Sleep was not being kind to him. It had had been fitful at best, to the point that he had given up on it all together. He hopped down from the bed that stood in the center of his room, padding over to one of the windows that looked out over the forests of Auster, the only sound breaking the silence being the clicking of his claws against the floor. He couldn't get his mind to stop racing, thoughts tumbling one over another and not even letting him finish one thought before another took over. All sense of time had left him and he couldn't tell just how late it had gotten, but he did at least know all of his children were asleep.

They had all moved into rooms of their own along the same hallway that his opened into. He couldn't find an excuse for them not to after they found out that all of Tamsyn and Resin's children got to do something similar. He couldn't help but think that part of his sleepless nights was caused by their absence. They were growing older each day so wanting a space to call their own only made sense, but he certainly missed their presence when he was trying to sleep.

Turning away from the window, he quietly walked out into the hallway, slowly walking past each room and looking in at the sleeping forms of his pups. He stopped just short of the empty room at the end of the hall that he had left open for Everlyse, just in case she ever returned. He kept the door closed to the room, deciding after a few days of seeing it bare that it hurt too much to see it open. After confirming that they were all still in their rooms, Ulric turned and walked down the hall once again, passing the doorway to his room and continuing on to one of the open communal areas where the hallways and staircase met up. There was an open passage with a railed off balcony that overlooked the courtyard below, letting in a cold breeze. He made his way over to the railing and looked down from where he stood on the second floor of the castle for a while, hoping that perhaps a change of scenery would help calm his nerves.

It didn't accomplish that goal, but it did at least help him slow his thoughts enough to make some sense of them. Where they landed surprised and tugged at him in a way he didn't expect. It had been several days since his last conversation with Aranea at the training field and since then he had occasionally thought of the blue eyed healer, quickly pushing away the thoughts or just briefly acknowledging the memory as a fond bit of time with a friend. He kept trying to reinforce that word in his mind. Friend. He had a fiancé that was missing - possibly hurt for all he knew. She was a mother with a family that he had never met in different, far flung pack.

If that was the case, then why couldn't he keep his paws from carrying him to the northern side of the castle? It was the dead of night, there was no reason for him to be visiting her now. At one point about half way to her room he stopped himself with an uncertain flick of his ears. He knew she had said her door was always open, but even someone as kind as she was should have limits. Was he willing to test their young friendship with such an odd visit? He supposed so since his paws began moving once more, soon finding himself in front of the doorway to her room. The door was slightly ajar, but not enough for him to see her without opening it further. "Aranea?" he asked softly, his ears perked as he listened for any kind of response as he tried to determine if she was asleep or not.

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Not like the rest of the castle knew, but Aranea had struggled with insomnia for most of her life. Only within the last few years did she suffer through nightmares that made nights go by harder, enough to make her want to fight sleep either way but it was impossible to stay awake for all eternity. She made a deal of making sure no one knew that she was exhausted, or had become accustomed to it. She stayed in her room most nights while not wanting to wake the rest of her pack mates on noisy strolls through the castle. Somehow time would go by quick and also not fast enough at the same time. Ulric’s quiet voice was alarming, only not expecting him or anyone to come looking for her this late at night. A thought across her mind that they pulled someone from outside that needed aide, only she had a sense that wasn’t the case because it probably would have appeared more urgent. "Ulric? You can come in." she was sitting along the back wall while her gaze was pulled from her own beach-side window to greet his voice, and allowing him to enter regardless of what intentions he may have had. If Ulric wanted to join beside her that was fine, she would look out towards the beach with a slight breeze that pulled through the window and doorway, her fur prickled through a shiver of the winter that never seemed to end. But maybe the blister is what helped keep her up at night as well. She expected Ulric had come to get some more off his chest, or even just be in the presence of someone else, she understood while the night was late. Though she would only wait for his voice or movement without questioning, she wasn’t one to talk about the importance of sleep. Walk "Talk" Think

There was a moment of silence before he heard Aranea call back to him, inviting him inside. He gently pushed the door open enough for him to slip through, peeking around the door at first before he finally let himself in. "I didn't wake you, did I?" She didn't have the look of someone who had just gotten pulled from sleep so he at least felt better knowing he didn't disrupt her sleep. He still wanted to confirm though. There was still a guilt sitting in his gut for coming to see her at such an odd hour anyway so anything he could do to assure he wasn't being a bother certainly helped. He nudged the door back to its original position just to make sure their talking wouldn't disrupt any neighbors she might have before crossing the room toward where she was laying.

