been different since it was seemingly a dying pack anyway and it was one that had wronged Venom. That had made it a good target. Now that it was no longer an option her choices were more limited and she felt uncertain of who she could target.

Her gaze returned to him when he insisted that he would support her and that she didn’t need to ask him if he did. It hurt to think that perhaps she did need to question that loyalty and support, but their foundation had been shaken. She watched him for a long moment, trying to pick apart her emotions and thoughts until she finally sighed, getting to her paws so she could step closer to him and lean her cheek into his. “I know. I’m sorry,” she told him softly. What he had done that day still felt like a thorn in her side, but she knew that he hadn’t done it maliciously or consciously. It was hard to erase the feeling of betrayal and the concern she had that he might do it again, but she had to. She had to move on before they could make this huge step for both of them. He was her other half, her soul mate, for better or worse.

She settled back on her haunches again, brushing her muzzle against his while her foreleg that was wrapped in the leather band that symbolized him reached out for his, her soft paw pads brushing the amethyst embellished cuff. “As much as I would love the grand show of power that taking a pack would give us, our family needs a stable home. There’s too many of us to keep traveling like this. Plus… I’ll be in heat again next season. I don’t want to raise a child hopping from place to place. I don’t want to wonder where I’ll give birth.” She leaned back enough to catch his obsidian gaze. “I know it might be settling on some of my ambitions to make room for some others, but… I hope that its worth it.”

"Manea Mendacium"

A ruby-tipped onyx ear flicked when Manea apologized for her doubting him, but the brute didn’t give any show of emotion or response. One of the best parts of being dead inside since childhood was that one got very, very good at smothering any expression of feeling. Alastor simply stared blankly out across the clearing, feeling nothing inside so that he wouldn’t feel the hurt instead. He knew he’d fucked up, but what choice had he had? Ignore Relm’s pleas and let her perverted father rape her and put an incestuous litter in her? Between that or killing him and knowing where he’d end up, Alastor prayed he’d make the same choice again. The screams and sobs his dead sisters would make whenever their father raped them echoed in his head. Even if it cost him his marriage, he would make that same choice again.

Alastor had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed Manea moving to sit beside him until he felt her body lean into his. The demon brute turned his head a fraction of an inch to acknowledge her presence, then felt her cheek lean into his. His heart ached knowing he’d hurt her trust in him, but he didn’t know how to fix it. Alastor was so good at breaking things that repairing them felt like his Sisyphean task. She began to brush and rub her muzzle against his, and it felt impossible for him to resist her affections, though he felt nowhere in the mood for them. He felt her toes dance along his foreleg on the edge of his ceremonial cuff Manea had given him on their wedding night, obsidian eyes glancing down to watch the way the rubies on hers that symbolized him sparkled in the light. Yes, he loved her, loved her with all his black heart and twisted soul—but he wasn’t fool enough to believe that this made everything okay.

"A grand show of power would be quite the spectacle… but I don’t think anyone in Elysium demands that from you, Manea." He lifted his head to lean his muzzle back into her nuzzling, releasing a heavy sigh. "That’s all they want: a home. Stability. Normalcy. Routine. Our family needs it too." He looked into her aqua eyes when she pulled back to look into his while he spoke the truth of their reality to her. "You’re not settling. You’re changing your mind on what you want. You have bigger priorities than putting on a show right now." Alastor’s ears flicked up again at the mention of her approaching heat season and raising another child, then folded back to his skull in a display of shame and agitation. A hard scowl pulled over his lips and he averted his gaze once again. "Are you sure you want to be raising a child from an adulterer? Someone who broke their vow to you?"

"Alastor Mendacium"

She appreciated his assurances that the band didn’t expect the bold show of strength from her, that what they really wanted was a stable home. It reminded her of how they all came together the days following the loss in the north. She had been worried to meet their gazes that day, worried that they wouldn’t respect her. That hadn’t been the case and truly she should have known better than to doubt her own flesh and blood, but it was a blow to her ego that she hadn’t been prepared for. In the end they had all rallied behind her and followed her on this journey and now it was time for her to give up the pomp and circumstance to give them what they really needed.

One uncertainty was relieved and her decision about the pack they would create was cemented in her mind, but another uncertainty rose back to the surface in its place. Alastor’s reaction to her mention of their next litter caught her off guard and her ears folded back as a frown tugged at her lips while he scowled and looked away, questioning whether she’d want to raise a child with an adulterer and with someone who had broken their vow. As hurt as she had been, as furious as she had been with him in that moment, seeing him like this hurt her more. She wanted him to learn his lesson and she wanted him to be more cautious, but she also needed him to understand that she was devoted to him for the entirety of their lives no matter what.

