Tamsyn had been waiting anxiously at the border with Ulric when Eilwen came and informed them of what had happened and what needed to be prepared. She had hurried around the infirmary, guided by Gwynevere's companion, and got everything set up to treat this man that had apparently saved her daughter's life and then hurried out with Ulric to meet the pair when they arrived, watching the huge, earthen male collapse before they even made it to the castle. It had taken them all to get him into the castle and onto one of the cots, but they had managed and then she hung back, leaving the room for a while so Gwynevere could finish treating her patient, poking her head in every once in a while just to see how things were going. She could see the worry on her daughter's face for a while, but her daughter always looked worried. There were few times she didn't these days.

It had already been pretty late when they got back to the castle and by the time Gwynevere was satisfied it was the dead of night. Tamsyn sent her to her room to get some much needed rest and then made her way down to the infirmary herself, wanting to check on their guest and personally thank him for helping Gwyn. The castle was extremely quiet, just the occasional crackling of a fire burning as she passed the occasional fire place and the sound of her claws clicking on stone breaking the silence. She slipped into the room quietly, peering across the beds at the singular form that occupied it. She didn't want to keep him from his rest, but she saw him shift and thought he might still be awake so she proceeded forward, stopping once she was in his light of sight, leaving a bit of comfortable space between them.

"Hello," she said quietly, giving him a gentle smile. "It's... Kane, right? I'm Tamsyn. I just wanted to thank you for helping my daughter." As she spoke she took in his appearance, really seeing him for the first time now that she wasn't in a frantic rush to get him treated. If she could have pictured someone perfectly built to camouflage themselves among a forest he would certainly come close to that. The scars that littered his face, chest, and limbs drew her curiosity, as did the feathers that seemed to be tied into the fur at the top of his scruff. Perhaps what caught her off guard most though was the fact that his size, stature, and the saber fangs he bore were so eerily similar to Sirius. It felt like just yesterday that she had been here with her friend, tending to him while he recovered from the fight with Artorias, when really it had been weeks since that day. She pushed that thought away though, instead focusing on this stranger and his interesting hazel eyes.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Kane had only barely managed to stay on his feet throughout the journey back to the Hallows. Gwynevere had been so patient and gentle with him, checking on the limping man almost every step of the way and keeping him talking, probably so she would know he was still kicking. But as their trek wound on, Kane's gait became more and more unsteady, aching muscles and fatigued brain working against him. The headache had turned into a pull on pounding inside his skull I time with his beating heart, his vision fading in and out as blackness crept into the edges of his periphery. His breathing was hard and labored, punctuated by the occasional grunt as he forced himself forward. By the time the two wolves had reached the border that reeked of other wolves, Kane was incoherently mumbling to himself. He saw the silhouettes of two wolves coming towards them—and then he saw the ground as he collapsed where he stood. Darkness finally overtook his vision, and Kane slipped seamlessly out of consciousness.

In the empty void of nothingness, Kane felt like he was floating. He was only distantly aware of someone poking and prodding, putting pressure here and adjusting something there all across his body. It was like his mind was watching and feeling what his body felt through proxy, detached yet connected at the same time. His heart beat continued to fill his ears, thumping strong and steady, preventing him from dying. At some point during his experience, Kane regained consciousness for just long enough to see Gwynevere tending to his wounds, his body numb to the stings of pain from his body protesting to her touches. He tried to lift his head to show signs of life, but his body felt like it was made of lead, and all he could do was flex his paws and give a quiet whine. Then he was gone again.

When Kane woke up, the world was dark. Everything was quiet, save for the occasional crackle of a fire somewhere in the room. His muscles still felt sore and tired, but the pain had all but subsided from his body by now. Gwyn must have given him some incredible painkillers for him to not even feel the hole in his shoulder anymore. With a low groan, the injured brute shifted and raised his head to gather his surroundings. He was in a room made of stone, wooden cots with old mattresses arranged about the space. He was occupying one of the cots, reclined into the plush bedding with some furs draped over him, the mattress stained in some spots with his dried blood from where Gwyn had worked on him. Two thin windows on the far wall allowed silvery moonlight to stream into the infirmary, coupled with the orange glow from the fireplace opposite the windows created an almost ethereal glow in the room. Kane was alone for now, but he didn't mind the solitude, especially not at night. He glanced outside the window at the starry night sky, giving a soft whine of longing while he watched the stars twinkle. He couldn't go outside, so he would have to miss his prayer for tonight.

The sound of claws clicking quietly against stone caught the brute's acute hearing, his head snapping to the only doorway in and out of the room in time to spot a smaller wolf slipping inside like a living shadow, graceful and fluid, and black as midnight. The white fur accenting around her face was stark to the rest of her, noticeable even at a distance, and highlighting her mint green eyes which he saw when she came closer to his bed, leaving a respectable distance between them. Kane just watched her move for a moment, briefly considering if Death had adopted a much more pleasant form to try and claim him with, until the stranger began to speak. Her words her soft and mellifluous, and her smile was kind and warm. She introduced herself as Tamsyn, Gwynevere's mother, and thanked him for saving the girl. He could tell she was a mother; she bore the aura of love and care that all mothers should have.

Kane returned her smile, his a little more wild and roguish, but greatly subdued from general weariness and the high amount of painkillers in his system. "Hello, Tamsyn," he replied, his voice still a little rough from fatigue and how parched he had become during his surgery, though it was clear his voice would always be husky and low. "I can see the family resemblance between you two. Your daughter is one hell of a medic." He chuckled under his breath, then nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, my name's Kane. It's a pleasure to meet you."

In the low light, he could just make out the shapes of the scars over the right side of her feminine features, and an intense curiosity to ask about them burned in his brain. He restrained himself for now though, contenting himself to share basic pleasantries with his host. "Gwynevere saved my life. I owe you all a debt for your care and hospitality. Without you, I'd be dead." He gazed into those deep pools of unique mint seeming to shine brightly in the dark as he spoke, holding her gaze while she seemed to be inspecting him—sizing him up, perhaps? He wondered what her final appraisal of him would be.

"Kane"

Tamsyn grinned with pride when Kane complimented Gwynevere's skills as a medic, nodding in agreement. "She is. She's always been extremely bright." All of her children were intelligent, kind wolves, but Gwynevere had really gotten the lion's share when it came to both of those things. She had Gwynevere to thank for her own life as well and she just wished that her daughter understood how invaluable she was to them. Of course, she was just as proud of all of her children because that's just how she was as a mother. She truly felt like she had gotten incredibly lucky with all of her pups.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, Kane," she said in return when he confirmed his name. She settled down onto her haunches as he went on to mention the debt he owed them for his life. She hadn't meant to come bother him for more than a moment, but she was also just as happy to sit and have a conversation with their guest. She certainly wasn't going to be sleeping well since she hadn't in ages so this felt like a far better use for her time than laying in bed, staring at a wall. She gave him a shake of her head as she replied, "No debt needed. You saved my daughter's life and that is by far enough. Besides, that's just what The Hallows was founded on. Offering help and sanctuary to those who need it." She remembered being surprised when Resin told her the premise of the pack that she had dreamed of considering her late mate's warrior past, but had been equally as touched and taken by the idea.