He stopped a few feet away, not wanting to intrude on her personal space, settling onto his haunches. Now that he was here he wasn't sure what had pulled him to come here in the first place, but in a way it was just nice to not be alone for a moment. At a loss for words, he glanced toward the window she was facing, taking in the view of the ocean it faced. "This is a beautiful view. I can see why you picked this room," he commented, speaking softly since speaking any loud felt out of place with how quiet the sleeping castle was. He let his gaze linger on the view of the beach for a moment while he tried to figure out what to say. His sleep deprived, lonely mind had pulled him here, but had no answers when it came to what he actually wanted.

"I'm sorry... I just... I guess I just wanted some company," he finally settled on though that felt like it only scratched the surface. He looked away from the window, finally letting his gaze meet hers for a moment. "It's been hard to sleep since the pups moved into their own rooms... It's strange the things you get used to, isn't it? I lived on my own for years and never thought twice about it, but now..." He shrugged slightly and looked away toward the window again. He hated to admit how deep his own loneliness went. It made him feel desperate and dependent on someone else - things he didn't like and didn't know how to address. Obviously it bothered him enough to drive him to seek out Aranea in the middle of the night.

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Her gaze stayed on Ulric as he entered carefully, her outward appearance inviting more than anything else. She had only shaken her head to his worried question, not going through the detail of her own lack of sleep. While her gaze turned to look back out the window as he did, she found herself lingering back to his form, but comfortably looking away just before he went to peek at her. A hum in her throat as he mentioned the beach. It was after all a big factor in her choosing. As he spoke again with an unsure voice on his reasoning for coming to be with her, her eyes looked to his givingly, and not in the slightest way would it appear to reject the way he may have felt. She rose to all fours, taking almost a careful step closer to him, enough for a heavy spark of lust to drag if he chose to feel it, but enough space where he wouldn’t feel trapped or that he could make his own decisions. It wasn’t Aranea’s intention, even in the moment to pull Ulric in to her. Though it seemed while she came across different males within the last year she craved their attention more than was necessary, though this time with the circumstances of Ulric it dragged out a bit longer while they lived side by side. "Ulric," her voice almost gentler than his through the silent halls of the castle, "I understand, the castle can be cold and lonely when you don’t have anyone beside you." while Aranea felt this perhaps a bit stronger than others in The Hallows, she missed her children and the warmth and care Allegro gave her. And it seemed most had someone  caring or to cafe for given the amount of children tuning around. It was a constant reminder of what she was missing back in Abaven. It was hard to ignore the harsh feelings, but there wasn’t anyone to share her own saddened emotions with, at least until now it seemed. She had kept her distance from him fair, her darkened fragile frame close enough to him that her nose had to reach up towards his own to make eye contact, but a glimmer in her eyes more than inviting to a dance through touch with her. Wouldn’t she feel devastated upon his rejection, though not that she made it entirely clear that she wanted him to come in and share his warmth. Walk "Talk" Think

Ulric's ear twitched at the slight sound of movement, bringing his attention away from the window and back to the woman in front of him. Silver eyes connected with blue as she took a step closer to him, the look she was giving him wiping away his tangled thoughts and putting a whole new kind of conflict in its place. The deeper, more primal cravings sang through and tried to over power his own objections. It became very clear in that moment why his sleep deprived mind had pulled him here despite the emotional turmoil and grief he was still processing. Her words echoed his sentiments and he started to see that there was a hole in both of their lives, a hurt that they don't share with others - until now. Her children and their father a great distance away, his mate missing and children that were feeling more and more disconnected from him as time went on. This painful loneliness was something they both experienced... something they could fix.

Besides that one step closer to him she left that gap between them, her gaze inviting him closer and drawing him in. There was a conflict and a guilt that still twisted in his stomach, but there was also a deep seated desire for some kind of relief. He had reached a point where he either needed to find an outlet for what he was feeling or he was going to break. This was his tipping point. There was a heavy moment of hesitation as his gaze searched hers even though trying to sort through his thoughts was like trying to see through mud. He quietly rose to his paws and took another step closer to her, now peering down into the clear blue eyes of the far smaller wolf in front of him. He bent his head down toward Aranea's hesitating just shy of his muzzle touching hers.