Her paw on his leg tightened while her other paw lifted to cup his cheek, making him turn his head toward her so she could see his endless onyx gaze again. “I understand now why you did what you did,” she told him quietly, her brow furrowed. “Yes, I was hurt. Yes, I was angry. But I know you and I know you would never do it intentionally. I know now that you had good intentions when you went into that fight.” She sighed and let her paw slip away from his cheek, the paw around his foreleg tracing along the inside of the limb again. “I am yours and you are mine. We’re not perfect and I wouldn’t expect you to be. The intent matters to me and even if the feelings are still raw right now I would still never want anyone else as my soul mate.”

"Manea Mendacium"

Alastor didn’t see the look of shocked hurt on Manea’s face since he was still looking away from her, but he did feel her paw tighten around his leg. He felt the gentle touch of her velvety paw pads on his cheek just over his scarring wounds, turning his head until their gazes met, staring sullen into those aquatic depths. She spoke softly and quietly, stating she knew why he did what he did, and that while she had been angry and hurt, she knew he hadn’t done anything to intentionally harm her. She recited their vows and expressed that she didn’t want him to be perfect and that she would still never want anyone else as her soul mate.

"But that’s it, isn’t it?” he interjected. “I had no intent to do anything to hurt you like that, and yet I still did it. I lost control so easily and it could happen again. I’m not whole, Manea; I’m broken and coming undone at the seams. You help hold the threads together, but it just takes a little bit and I’m gone again. I killed that wolf, I forced myself on Relm, and I attacked you all without being able to stop any of it." Alastor heaved a sigh and turned his head away from her, staring hard down at the ground between them. "I don’t know if I’ll ever be fixed. You made me feel right for so long, but knowing I can relapse just like that… How can you still want me knowing I can’t control that demon in me? How can you have children with me not knowing if they won’t be broken like their fucked up sire?"

In many cases, Alastor loved that primal, animalistic side of him. It had saved his life numerous times, exacted vengeance and justice on his behalf, given him some of life’s greatest and sweetest delights—and yet it had also hurt the one he loved the most. He couldn’t promise Manea it would never happen again because he didn’t know that for a fact. And knowing he couldn’t promise his loyalty to her—intentionally or unintentionally—made him feel broken and worthless to her. After all, what use did a queen have for a king who couldn’t control what he did in his own frenzied episodes?

"Alastor Mendacium"

Manea hadn’t really realized just how much this was eating at Alastor until this moment and in a way it almost made her guilty for being so hard on him for what happened. She knew to an extent it was necessary. In some regards she was happy to let him run wild, let that inner demon out, even provoke it herself at times just to see that raw, unbridled side of him. But it could also be extremely dangerous and harmful to those around him if left unchecked. Her biggest fear was him losing control and someone like one of their children getting caught in the crossfire. Relm was someone he knew and someone he had brought to their band himself and yet she still got hurt in the end. She didn’t care if he attacked her. She could handle it and knew what to expect with him. It was everyone else she was concerned for.

But he was so much more than just this bloodthirsty, uncontrollable side of himself and it was so hard to get him to see that. Her paw ran in slow, soothing strokes along his foreleg while she spoke, saying, “I still want you because of your devotion, your love, your willingness to learn and accept my family’s ways. I still want you because of all of the times I watched you play with our children, all the times I saw you curled around them, protecting them. I still want you because you’re you.” She would never deny that he had messed up or that he was dangerous, but those times were few and far between compared to all the good times and all of the times that he had proven himself to be an amazing father. She gave his foreleg a squeeze as she added, “I love you. For better or for worse.”

"Manea Mendacium"

Manea didn’t answer him right away. She was considering his words, his concerns, his fears, and Alastor appreciated that. If she had just denied him and claimed he wasn’t dangerous or the way he was was fine, he would have known she was lying to try to make him feel better. Instead, when she did speak, she reminded him of all the ways he counteracted that demented side of him. She pointed out the way he behaved around the band and her family, how he cared for and loved their children. She didn’t disregard his ruthless and violent side; she embraced it alongside everything else he was.

Stygian eyes slowly closed, letting darkness swallow his vision. He’d beaten himself down so much over the way he’d harmed Relm and Manea, afraid that he’d irreparably destroyed the relationships he held with both wolves. It was terrifying being trapped inside his own brain and being forced to watch while he did awful things to them. But he knew he couldn’t control himself, he knew he was dangerous to be around. Inevitably, anyone who stayed near him got hurt sooner or later. Yet Manea was still choosing to stay.