"What's your story, Kane?" she asked curiously, "Are you from around this area?"

Tamsyn Carpathius

That motherly pride shone through her grinning expression when he praised Gwynevere's talents as a healer. He truly was impressed by her ingenuity when she cobbled together an effective medical treatment for him despite the lack of useful supplies in the forest. As a healer himself, he could tell the young girl was going to be an impressive doctor one day soon enough. Tamsyn sat where she stood, both wolves still watching the other closely, and it was clear that this was not going to be a quick social call. Not that he minded, of course. He had been on his own for some time, and after having slept most of the day away it seemed, he wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to go back to sleep just yet. But Tamsyn surely had to need her beauty rest though, right? So what was the jet black fae doing roaming the castle halls at gods know what hour? Surely she couldn't still be up to check up on him. He was touched, but even Kane knew he wasn't that special to deserve that sort of attention.

Tamsyn explained that the role of the Hallows—the pack's name, he recalled—was to provide shelter and aid to those in need. He pouted a lip thoughtfully and nodded his head slowly. It was an admirable cause he had to admit, selfless and self-sacrificing by its very nature. They would reap great karma here, and if they stuck true to their mission statement, would be well renowned by the other wolves of Boreas and Auster. "That's quite an altruistic goal, Tamsyn," he noted. "I didn't do anything special for Gwynevere though. I would have done the same for any child." And he would have. No wolf deserved to die that young, right at the start of their lives. Gwyn had so much to look forward to, and he refused to let an irritable overgrown feline steal that away from her. Tamsyn questioned him about himself, where he was from, what his story was. Kane cocked a crooked grin and chuckled under this breath, a soft rasping of amused exhales while he reclined back into the bed some. This was indeed not going to be a quick visit, it seemed.

Kane let out a soft whistle and said, "That is quite a question, Tamsyn. I'm afraid I might keep you up all night with that tale." He shot her a lighthearted smirk. "I'm a hunter. That's the simplest way to put it, I suppose. And no, I'm not from around here. I don't exactly hail from anywhere in particular." He shifted his weight on the bed, groaning a little as his shoulder pulled a little more than he liked. "Damn, that's gonna leave a good one!" He smiled like an eager puppy getting a new toy. He was so excited to get a killer new scar to remind him of the fight with the tiger that had almost killed him. "My family—my birth pack—we were nomadic. Didn't take any lands, didn't stay anywhere long-term. So I'm from a little bit of everywhere." Deciding to turn this into a game of twenty questions, he turned the question back on her. "And yourself? Are you a Boreas native? Auster born?"

"Kane"

Tamsyn nodded in appreciation when he mentioned that he would have done the same for any child - something she could readily agree to. Being a mother had been a shock and a surprise to put it nicely, but she had taken to it almost immediately. Even before that though, her own experience as a child made her only want better and joy for any pups she happened across. She lifted a curious brow above her left eye - her right eye wasn't nearly as mobile or expressive as it had once been - at the grin and chuckles that he gave in response to her questions, wondering what about his life story made him laugh so.

She got her answer when he explained that he'd keep her up all night with the tale of his life and she returned that smirk with a knowing one of her own. She knew that feeling. Sometimes she felt like she had lived three lifetimes in the span of one and she didn't suppose she was going to be done any time soon. A hunter, he described himself as, and just from looking at him she could believe that. He looked like he was made for taking down larger game. She also wasn't surprised when he said he wasn't from around here. It was strange and she couldn't explain why, but it was usually pretty easy to pick out the immigrants from the ones that were born here like her children. Maybe it was mostly because she herself was not from these lands so it was easy to pick out who had similar paths in life as she did.

Her ears twitched with concern when he groaned as he shifted, one of his wounds clearly hurting him, but her concern was swept away by the huge, puppy like grin he gave in response, mentioning how that was going to "leave a good one". Her curiosity for this dire male only continued to grow the longer she sat here. A good what? A scar? He was excited about a scar? She tucked away her questions as he continued on, explaining the nomadic nature of his birth pack, causing him to be from a bit of everywhere in the end. As expected, the same question was returned to her and she chuckled as she got up, turning to hop onto the cot that sat just behind her.

"I might be keeping you up all night at this rate," she joked as she settled onto her side, stretching out comfortably across from him, just the aisle between the beds separating them. "No, I'm not from Boreas or Auster. I grew up in a mountain valley pretty far from here, in a pine forest. The pack I grew up in was not nearly as... enjoyable as it seems like yours was. Especially as a female." The joy in her smile faded a bit, but it still remained on her lips all the same. "I'm... a fighter, I guess? Mostly by trade. When I landed in Boreas I was taken in by a different pack - the Armada - and their leader taught me to fight and that's what I've done since then. Well, until I became a mother, at least. That softened me up quite a bit." She chuckled, smiling a bit more as she thought about the unexpected turn her life took.

She cast another curious glance his way as she mentioned, "You seemed awfully excited to have that wound," with a nod toward his shoulder. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone that excited to get a scar." She had more than a few of her own and she couldn't say she had ever been pleased to receive any of them.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Despite the little amount of detail he was putting into his answers, Tamsyn seemed as curious about him as ever, raising her left brow and never taking her eyes off of him for a moment. Did the Hallows not get very many visitors being this far south, or was it because she was him as some kind of hero for saving her daughter? Whatever the reason, Kane was glad to have her company. It kept him from being miserable at being bedridden while he healed, and judging by the severity of his shoulder wound at the very least, he would be healing for a while. The dire brute made a mental note to be sure to give back to the pack that had provided so much hospitality for him once he regained the ability to stand on his own four feet. Her quip about keeping him up all night now garnered a rough laugh as the brute situated himself to lie more comfortably while facing Tamsyn while she occupied a medical cot beside his.

He hung his big paws off the edge of the cot, watching her with intrigue in swirled hazel eyes while she detailed where she came from, a mountainous region far from here, to a pack of misogynists. A frown tugged at his lips while he considered what a terrible life that must have made for her, but she didn't elaborate, and he didn't press further. There was pain in those memories; he could see it in her eyes. He followed her story to her arrival in Boreas, to joining a pack called the Armada and becoming a fighter for them. They did sound like a formidable force—or maybe that they were trying a little too hard to sound intimidating. He cocked a wry smirk at the notion of someone compensating for something by naming their pack "the Armada". "Well, if the way you've raised your daughter is any sign, I'd say motherhood suits you," he remarked. "How many children do you have? I think Gwynevere mentioned a brother...?" He didn't think he'd met any of her other children yet, but he had also been pretty doped up on painkillers and in and out of consciousness so he couldn't exactly remember very clearly.

Kane followed her gesture to his shoulder, flashing his teeth in a spirited smile, showing every canine and his larger sabers with pride and mirth. "I don't know about being excited for the wound. More excited to be alive," he said, correcting her assumption gently. "In my culture, scars are trophies. We gain them during hunts, during fights, throughout our lives, collected like artwork of our adventures upon our bodies. Each one is a memento of a time Death could have claimed us, yet we won out in the end, either by our strength, our fortitude, or our wits." His eager expression dialing back a bit, Kane continued to speak softer now, husky voice warm and rich like an aged bourbon. "Our scars tell of our stories, our triumphs, our losses. They are beautiful and unique, and something to be celebrated and respected, not hidden or shamed by."