It felt like something magnetic was pulling him in and after another heart beat of resistance he finally let himself give in. He gently brushed the side of his muzzle against hers, his eyes closing for a moment as he shifted closer and let his scarred cheek lean into hers, his ears flicking back and brows pulling together. Feeling another's touch was almost overwhelming in a way he hadn't been expecting. Her lightly floral scent filled his nose as pressed his face into the fur on the side of her neck. It was like giving an addict the thing they had been craving the more he let himself indulge in her presence.

After a few moments he finally allowed himself to pull back enough to be able to open his eyes and let his gaze find hers again, searching them as if he just needed to confirm to himself that this moment was real and he hadn't been misreading the signs that she had been giving him. Eventually he sank down next to where she had been previously laying and looked to her in a similar way to how she had looked at him - inviting her closer to join him against his side.

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The feeling of his hesitation was needed almost more than the touch he was about to prescribe. The hint of a wrong doing that crept underneath her skin she would make noticeable, but the thought of Ulric desiring her made the empty feeling they both had fill. The way he lingered made Aranea almost believe he paused for the dramatic effect, so that when they finally gave in to each other it would feel more than was demanded by their body’s missing piece. She would’t give in only to force him to bring the final touch in the start of their dance. Her body lightly pushed into his but the force felt beyond what they desired as he began to almost melt into her, she giving him the same in response. Gently nestling her tiny nose deep into his fur as they moved along the check and neck, there was no hesitation from Aranea which may have made it clear to Ulric that she was in fact not partial to Allegro if he even had the idea, but honestly there was neither a truth or lie to the statement. Even if he chose to put it on his mind that he could have been more desirable than the unknown man. Her behavior certainly showing a entirely different side of her than she had before, even if she she had hinted through compliments and eye tag. A seductive nature would not be found outside this room or in the daylight where everyone could see her true nature. As Ulric pulled away, Aranea looked back to him with a longing that had been partially filled, not ready to give up where they had left off. It wouldn’t be his intention to do so as she took gentle steps into his direction while he found place to cozy himself. Her emotion was outwardly fulfilling and still demanding though she didn’t hold a big ole overly eager grin. Her body swelled with lust as a mistress, and this wasn’t the first time she had craved such behavior. She willingly gave in to Noir, and Allegro, and while she loved the children that were made between her and the Abaven man, it was a silent and ignored thought of what she desired more. She easily joined Ulric, laying down beside his massive body. She turned her belly in to touch his side while a delicate paw gently landed and brushed against his shoulder. Her nose staying lined with his in the event he wanted to push himself back in, her eyes lost in a trance while begging for his own gaze and attention. The thought of someone in the castle catching the two of them exciting but also uninvited. Because what would the rest of them think while Ulric was missing his wife and Aranea had children and a father in a far away land? Walk "Talk" Think

The more he lingered and hesitated while he wrestled with his own emotions, the more he could feel that desire and longing rolling off of her in waves. The way she looked at him and the assuredness in her movements as they pressed into each other pulled his own lust from the depths, making it burn brighter than the indecision and guilt that threatened to derail him. There was a confidence in her that he hadn't noticed in their other interactions and a seductiveness that surprised him. The compliments and glances she had given him before had been hard to read, but there was no mistaking this. There was certainly something to be said about being wanted, especially when fighting with crushing loneliness like he had been. It didn't even really matter if she specifically wanted him over anyone else or if she just had a craving that she wanted to satisfy. For that moment it was just them blocked off from the rest of the world in this room and he was drinking in the attention she was giving him like someone that had been lost in the desert finally finding water. Occasionally that guilt of feeling like he was betraying Azariah while she was missing and her condition unknown kept threatening to creep in, but with every look Aranea gave him that was filled with burning lust it pushed those thoughts down further and further till they were just a faint whisper that he could no longer hear.

As she laid down with him, he shifted onto his side as well, his forelegs coming up to wrap around her sides and pull her in against him. She was such a tiny little thing and made her feel incredibly feminine and delicate in his paws. The touch of her chest and stomach laying tight against his own only emphasized the fire that she was stoking in him, sending it roaring to life. The foreleg that rested against the floor remained wrapped tightly around her to support her against him while his other paw dared to begin exploring her back and side, his large paw only emphasizing how much he dwarfed her. Meanwhile he tucked his head down over hers, her head against his chest while he nuzzled into the soft fur around the back of her neck and scruff. The more her scent intoxicated him the more he lost himself in her. He left trails of licks and nibbles all along her face and neck. As strange as it seemed, he wasn't that concerned about whether she returned those affections or not. He was enjoying her and that was enough. He enjoyed giving almost more than receiving in these moments and this was beginning to fill that void, that craving that he didn't have another outlet to satisfy it with.