She squeezed his foreleg and Alastor’s eyes slowly opened once more, peering into Manea’s gaze so full of love and devotion. Were he capable of crying, he might have then and there. "I love you too," he repeated back to her as truthfully as the first day he’d spoken those words to her. A colossal black paw came up to gently caress Manea’s cheek, feeling the warmth of her under his touch. It was such a strange and intoxicating power to feel, knowing that depending on if the threads of his mind were together or not, this paw could be stroking his wife’s cheek or it could be squeezing the last remnants of life from her body while it crushed her throat.

"I’m so sorry, Manea. I never want to hurt you. I wish I could tell you I’ll never do it again, or that I’ll stop myself, but…" A small rueful grin touched his lips while he knocked on the side of his head with his paw. "...I’m not all together up here." That didn’t mean he wouldn’t keep trying for her. By the gods, how he’d always done and would continue to always do his best for his heart, his life, his soul.

"Alastor Mendacium"

She smiled softly as he looked at her, enjoying the sound of him repeating the declaration of love back to her. It was something she had heard from him time and time again but she was always just as grateful for it. Finding a partner that she truly loved had always been her deepest desire and he had given that to her. She would do anything to keep that love and it was a small price to pay to help keep his broken pieces together. Sometimes he still crumbled, but she would be there to help him pick up the pieces—perhaps not without some rough scolding from time to time.

Manea grinned slightly and chuckled as he apologized with a tap of his paw against his head, saying that he wasn’t all together in there. She let go of his foreleg long enough to reach up and hold his head between her paws, tipping his head down so that she could kiss his forehead. “I love all of you. Even this scattered, fraying, broken head of yours. I wouldn’t change anything about you even if I could.” If he changed he wouldn’t be her Alastor. Even with all the bad, all of the dangerous parts of him she still wanted her Alastor and no one else. Her gaze caught his for a moment and she smiled a bit more easily than she had in several days, her paw gently tracing the still healing, scarring skin on his face. “My handsome demon…” she said softly, letting her paws trail down from his cheeks, following the curve of his neck as she wrapped her forelegs around him, catching his lips in a tender kiss for a few savoring moments. ”I think maybe we both need a bit of a release before we go back to the others…” she said softly against his lips with a sly grin, her aqua eyes flickering open to give him a heated look.

"Manea Mendacium"

It was far easier for Alastor to smile when he saw Manea smiling too. It wasn’t one of his manic, insane smiles that haunted the shadows at night either; it was a genuine and loving smile. She made him feel perfect the way he was, like his faults and flaws didn’t do anything but enhance him in her mind. He offered no resistance when she reached her paws up to gently clasp his head and tip it down so she could plant a loving kiss on his crown. Her reiteration of her love for all of him, including his broken head and brain, reminded him of what had attracted him so intensely to Manea in the first place. It hadn’t been her drop-dead sexy looks or her wily and equally dangerous personality. It had been because even with all of his darkness and danger and issues, she wanted him. She made him feel like there had never been anything broken in him to begin with.

Alastor didn’t look away this time when Manea held his gaze, letting himself get lost in those aqua jewels she possessed. He felt her soft paw pads follow the trail of the four healing scars that ran down the left side of his face from brow to cheek, leaving a tingling trail in their wake when she called him her handsome demon. He hadn’t thought the scars would ruin his good looks—if anything, they’d make him look more rugged—but he’d been concerned that Manea might see them as a constant reminder of his unintentional infidelity.

As she wrapped her forelegs around his neck and kissed him, Alastor returned her kiss in turn and gently grasped her slim waist just above her shapely hips with two large black paws, holding her securely yet with gentle love. Their lips parted far sooner than he would have liked, but thankfully Manea’s mind went in the same direction his did and she offered the idea of finding some release together before they returned back. The lecherous grin that graced his muzzle couldn’t be mistaken, and Alastor’s obsidian eyes smoldered with a dark fire. "I think that’s something we both need very much, my beautiful galaxy…" he replied while holding her heated gaze, tipping his muzzle down until his soft lips and sharp teeth found the soft skin where her neck and jaw met, nibbling and nipping at her fur and flesh to tease her. "I’m afraid it won’t be quite as rough as the other day…" Not that either of them really needed to be tearing into one another or fucking each other’s brains out totally raw and wild. Whatever Manea desired though, he would deliver for her.

"Alastor Mendacium"

She loved Alastor’s smile in all of its forms. The wild, maddened smile he wore when they were chasing down some helpless prey or this sweet smile so entirely filled with love and devotion—both were equally wonderful to her. She only wanted him to be happy and she enjoyed knowing that she could offer him even a moment of peace in his twisted mind. The feeling of his forelegs wrapping around her waist as they kissed, pulling her body into his, reaffirmed that they were going to be okay. She never would have left him, her soul too tightly tied to his to ever dream of it, but being like this with him again chased away any of the remaining tension or worry. This was her mate, her husband, her soul mate, and the father of her children. No one could ever measure up to him in her eyes.