His hazel eyes flickered between her foreleg and her face, the unasked question lingering in his gaze. He would not press her to tell him anything she was uncomfortable with, especially since they were both strangers still. Scars could carry painful memories with them, and he knew many carried a stigma around them to keep them concealed, not revered. In time, if she wished to tell him, she could—if he was still lingering around by then. He hadn't forgotten about his quarry hiding somewhere out beyond the castle walls.

"Kane"

She chuckled softly when he asked how many children she had, an amused grin pulling across her lips. "Well, I gave birth to five. Gwynevere, Artorias, Rudyard, Daphne, and Bowen. Their other mother, my late mate, she brought home two more pups shortly after that she found out in the world and added them to our family as well. Avantika and Grimshaw. So I've had seven children so far." So far. As if she would ever have any more. Resin's words still echoed in the back of her mind, urging her to find someone else to make her happy, but she still wasn't so sure. But the pain of losing Resin as still so fresh that it was hard to say. Perhaps she might get to be a mother again one of these days. All she knew was that she didn't want to do it alone.

The grin he gave her when she spoke of his wound intrigued her and she happily listened as he explained that it wasn't necessarily the wound, but the fact that he was still alive. Her head tilted to the side curiously when he went on to describe how his culture viewed scars and it was a concept she had never thought about or considered before. The closest she had ever gotten was when she first met Resin and they had shared stories about their scars and were able to relate to one another in that way. But to see them as trophies, as artwork on their bodies, as mementos... That was a new thought for her and it made her gaze flicker to his scars again. It made her curious to hear the stories behind each of his mementos, the same way she had asked about Resin's once upon a time. Her gaze lifted back to his as his expression and voice softened, mint finding hazel as she listened to his warm, rich voice. Beautiful and unique, to be celebrated and respected. Things that she had never dreamed of thinking in regard to her scars. The only looks she had ever received was sympathy or perhaps anger toward the wolves that had put them there when it came to Resin and Sirius. But these other things...

She suddenly realized she was just staring into his eyes as all these thoughts went though her mind and her face flushed, a small, embarrassed smile pulling at her lips as she looked down toward her forelegs. She had seen the question in his eyes, the same question that had lingered in her eyes as she looked across his body at the various he wore as well. She left her gaze lowered to her leg, but shifted it to hold it out to him, rotating the limb slightly so that the light from the near by fire caught on the worst of them. "These are all from my father or brother," she explained quietly, her gaze far away. "All of them punishments for when I tried to step out of line, talk back, ask to join in on the training the boys were doing, disagreed with anything my father told us to do, tried to go exploring, tried to leave the valley..." The list went on and on. She could still remember a few of the specific instances for some of the larger, deeper scars, but for the most they had all blended together in her mind just as they had along her foreleg. "Looking appealing to the men of the pack was important so that you could be mated off to one of the other men when you came of age so when my father started punishing me like this he would only ever bite this leg. I guess he hoped that it would keep me from having large scars elsewhere or that they would be less noticeable, but then he just gave me so many that it didn't matter."

Pulling her leg back, she turned and lifted her head, showing him a scar at the top of her neck, right under her jaw, that he might not have noticed before. The thicker fur around her neck usually hid it pretty well. "Also from my father," she explained, "from the last night I ever saw them." She finally brought her gaze back to his. There was pain in her expression, but it was distant. It was a very old scar at this point and it was trauma that she didn't often think about except for in the occasional nightmare. "He had bartered and begged every single male in our pack to take me when it was time for me to be mated off. I was going to be his responsibility until he found me a mate, but no one would. They saw me as damaged goods, a trouble maker. He was furious, but the only real law in our religion was that there could be no murder. So he attacked me, injured me badly enough that I should have died, and then sent me out into the woods. Banishing me from the pack. He essentially tried to murder me without knowingly having blood on his paws."

That only left one, the most noticeable, the freshest. She sighed and brought a paw to the right side of her face, gently brushing the edges of the scar that dipped down over the curve of her cheek. "This one..." her ears flicked, the pain more obvious in her expression this time as she glanced away. "This one I got from my mate. She had an illness of the mind, completely lost herself. Right at the beginning of it she had these horrible nightmares and one night I tried to wake her up from one and... I didn't move out of the way fast enough. She had unusually sharp serrated teeth, made the bite worse than it probably would have been otherwise. I got away, locked her in our room. Artorias found me and took me to Gwynevere. She saved me." She was quiet for a long moment, dropping her paw from her cheek. She gave a soft, short chuckle and added, "I suppose Death really has something against me by your logic, huh?"

Tamsyn Carpathius

Kane couldn't keep the wide smile off his face when Tamsyn proudly boasted of her family of seven, five blood and two by choice. So many children for a family! He had been wondering where her mate was to help her in all this, until she referred to the wolf as her late mate. Kane's smile faltered, an empathy evident in his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he spoke with a solemn reverence for the departed. He didn't know how recent or sore the wound on her heart would still be, and was careful not to offer too many sympathies. He wasn't overly fond of them himself, and she didn't seem like the type to care for them either. "I was right though: you were made to be a mother. Seven little fur balls?" He let out a whistle and chuckled. "You had your paws full, huh?" While his words were lighthearted, there was an underlying respect for the wolf lying across from him. It took a special kind of soul to be a parent, an even more special one to be a good parent, but to do that for seven pups? Tamsyn might as well have been a goddess of virtue and patience.

It didn't go unnoticed by the perceptive wolf how Tamsyn was looking at him, paying attention to him, hanging off every word he said as he told her about how he viewed scars. He could see the intrigue in her mint-green gaze, see the gears turning in her head. Something he had said had gotten her mind working, though he couldn't immediately tell why. It was only once he'd finished and she held his gaze for a long moment before turning away shyly to look down at her scarred foreleg did he begin to put the pieces together. Nobody had ever given her a positive way to look at the marks that painted the canvas of her body until now. After a few moments she began to shift, Kane watching with a curious expression while she extended her foreleg towards him. She detailed the old wounds, all coming from her father and brother. He glanced from her foreleg up to her as he reached a slow, tentative paw out toward her, giving her ample time to pull away if she didn't want him to touch her. If she didn't, his bigger paw would take hers ever so gingerly in his grasp, turning her leg this way and that with such care as if she were made of porcelain, inspecting the marks on her leg and running a paw over each one like he were inspecting an assortment of precious stones.

Kane listened with rapt attention while Tamsyn told him of her pack's culture, and how she had been as a youngling: rebellious and disobedient. It brought a devilish grin back to his face when he pictured her, this sweet, motherly wolf as a rowdy adolescent. He released her paw once she retracted it, then showed him another scar just below her jaw that had been all but obscured by her thick, black fur. His expression darkened again when she showed it to him and revealed how it had been given to her. He visibly cringed, doing his best not to think about just how close that scar ran to her jugular, and how close she would have come to dying from it. Her father really had tried to kill her. But she survived, survived long enough to move her story on to the most obvious scars around the right side of her visage. Those had been the first he had noticed, and also the freshest, the ones he was most curious about. Had she gotten into a fight with a bear? A shark? A tiger?