At some point he ended up rolling with her, holding himself above her slender frame while he continued to get lost in the heady swirl of lust, desire, and even relief. In a way it felt like he was accepting his grief and moving past it even though there was no real resolution. At this point he didn't know if there would ever be an answer to the hole Azariah had left and it was easier to fill that gap and drown those emotions than it was to search out an answer that would most certainly hurt him one way or another. If Azariah had left him intentionally then he'd have to face that heartbreak and if she had been killed there would still the pain of loss to face. For at least one night he wanted to give up on his own emotions and let himself indulge in the pleasures that Aranea promised. He tucked his head into the crook of her neck and gave in completely to that fire that was burning from the inside out, finding the only thing that could possibly extinguish it as he gave into Aranea, her pale form and blue gaze the only thing filling his mind.

- fade? -

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No words would be shared between them, but none were needed. It was possible that even sharing more outspoken feelings could have ruined the moment. Aranea, unfortunately to Allegro, did not have him on her mind. Though the warmth now with Ulric still had an evil, dirty feeling lingering, it wasn't something she chose to ignore. Maybe her lost years in her depression made her this way. She had missed out on most of her life, as Allegro had, maybe even as Ulric had though she wasn't sure anything of his history. But the wolf her young self was had been extremely twisted by the betrayal of Tyranis and what she had done to herself in the aftermath. Ulric pulled her into him, her own body tensing as if she couldn't be close enough. Her head pushed into him like the affection of a feline before she gently brushed the fur of his chest through her teeth in tiny nibbles. As Ulric had wanted to care and please Aranea, for her it was only enough that such a strong man held her in his grasp. She liked to feel delicate, beautiful, and wanted. And it was almost like the bigger the man, the more she felt secure. As giving as Aranea was with her body or her actions, it honestly didn't matter what kind of man she was pleasing, as long as they held her or made her feel desirable the way Ulric was. Outside the room Aranea was sure to not necessarily act like nothing had happened, but as was noticed she was not the same woman she was from the day to the night. As if the moon filled her with a seductive power and nature. While pressed into Ulric, she wouldn't strain as he turned her over. These things always came naturally to her, and her body while having it's own needs let the other take the control they wanted and how they wanted to be while she was still in sync with them. She hadn't once rejected anyone for what they wanted. Tyranis included. And she wouldn't now or later for Ulric. Or Allegro. It seemed calling someone a mate wouldn't be on her future agenda and it hadn't even crossed her mind while Ulric gave in to her. She was now only focused in the few moments she would be intertwined with him. -Fade- Walk "Talk" Think

The first rays of light came through his window in the morning, hitting his face and pulling him from his sleep. Ezra grumbled sleepily and stuck his face under one of the furs to avoid the intruding sunshine for a while longer. He didn't get to stay asleep too much longer though because Aquila landed on the window sill, his talons gripping around the ledge of stone. Ezra always left the window cracked so if the eagle wanted to come in or get to him for any reason he could, though Aquila did tend to stay outside most of the time. Some shrill chirping noises from the avian alerted Ezra to his companion's presence, to which the young man gave some muffled sounds of protest. The eagle was quite insistent though, as he always was, and eventually Ezra sighed and pulled his head out from under the fur blanket. "Fiiiine, fine. I'm up."

He climbed out of bed with a long stretch and a shake of his speckled coat before walking out of his room and into the hallway so he could go out to meet up with the black and chestnut eagle that seemed all to intent on getting their day going as soon as possible. As he passed by the rooms that belonged to his siblings, he glanced in to see if anyone was up as well, but it seemed like he would be the first one out today. Fine by him, at least he got to get out of the castle before anyone could bother him. As he was passing by his father's room though he noticed the door was wide open which was unusual. Even though his father did like to have a pretty early patrol, this was early even for him. Ezra gave a shrug and continued on his way at first, but when he got to the open corridor that opened up to the stairs and the balcony overlooking the courtyard, he happened to notice that the freshest trail of Ulric's scent didn't lead to the stairs at all.