Her claws combed through the thick, flowing fur on the back of his neck while she returned his grin, savoring that fiery look in his eyes. As his muzzle tipped down to reach there her jaw and neck met, her head tipped to give him better access to her, her aqua gaze flickering closed with a delighted hum from the feeling of his teeth against her skin. That familiar warmth and build of tension in her core wound up like a spring from his teasing and simply from having his strong forelegs gripping her slender body against his own. A smirk crossed her lips when he mentioned that it likely wouldn’t be as rough as he had been the other day and she chuckled while the claws moving through his silky fur grazed his skin. “There will be plenty more opportunities for you to ravage me like that again, I’m sure…” she insisted with a grin. She hadn’t been able to fully enjoy his wild mating that day with all of the other things she had to consider, but she would never forget the bloody night that had resulted in their stunning children and she knew with how the two of them were there would be many more like that to come.

For now though her only concern was having all of him. With the strain on their relationship relieved it allowed that tension to be replaced by an overwhelming, passionate need and love for this brute she had the honor of calling hers. One of her paws returned to his scarred cheek and pulled his muzzle to hers again, pressing her lips to his in a deep, heated kiss, tasting him on her tongue while her paws wrapped around his neck and held on to the plush fur on the back of his neck and scruff. Her lips never left his as she began to lean back, hanging from his neck as she pulled him down over top of her. Her tail brushed across and teased some of her favorite parts of him while she continued to make out with him with building intensity and desire. It wasn’t until she felt his hips press to hers and join them together again that she finally pulled away from his lips with a gasp, her head tipping back into the grass under her with a pleasure filled groan. Their mating was passionate and hurried, devouring one another quickly with claws digging into skin and gasping, hushed sounds of pleasure filling the small, secluded clearing.

-fade-

"Manea Mendacium"

Manea continued to soothe the dark-furred beast with gentle and loving ministrations of her claws through his long flowing fur and thick scruff. The sensation of those sharp feline claws prickling over his skin sent tingles of static running down his spine in all the right ways, coming to settle between his hind legs while his fur bristled beneath shivers of delight. Alastor savored the feeling of Manea's supple, slender body in his arms, paws roaming over her shapely curves that had only been accentuated and emphasized since her pregnancy. He'd thought she'd been sexy and breathtaking before, bearing children had turned her into a veritable goddess in his eyes! His mate smirked and chuckled when he mentioned how this coupling wouldn't be as wild as the previous day's, but she didn't mind. They would have plenty more opportunities to allow the animalistic side of him to ravage her silly, as she pointed out. And the next time he did, it would be under better circumstances so she could thoroughly enjoy every second of it instead of worrying about fighting him down or being angry over who he'd stuck his dick in.

Alastor cocked a crooked grin back at her lascivious promise, his heart no longer aching with the worry that he'd irreparably damaged their relationship. They were good again, working on being better than ever, and there didn't seem to be a thing in the world that would tear them apart. Her paw on his scarred cheek left a warmth spreading beneath his skin, and the dire brute offered zero resistance when she guided his muzzle to hers again in a slow, languid kiss. Alastor felt the heat and need in Manea's lips, tasted it on her tongue while he sampled her flavor, groaned his lust into their kiss while the familiar tension began to grow in his core and between his thighs. His paws flexed around her hips, one forelegs looping around her waist to hold her as the others supported himself while she clung to his neck and leaned back, bringing him down over top of her.

Their bodies pressed together, mouths still feeding from one another's, the silky softness of her tail brushing against his most intimate parts and causing him to tense and shudder with pleasure. He groaned against her lips again, making out with her with all the same passion and heat she gave to him until their desires could be ignored no longer. Alastor lowered and aligned his hips with hers, seeking her intimate parts and pressing forward to sink into her. Alastor gave a gasping growl while Manea broke their kiss with a breathless gasp of her own, his new claws flexing and scratching at her waist where he held her steady while he pressed deeper into her. His own breathy, pleasure-filled grunts and growls mixed with Manea's hushed breaths and sounds as they enjoyed one another deeply and intensely, their mating passionate yet urgent. They both had to return to preparing the band to move and form a pack, work had to be completed, but Alastor would never pass an opportunity to love every part of Manea senseless when he could. Every so often, she would need to shush him if his sounds got a bit too excited, and together Alastor brought the couple to their own personal euphoric high that had become a staple of their relationship.

- fade -

"Alastor Mendacium"