The answer was far darker than any big predator. Tamsyn's own mate had attacked her in a hysterical fit during a nightmare while her mind deteriorated. Kane's expression soured while he listened to the trauma and horrors Tamsyn had endured at the paws of her own ailing mate, and how her children had saved her. He silently wondered if the sickness was what had ultimately claimed her life, though the subject was obviously too sore and recent to ask. When she drifted off, Kane also remained quiet, letting only the sound of the snapping fire keep silence at bay until the jet black fae chuckled and stated Death had it out for her. Kane smirked and chuckled as well, his hazel eyes having never left Tamsyn's face the entire time. "Hmm, maybe... He's probably after you because you keep proving how strong you are. I don't know of any other wolves that could not only survive what you have, but to thrive in the aftermath." His smirk turned into another grin, a deeper chuckle rumbling in his chest and eyes flashing mischievously. "I bet Death's actually afraid of you, Tamsyn. I would be if I had to try and take you on."

Since Tamsyn had been open about her scars and he had seen her eyeing his own, Kane shifted to lift himself up a little more on the bed, the firelight and moonlight casting silver and orange across his body, over muscles and through fur to highlight every scar he bore. "This one—" He pointed to a set of four thin scars along the side of his neck. "—was from a mountain lion when I was very young. My first hunt as part of a rite of passage in my tribe was to track and kill a predator. I was cocky, I thought I could take a mountain lion with ease. After all, I had these—" He snapped his jaws to show off his saber fangs. "—and I felt invincible. The cat nearly nicked my jugular during the fight, missed by a hair. That was my first run-in with Death, the first time I saw him." He held out his left foreleg for her to inspect the large scar that cut through the teal banded fur on the leg. "This was from a fight with an invading pack that tried to raid us one night. I don't enjoy hurting other wolves, but I won't let anyone hurt my family, so I helped fight them off. One of the other wolves had a dagger, cut me right down my leg when I blocked him from going for my chest. Got the blade lodged about halfway up the muscle."

Laughing softly under his breath, Kane glanced over at his shoulder to his fresh injury. "This saber cat bite is definitely going to be another one worth telling, but you know that one already," he said, then glanced down at the three large scars across the breadth of his chest. "Heh... This was a bear. I think that one kinda speaks for itself." He glanced back at his rear end, continuing on, "I've got a couple smaller ones on my left thigh where a wild boar tried to gore me. The pig ended up just getting my leg and flipping me through the air! You can't really see them too well unless you get really close to my rump though." Kane's smile slowly slipped from his face, his eyes growing dimmer while he turned back to Tamsyn so she could see the scars across the bridge of his muzzle and over his right eye. "These..." he started, running a slow paw over the one that slashed neatly across his eye, "...are why I'm here in Auster. They were given to me by a massive wolf, bigger than me. Violent, deadly, evil... He killed someone close to me, so I've vowed he will be my final hunt. And I'm a damn good hunter."

The corners of Kane's mouth twitched into the ghost of a smirk, still trying to salvage the humor he had been trying to bring back to their conversation. "So it looks like Death has it out for both of us then, Tamsyn..." He drifted off, leaving an open space for Tamsyn to ask any questions she had about his scars, or fill the quiet with whatever she wanted to say.

"Kane"

She gradually looked up at him again when he began to confirm the thought that Death was after her, but turning it into a show of her strength, saying how Death must be afraid of her with a grin and a chuckle that was infectious. A slightly amazed grin tugged at her lips as she looked at this man who had not only saved her daughter and showed so much strength and kindness and now here he was, shifting her mind set, making it impossible for her to drift into the darkness that always seemed to consume her. She watched his face as he spoke and began sharing the story behind each of his many scars, starting with a set of them on his neck. As a mother she inwardly cringed and stressed, thinking of him as a young wolf facing off against a mountain lion, but outwardly she still wore a smile, her mint gaze shining with interest and curiosity about the man laying across from her. She gave him a curious look when he mentioned seeing Death, but he was already rolling into another story so she saved that for later.

When he brought attention to a long scar along the inside of his foreleg, telling her that it had been caused by a dagger used by an invading pack, she couldn't help but think of Artorias stabbing away at Sirius and was honestly just happy that it had only gotten Kane's leg in the tussle. As he moved the stories further down along his body her eyes followed suit, chuckling as she looked to where the saber cat bite was hidden under bandages and then to the trio of deep scars that went across his chest and up around the beginning of his shoulder. His simple answer caught her off guard a bit and she laughed, a genuine smile pulling across her lips and her tail thumping lightly against the cot. Hearing him tell these stories not as horrifying attacks or dangerous encounters brought a whole new appreciation to the story telling and she throughly enjoyed all of it, even though she couldn't help but worry over how many encounters he had gotten himself into with dangerous predators.

Her gaze trailed down to his thigh when he mentioned the marks a wild boar had left, though they were nearly impossible to see from here. She had no doubt that they were there though. Out of all of the stories he told it wasn't the craziest to believe. She half expected him to launch into another wild story and when he didn't she brought her gaze back to his face, seeing how his expression had fallen and his smile had slipped away. She blinked with surprise and her own smile faded as well, concern crossing her face. She looked to the scars across his face as he brought the attention to them, telling her of the deadly, massive dire wolf that had killed someone close to him and had given him these scars. Her heart twisted in her chest for him, but the story also hit a bit too close to home. She struggled to match the smirk he tried to give her as he mentioned how death must have it out for both of them. She was starting to believe that was true.

"Those giant wolves are what ended up taking my mate from me as well," she told him quietly after a moment of silence. He knew so much about her at this point, what was one more thing? "After she attacked me, she locked herself away in a cell in the dungeon. Stayed in there for most of a season. It effected the rest of her toward the end, made her thin and frail. I was staying down there with her along with one of our friends... I didn't want her to be alone when she passed and we thought for sure it would be any day. Then a group of those massive wolves attacked the pack. The howl from Ulric, the alpha, seemed to trigger something in her, brought her back for just a moment. She asked us to let her out, let her help." Her voice trembled as she spoke, but she kept going, refusing to stop until it was all out in the open. She hadn't spoken to anyone about what had happened since then and laying all her traumas out in front of him was oddly therapeutic. "She had been a strong, fierce warrior once upon a time. Seeing her wasting away in a cell hurt more than anything else. Even more than the scars she gave me. So I let her out. Let her die defending the pack she built."

She didn't regret letting Resin out, but the loss still hurt. Her mate had been gone from her for a long time now, but the death was still fresh and that had brought all the feelings of mourning she had felt toward the beginning of her decline back in force. "You said they killed someone close to you," she mentioned after a moment, her gaze curious, but a bit hesitant. She didn't want to push him for information, but she also couldn't keep herself from asking. "Who were they?"

Tamsyn Carpathius

Hearing Tamsyn's lyrical laugh and seeing that big, earnest smile illuminating her face made all of the storytelling worth it. Of course, Kane would have told her all of his stories regardless, since they were tales to be regaled and rejoiced in his many times he had evaded, eluded, and beaten Death. Tamsyn seemed like such a genuinely good and gentle soul with a kind heart, yet she carried so much sorrow and pain with her. She deserved to laugh, especially for the kindness and compassion she had shown him. His ultimate win came when he heard the soft thumping of her tail beating happily against the bed she was lying on. Kane took joy in other wolves' joy, and knowing Tamsyn was having a good time chatting with him did just the trick.