He didn't know why he even cared, but something just wasn't quite adding up. His father was usually on such a strict routine that Ezra could almost always guess where he was going to be - mostly for the purposes of avoiding him. This was off of his usual path and it was enough to alert the boy that something was going on. With a little frown he followed Ulric's scent down one of the other hallways that he didn't usually go down. It took him a little bit of tracking, but eventually the trail led him to the door of a random room toward the northern side of the castle. The door was open the smallest bit, leaving a crack where the light from a window inside the room could escape. He could smell his father's scent here really strongly, but there was someone else's scent here too and it wasn't someone he recognized right away.

There was a long moment where he just stood outside the door debating with himself, trying to decide if he should intrude or not. The curiosity finally got the better of him and he slowly stuck his nose inside the door, quietly opening it just enough for him to stick his head inside. His gaze landed on his father's curled up, sleeping form. Ulric's back was facing him so at first he didn't see who else was with him, but as his father shifted in his sleep Ezra spotted the little gray and white healer that he had seen around the pack a few times against his side. Ezra's eyes slowly widened with shock as he pieced together the puzzle of what was going on. His jaw dropped open and he stumbled back out of the doorway, in absolute shock at what he saw, confusion and anger bubbling up in his chest. He took off down the hall the way he came, racing down the stairs and out of the castle. He kept going till he was out of the castle grounds entirely, Aquila's call cutting through the air as the eagle spotted him and took flight to follow him.

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After everything was said and done, Ulric had curled around Aranea and fallen right to sleep. Aranea's presence was like the final piece he needed to relax. Even if it was a temporary solution and even if the decision had been made in a fit of passion, he would still take full advantage of it to get a decent night's sleep for the first time since the move to the castle. It was all incredibly short sighted, but with where he was mentally that was just about as far as he could possibly look into the future. The sunlight that slowly began to fill the room as morning took hold of the world outside started to gently pull him awake. It took a moment as he blinked his eyes open to piece together where he was and when he glanced toward Aranea the memories from the night before slowly came back. There was still that little bit of conflicting emotions that tugged at him, but he couldn't help but smile gently as he looked at her tucked into his side.

The scramble of claws against stone right outside the door made him jump slightly and his head turned quickly to look at the gap in the door that he was sure was larger than where he had left it the night before. Dread pulled at his gut as he carefully untangled himself from Aranea and padded over to the door in question, pushing it open further to look for who it might have been. There was no one there, but his son's scent was unmistakable. That dread and guilt hit him like a pile of bricks and his head drooped under the weight as he backed away from the door. Of all the wolves that could have caught him here... Hell, even if it had to be one of his children, why did it have to be the one child that he struggled with the most?

He grit his teeth, mostly just from anger and disappointment in himself. It was hard to untangle his emotions because he couldn't even find a reason to regret what they had done... he mostly just regretted his son finding out this way. He sighed and turned back toward Aranea, his ears flicking back. "It was Ezra... I... I've got to go. I'm sorry." He hurried out of the room, loping with long strides out of the castle as he tried to follow the path Ezra had taken to find his son and see if there was any hope of mending the damage he had done.

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Aranea would barley feel a need to move from Ulrics grasp as they finished, his limbs relaxing around her body as they snuggled in to each other before calming enough to fall asleep. While sleep wasn't hard for her to fight now for many reasons, the exhilaration and her longing desires filled, she still did not want to fall into her dreams. Allegro may have been witness to her nightmares, but not that he had asked her about them. And they weren't every night but there was always a chance they were and in the presence of Ulric she did not want that tonight. But still she fell right into place embraced by his warmth, her tummy and head curled into his chest. Only lucky the the nightmares of her first children and lover wouldn’t take over her tonight. Sometime in the night she rolled to where her back would lean into Ulric’s strong frame, though her movement didn’t bother her even a second. She was deep in sleep as Ulric stirred before awaking, but as his body dragged to inspect their peeper her head rose and followed with his leaving body like lead attached to his frame. While neither of them may not have known the true nature of their night together, Aranea still wasn’t ready to let it end. Her eyes fluttering in his direction as Ulric gazed out in the hall, turning to tell her it was Ezra. How unfortunate. It was something that neither one of them considered she was sure, but where Ulric felt a guilt for his son finding something out like this in this way, Aranea felt a small guilt for letting Ulric stay afterwards. Even just spending a short time cuddling could have sufficed, but Aranea didn’t intend to let him stay through the night for the fact of anyone finding out, especially his children. Ulric would be gone before she could say a word, not that it would upset her. She rose to go into her door way just in time to see him fleeing the castle. It was better for her to stay here while she had never truly met Ezra face to face. She knew it would only make matters worse if she intervened and tried to explain herself. Walk "Talk" Think