As the mood sobered some, Tamsyn told him how the giant dire wolves had been the cause of her late mate's death. Ah, so it wasn't the illness that had taken her away from her lover and family. He listened with quiet attentiveness while she told him how her mate had locked herself away in the castle dungeons to keep her family safe, wasting herself away, until the wolves attacked their pack. He nodded his head slow in understanding; he had known several wolves who were proud warriors. The thought of wasting away to a slow death would have been nothing short of torture for them, and it sounded like Tamsyn's late mate had been the same. It was respectable, if not a little foolhardy, but he could not fault those who sought their honor and glory by meeting Death head-on. He listened while Tamsyn fought her own emotions to tell him the story, and despite the quiver in her voice, she got it all out. Kane was staring down at his paws dangling off the edge of the cot, collecting his thoughts before peering back up at Tamsyn to lock gazes with the smaller yet fiercely stronger fae.

"If she's anything like the warriors I knew in my tribe, then I'm sure she appreciated you granting her the freedom to find her final purpose in her own ways," he spoke tenderly, hoping it would bring her some comfort to know that he thought she did the right thing. No wolf, especially not a proud warrior, should be allowed to rot away in a cage like a criminal. Tamsyn's voice disrupted his morose thoughts, snapping him back to her with a rapid blink and hazel meeting mint. Her words were hesitant, but curious all the same, and he could see the sorrow he had tried to chase away starting to reappear in her eyes. Who had he lost. Kane swallowed hard, briefly considering drawing the line there—but Tamsyn had been nothing but open and honest with him as far as he could tell. She needed this; this was cathartic to her. Perhaps it could be the same for him. "Her name was Tiva of the Meadows," he answered, voice low, barely above a whisper that sounded like a growl of words as he spoke, deep and masculine. "Once upon a time, I thought I would marry her."

Kane drew in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds, turning to look out the window at the stars. He released the breath in a deep sigh, glancing back to Tamsyn. If he was going to tell this story, he was going to give her the decency of looking her in the eyes the way she had when she bore her emotional scars to him. "In my tribe, before a couple can receive a blessing to be mated, they must complete a unity challenge. Usually these challenges consist of something that blend the couple's passions or skills for them to tackle together. Tiva and I were both hunters, so we were tasked with a special hunt: track, kill, and butcher a bull moose for our celebration feast." He paused, lingering on the fringes of the next segment of the story, a rueful smirk playing on his lips. "Tiva was a brilliant hunter, but she was also reckless and arrogant. We managed to track a moose north, and once we found the biggest bull we could, she and I brought it down." The corners of his mouth quivered, caught in a silent growl. "While we were preparing to transport the carcass, he showed up..."

Hazel eyes burned with a hateful fire while he lost himself in the memory of that day so long ago. "The dire wolf... bigger than any wolf I've ever seen. He was snow white, with piercing red eyes, an albino I think. He demanded we hand over our kill. Well, Tiva and I weren't about to surrender all the hard work we'd put in to be wed, so we stood our ground. Only, when he continued to pressure us, Tiva didn't just hold the line... she became the aggressor... She went for the wolf to try and drive him off. I hurried to help her, but the dire wolf was too much for two young hunters to handle. He threw Tiva aside like she weighed nothing, and then he ripped and tore at me, leaving me with the scars on my face." Kane shook his head with disgust as he thought back on how foolish he had been, how many mistakes had been made in the heat of the moment, and how the story ended. "Eventually, he slammed my head into the ground and I blacked out. The last thing I remember seeing was Tiva getting back up and charging him with a snarl. When I woke up, it was almost night. The dire wolf was gone and so was our kill. Tiva..."

Kane hung his head, biting his tongue in his mouth to keep himself from choking on the words, but whether it was out of regret or rage he couldn't tell. "Tiva had been eviscerated, to put it lightly. She was barely recognizable, and very, very dead. I don't know if she suffered or if it was quick, and that probably haunts me the most to this day. The dire wolf, he must have seen all the blood from my face wounds and mistook me for dead and not unconscious. It's the only reason I can think of why he left me alive..." Kane's story drifted off into the ambiguity he found himself in today. There would be no resolution, no happy ending to speak of—not yet. Not until he'd completed his hunt. He looked back up to meet Tamsyn's eyes, an adamant resolution firm in his gaze. "I've been tracking that wolf ever since. It's been over a year, and every time I get a little bit closer. I followed him here, to Auster. I was preparing to face him when... well, here I am now."

He sighed, putting on another weak smile. She knew the rest of the story, since she was now a part of it. He had been gathering the herbs to use as poisons against the dire wolf when Gwyn had been attacked and he had been injured. But this would not hinder his hunt. He would still have his revenge on the wolf that had stolen his lover from him, and then he would have completed his life's goal. What came next? He had no idea. Maybe Death would come for him in his hunt too, and both he and the dire would expire together. If not, he had no next steps planned.

"Kane"

A faint smile pulled at her lips when Kane looked back up at her and told her that Resin was sure to have been appreciative of letting her go free to die in glory if she had been anything like the warriors he had known, giving him a nod of agreement. It was one of the few comforts she had in all of this - knowing that Resin went out fighting instead of dying to the illness that had pulled her away from them. It was like having a moment of control when everything else felt like it was so beyond their reach and out of their paws. The frown returned to her expression when he went on to answer the question of who he had lost even though she could see the reluctance in him to answer. She almost stopped him and told him that he didn't have to tell her if he didn't feel comfortable, but he spoke anyway, telling her about Tiva of the Meadows.

She was quiet and attentive as he told her about the traditions of his tribe and how the couples needed to complete a challenge to be allowed to marry, listening to him weave the story of the bull moose that they had tracked and killed for their celebration feast. The hatred in those hazel eyes was obvious as he talked about the albino dire wolf that would ultimately lead to the death of his fiancée. Her ears flicked nervously when he mentioned how Tiva wouldn't back down, bringing both of them into a fight as she tried to chase off this giant wolf, sympathy and anger mixing together in her expression. Even though it wasn't her fight, she still felt his pain with him wanted revenge on this dire wolf as well just for hurting this kind man the way he had. Dread filled her when he began to describe how he had found Tiva when he woke up, a mental image coming to her mind of how Osmond had looked when Resin had finished with him. Just a pile of meat and blood with scraps of fur and bones intermingled. She didn't know if Tiva had also ended up in that bad of a state, but either way, she understood the gore he was speaking of. Seeing Osmond in that state hadn't hurt her since that was in a way her revenge, but to know that he had seen the one he loved splayed open and ripped apart...

She struggled to pull on a faint smile to match his when he came to the end of his story - finding himself in Auster and preparing to face his greatest enemy when he got derailed and injured saving Gwynevere. She felt a little guilt that he was detoured away from his hunt for them, but in a way she was kind of glad. At least now they could help him accomplish his goal - or at least she could. But for now she tired to put that to the side. What had meant to be a simple visit had turned into a long sharing of hurts and traumas, both of them raw with their emotions. She didn't really know how to process that. Resin and Sirius had always been so hard to read when it came to emotions and for once it felt as if she knew exactly what he was feeling and exactly what had caused them. It was refreshing in some ways and overwhelming in others.

Seeing the pain in his expression, hearing the hurt in his voice, it only made her want to comfort him, but she didn't know how. "I'm so sorry," she told him quietly just as he had at the news that she had given of her mate's passing. That didn't really felt like it scratched the surface of how she felt for him, but it was a start. She had always believed that actions spoke louder than words so after a long moment of hesitation she rolled to her paws and stood, hopping down from the cot and crossing the small space between them. Her ears flicked uncertainly, but she thought about how gentle and lovely he had been when he was examining the scars that criss crossed around her leg and that pulled her in more. Standing next to his cot, she lifted a paw to his cheek, ever so lightly and gently tracing the scar that marred it. Beautiful and unique, to be celebrated and respected. That's what scars were to him and she wanted to believe that to be true.

"It's... lonely, losing the one you love," she mentioned softly as her paw shifted away from his face, her mint eyes finding his hazel ones again, searching them as she tried to determine if he felt the same pull that she did or if her heart crushing loneliness was getting the best of her again. She desperately didn't want to make the same mistake that she had with Sirius and, not only that, he was still a stranger. They had only just met. But was he really a stranger at this point if he knew all of her darkest moments? She had opened herself up to him without much of a thought, allowing this hunter to see every scar and hear their twisted stories. She rested a paw on the edge of his bed, her gaze questioning and hesitant. "May I?" she asked just as softly. She wanted to be closer to him, to feel for once like she wasn't alone.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Kane smiled a little more genuinely when Tamsyn offered her sympathies to him once his story came to a close, but there was still the obvious pain masked behind it. He had plenty of time to come to terms with the fact that Tiva was gone, claimed by Death, but he knew the hurt would never stop until he had his revenge. Fortunately, that reality seemed to close at hand now. "Thank you," he spoke plainly, though the sentiment was appreciated. "It was a long time ago. The hurt won't fade until I've completed my hunt, but it's gotten to where I can go about my days without feeling it." The sound of creaking wood made Kane look up from his paws to see Tamsyn getting up off of the cot and climbing down to the floor. He frowned a little; was she getting ready to call it a night? He couldn't blame her, it was very late, after all. He just hoped she didn't feel like she had to leave because of their somber stories. No stories were bad, and he would never expect someone to feel guilty for asking to hear one.

As it turned out, his concerns were unfounded, as Tamsyn didn't head for the door, but instead came over to stand beside his cot. The look of uncertainty in her eyes was unmistakable, along with the sudden anxious tension in her posture and in the way her ears flicked. He tilted his head to the side, trying to piece together what was going on in her mind, when she lifted a gentle paw to touch gingerly over his cheek. The touch had been unexpected, but was not unwelcome, evidenced by the surprised look that crossed Kane's face and immediately dissolved into a relaxed smile while soft paw pads traced the rough edges of the scar that marked his cheek. He could see the thoughts buzzing around in her head behind her eyes, clearly working through some thoughts of her own while she touched his face. He didn't say a word, simply letting her work things out herself while leaning his cheek into her paw. It was such a light touch, like that of a mother, or of a lover. It was soothing and comforted his tormented heart back into peace. If Tamsyn wasn't a healer of the body, she was definitely skilled in healing the heart and soul.

Kane's ears flicked up to catch Tamsyn's honest words, the sincere confession of her loneliness of having to lose the one you love hitting close to home for the nomadic dire wolf. He gave a short, gruff hum of agreement, biting his tongue to not whine quietly when her paw slipped away from his cheek. It was already a feeling he was missing. He had spent a long time on his own, and although he had come to terms with Tiva's death, nothing had prepared him for nor eased the loneliness that came with her passing. His hunt had been solo, solitary and alone. At times, he could easily ignore that there was no one beside him to talk to, to guide him, to make him laugh and share a tear when things hurt. Other times he was acutely and painfully aware of just how alone he really was. It seemed that Tamsyn was going through the same gamut of emotions and realizations that he had when he'd first lost Tiva and his pack. There was a shared experience between them, the two kindred spirits finding solace in the familiarity and comfort of one another. For the first time in over a year, Kane didn't feel alone, though the loneliness had rooted itself deep in his soul.

There was something lingering in Tamsyn's mint eyes when he met her gaze again, though Kane couldn't quite place the emotions. It looked like longing, but with reluctance, hesitation... He didn't know what it was she was holding herself back from, but he just hoped it wouldn't result in her leaving just yet. He didn't want to go back to being alone. That pleading must have been evident in his hazel irises, because the next thing he knew, the caring mother rested a paw on the edge of his cot and asked if she could join him. Kane looked from her paw back to Tamsyn's face, and without any hesitation nodded and said, "I'd like that." He shifted and sidled his body over enough to allow Tamsyn space to climb up and join him on the small cot. There wouldn't be much room that didn't allow all of them to press against one another, but Kane didn't mind if she didn't. His tribe had been physically affectionate wolves, and he hadn't experienced that in what felt like an age. It was a sensation he was longing to feel again, and if Tamsyn would humor him, he would gladly accept. Besides, it seemed like she didn't need to be alone right now either, and he was happy to be her company for the evening.

Once Tamsyn had climbed up to join him, Kane kept himself pressed to the edge to allow her to move and situate to get herself comfortable, then wiggled and settled himself in beside her. As he thought, the cot kept the two wolves pressed snugly together, but fortunately not enough where he was afraid he'd crush her or push her off accidentally. "Just watch my shoulder," he spoke in that low, growl-like whisper, a flash of teeth in a grin and a quiet chuckle punctuating his comment while he settled in where his wounded shoulder wouldn't be pulled or hit. He knew she would be careful with him anyway. "Feel better?" he asked once they both had a moment to enjoy the comfort of one another's presence. He smiled warmly, hoping to chase some of that loneliness away from the beautiful midnight fae, knowing all too well the emotions she would feel every night she slept alone. Even if only for tonight, he could repay her kindness and their emotional catharses with companionship.

"Kane"

For a moment she almost thought that she saw a pleading and longing in his unique gaze, but she just couldn't make that true in her mind. She was a mother with more emotional baggage than she could possibly ever fully process from a completely different way of life than his own, her features marred and changed by scars. She couldn't figure out why he would be interested in her. But at the very least he seemed to want her company since he invited her into his bed without hesitation, making a small, relieved smile pull at her lips. She climbed up onto the cot as he shifted toward the edge, the small sleeping surface forcing them to be pressed together. She didn't mind, but she didn't realize how much the feeling of his fur mingling with hers and the warmth of him pressed along her side would make her heart skip. "Of course," she whispered back when he mentioned being careful around his shoulder, trying to keep away the overwhelmed breathiness to her voice, a smile pulling at her lips in return to his grin.

She nodded to his question when he asked if she was feeling better, adding, "Better than I have in a long time," as she looked into those handsome, intriguing eyes. When she had laid with Sirius there had been more low, aching longing that she knew would only lead to more disappointment and pain. Laying with Resin for the last time had filled her with sorrow and mourning in the end, a sharp reminder of what she was losing. This felt different. She couldn't explain how difficult it had been sleeping alone all these months after Resin locked herself away, constantly reminded of how alone she would always be. For once that ever present, aching loneliness was nudged aside, allowing her to enjoy what it felt like to just be with someone she was comfortable with again. It was a heady, overwhelming feeling that formed a lump in her throat from the crashing wave of relief that washed over her.

After laying like that for a few moments, carefully leaning into him, she couldn't keep herself from the desire to be closer. As long as he didn't stop her, she would gently slip herself under his foreleg, getting him more onto his side so that she could press into his chest, her heart pounding against her ribs as she tucked herself into his embrace. She laid on her side so their chests and stomachs were pressed together, curling into him like a puzzle piece. With the way she was laying, she could be right at eye level with the trio of deep scars that crossed his chest and she quietly brought a paw to the raised, jagged skin, tracing them gently with soft paw pads and claws. Feeling him surrounding her in his embrace, his warm scent filling her nose... It was as much of a relief as it was a reminder of what she had lost.

Tears began to well up in her eyes as she continued to gently, tenderly trace his scars, and for a while she just forgot that he was a stranger. It felt like she had known him for ages and it felt like she was coming home. She blinked away the tears, swallowing past the lump in her throat as she tried to fight them off, but it was no use. "I'm sorry..." she managed in a choked whisper as she hid her face away in his broad chest, pulling in on herself as the waves of emotions finally took their toil and made her crack, tears spilling into his fur as she shook quietly with sobs only letting little gasping breaths escape her occasionally as all the pain was washed away from her soul.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Kane couldn't stop the contented smile from creeping across his muzzle while Tamsyn settled in against him and admitted that she felt better than she had in a long time, that same satisfied happiness in his eyes while she gazed up into them. He had thought she was a good looking wolf before, when there was still space between them, but up close like this he could see that Tamsyn was outright gorgeous, beautiful in a traditional sense, in a spiritual way, and with her scars proudly on display. It baffled him to think a wolf as beautiful as her both inside and out could ever be lonely. Surely she could have had any number of brutes storming the castle gates to win her affections. Ah, but that wasn't Tamsyn, was it? No, Tamsyn was demure and introverted, so kind and loving yet keeping to herself. At least that was what he had gathered from their conversation tonight. Tamsyn had been hurt in the past by her heart, and so she kept herself guarded. Who could blame her? The world was a cruel place sometimes, and it would be enough to make any wolf gun-shy.

Not Kane though. Kane refused to let his heartache and loss define who he would be. For tonight, he would relish the moments he spent in the company of his gracious host. The last time he had laid with anyone even remotely close to this was the night before Tiva was murdered. It had been far too long—for both of them, it seemed—and this was their relief from the soul-crushing loneliness that accompanied loss.They were medicine to one another tonight, and a healer by nature, he would do all he could to remedy Tamsyn's aching heart. He had been keeping his paws respectfully tucked up against him to avoid any untoward advances on the widowed fae, but once she began to carefully lean into his body and slipped beneath his foreleg, tucking her smaller body against his, Kane allowed himself to stretch his leg out and wrap around Tamsyn, settling onto his side at her urging so she could snuggle into his broad chest.

Kane's pulse sped up, feelings that had once been so familiar and foreign at the same time reared their heads. He embraced her as if he were shielding her from a storm tearing the world around them, keeping her held snug and secure, their chests and stomachs all the way down the lengths of their bodies pushed together without an inch of space separating any of them. His body gave a little involuntary twitch of surprise when he felt a gentle paw begin to follow the paths of his scars across his chest, her touch electrifying and soothing all at once. He relaxed again, releasing a heavy, soul-weary sigh while her soft pads followed the old wounds seared into his skin, hazel eyes peering down warm and sweet at her. Nobody had treated him this way in a long, long time. It was a nice reprieve from the aches and longing, the long days and longer nights with nothing but his own thoughts and emotions. He dipped his head down, just barely resting his muzzle on top of her head to completely surround her with himself, closing his eyes while he savored the sensations of her fur, her paw pads on his chest, her body next to his, her scent lingering in his nose... Tamsyn felt familiar, safe, comforting... She reminded him of everything he had wanted, needed—lost.

Tamsyn's strangled whisper from out of nowhere brought Kane back out of his stupefied state, blinking a couple of times in confusion while the black-furred fae buried her face into his chest and she began to shake with uncontrollable sobs. Her tears dampened his fur with her sorrow, and Kane's heart broke again. His expression softened, the pain in his eyes not for himself, but for her, and the large brute shifted to bring his other foreleg out and underneath her to completely embrace her, squeezing Tamsyn tightly yet carefully in his arms. He kept her pinned against his body, giving her himself as a rock to cling to while she came undone, big paws rubbing slowly up and down her back as her chest heaved with each short, gasping breath. "It's okay, Tammie, it's okay... Just let it all out..." he shushed her softly in that growl-like tone his voice took with every whisper in her ear. "You've been alone too long, little blackbird... You've held on for so long, been so strong... Let it all wash away... I've got you... You're not alone now..."

Kane knew the emotional turbulence she was going through so fresh after having lost her mate. It was the same cataclysm he had suffered through alone in the months following Tiva's death. The nights he had spent awake howling in rage and pain and sorrow, the tears he had wept and the trees he had torn up with fang and claw just for some sort of release. This was Tamsyn's release, and he would be damned if he did anything to prevent it. She needed this, just as he had, except he wouldn't let her be alone through hers. Nobody deserved to experience that pain alone.

"Kane"

Feeling him wrap her tightly in his arms with his head tucked down over hers made her cry harder, but in a good way. A cathartic way. One cry in Kane's arms wouldn't release the years of pain, the seemingly never ending heartache, but it was a damn good start. She allowed his strong presence around her to hide her away from the world and his kind, gentle words calmed the raging emotions swallowing her whole. With him it was feeing. Any time she had broken down around anyone else during all of this there had been a guilt there, feeling as if she had failed them, that she was supposed to be so strong for them so she couldn't allow herself this release. But here, in Kane's comforting embrace, she was allowed to be weak for a moment and just let out all of the pain and sorrow and hurt that had been lingering on the edges of mind for so long. He didn't make her feel like she had to be strong, but still commended her for it when she could. It was a good feeling, a welcoming feeling. Even though her tears, a little smile pulled at her lips when he referred to her as a little blackbird, the nickname warming her heart. She didn't know where this mountain of a warm, caring man came from, but she was so grateful for him in this moment. She often thought that certain wolves were placed in her life had just the right times and now Kane was here to prove that statement true yet again.

After awhile, after she was able to calm herself and take a few steadying breaths, she blinked her eyes open, lifting them to look up at his stunning gaze again. Tamsyn gave him a thankful smile, her paw lifting to his scarred cheek again to gently, tenderly brush over soft fur and raised skin. He was incredibly handsome with what was possibly the kindest heart she had ever come across. A tangle of conflicting emotions settled in her gut as her eyes lingered on his, her paw resting on his cheek as she silently fought with herself, the feeling of his body pressed to hers coming more and more to the forefront of her mind. It was crazy to even think of these things with someone she just met, but it was also crazy to bear her heart to him and cry into his chest as well. It didn't seem to matter with Kane. She didn't understand it and at this point she didn't want to. She only wanted relief and to feel something other than loneliness and pain and Kane had allowed her to do that for the first time in what felt like ages.

Her gaze searched his, claws gently ranking through fur along his cheek and neck in gentle movements, her heart skipping and beating harder in her chest. They were completely alone in this little world they had created in the dead of night and the feeling of his fur mingling with hers was intoxicating. Her paws came to rest on his chest as she looked up at him for a moment longer, giving him a silent plea, a longing desire, before she hesitantly brought her muzzle to his, gently brushing their lips together in the faintest kiss, just to test the waters, just to see if perhaps he might feel the same sparks across his skin that she did. She braced herself for his rejection that was sure to be as sweet and understanding as he had been for the duration of their time together, but her desperate heart demanded that she at least try.

Tamsyn Carpathius

Kane had been a lot of things in his life, and now it seemed like he could add therapist to that growing roster. He didn't know what twist of fates had happened to put him in just the right place to hear Gwyn, given him just enough skill to best the saber cat and live, granted him just enough stamina to make it to the Hallows, all so he could end up meeting the beautiful heartbroken Tamsyn, but the forces of the universe worked in strange and mysterious ways. It was the same question he had asked himself when he had met Tiva. Whatever the odds were, they didn't matter. What mattered was that their meeting had happened, that they had ended up in this situation together, and that they needed one another, if only for tonight. Tamsyn had made him feel less alone, less disposable—alive. Things he hadn't felt in years. As time gradually passed between them, he felt Tamsyn's body-wrenching sobs fade away into gentler tremors, until she stopped entirely, lying pressed into his chest while she caught her breath.

That was when those minty-green jewels looked back up at him. Kane met her with a comforting half smile, lifting a paw to wipe a few stray liquid diamonds from her eyes, then settled into just holding her like she were a precious treasure. Her paw touched his cheek, leaving sparks of electricity against his skin and making his steady heart beat just a little faster while she brushed over the calloused skin of his scar there. With other wolves that had ogled his scars, it had been out of awe or fascination, and sometimes out of disgust. With Tamsyn, it was like she was learning to see and appreciate scars in a whole new way every time she touched his. It was why he allowed her, an intimate stranger, to touch his as much as she wanted. It seemed like what she needed as her tool to accept hers. He watched her study his face, taking the moment to appreciate hers in turn. She had such a slender, perfectly feminine appearance, and his paws still roaming over her back felt the taut cords of toned muscles hidden just beneath her long, silky black fur. Tamsyn truly was a stunningly beautiful wolf.

Kane saw the conflict in her mint eyes while they burned into his, neither wolf daring to look away from the other while her paw caressed his cheek and his held her so close and tight that not a single inch of their bodies wasn't touching. Her warmth, her body, her fur brushing and mingling with his, it was all so intimate, far too much so for new acquaintances. But Tamsyn felt familiar, like he'd known her his entire life and not just a day. They had both bore their hearts and souls, their pains and their triumphs so readily. This wasn't just some random wolf; there was something there, a connection he couldn't explain that made everything just feel so natural. Her claws raking through the thin fur on his cheek left trails of electric under his skin, igniting a fire deep in his gut, the sensation so familiar and yet something he had forgotten to time. His heart began to race, his breathing quickened, each inhale drawing in more of Tamsyn's scent. The night was quiet, everyone else was asleep; they were alone in their own little world right now. Alone, but not lonely—not any longer. Her paws rested on his chest right above his thumping heart, beating so hard he was sure she could feel it. That look in her eyes plead for him, begging him for the relief that they both lusted for. Perhaps in an attempt to seal the deal, the midnight black fae lifted her muzzle to meet his to graze their lips together, a ghost of a kiss that spoke of the promise of so much more.

Kane had to make a decision. Tamsyn needed this. He needed this, despite how much he had repressed the loneliness up til now. He let out a soft, quivering sigh when her muzzle slowly moved away from his, looking at him with eyes searching for an answer. He knew what his answer should be. He should hug her, thank her for trusting him that much, remind her they were still new and her emotions were raw, let her go to bed and let them both dwell on what had happened. But he didn't do that. Instead, Kane listened to the fire in his core, the sparks and tingles rushing through his every nerve from her simplest touch, the loneliness that had left him starved for affection. Kane ran a paw slowly up Tam's back again, pressing gently between her shoulders to keep her held tight to his body while he gazed into her mint eyes for a few moments longer, as if every answer to any problem he'd ever had resided in those light green eyes. Then he brought his muzzle back down to meet hers slow, yet firm, kissing her with that need of a wolf who would only find relief in her kiss. He didn't make it quick, nor leave her longing for more. Kane's kiss lingered on Tamsyn's lips, savoring her, letting her take all that she needed while he did the same, mouth moving with slow, needy desire. Then, after a few blissful moments had passed, Kane pulled back.

The dire brute let a quiet sigh of relief past his parted lips, feeling a release unlike any he'd had before in that moment. Already his heart ached for more, his body yearning and burning for her, for that reprieve from the crushing loneliness and solitude he had known for too damn long. But this was all on Tamsyn's terms. Although he was healing as well, and would ordinarily happily take the lead, this was for her. She would be their director, their conductor to whatever symphony she wanted to create tonight, and he would make music with her. His hazel eyes slowly flickered open halfway, seeking hers as he watched and waited for her next move. "Tamsyn..." he whispered beneath his heated breath, the sound feeling so natural on his tongue, his large paws beginning to knead at her taut muscles along her back.

"Kane"

That brush of a kiss lit far more fire in her than she had expected, flaring to life a spark and a heat that she had let die. She could feel the pounding of his heart under her paw, the intensity of it matching hers, the desire making her breath catch and shorten. She looked up at him as he sighed a trembling sigh that spoke to the fact that she wasn't alone in these feelings and that only fed into her desire more, her mint gaze burning with a need that hadn't been soothed in far, far too long. Her claws scritched quietly at the skin on his chest while he seemed to consider the situation for a long moment. She would have understood if he had denied her this, understanding that they did hardly know one another even though he now knew more about her than most, but she wanted that release so badly. She just wanted to forget all the hurt, forget all the pain. She wanted to drown it all out in him at least for a night. She watched his face, searching his gaze while she waited anxiously for his answer.

And then all that tension went rushing away as his lips found hers again, throwing gasoline onto the fire radiating under her skin. She pressed back into him with a soft whine, her eyes closing and toes curling to grip the fur on his chest, the feeling of his paw tracing up her spine to press between her shoulder blades sending tingles of electricity dancing across her skin in the most delightful way. His lips were firm and slow against hers, savoring and indulgent, building their desire and drowning out any doubts. It was everything she had needed and just somehow also left her wanting more. As soon as his lips left hers she found herself craving them again, barely letting his lips part form hers as the side of her muzzle brushed against his as he sighed. She was driven on by instinct and lust, her own desires guiding her as her paws slipped up around the back of his neck. She blinked open her eyes just enough to be able to look up into his.

Hearing him breathe her name sent a little shiver through her and she found herself gripping tighter to him, her claws working along the skin on the back of his neck, combing through his thick, earthen hued fur. She wanted him. All of him. She knew he was still injured and healing so she would be careful, but as long as he was willing she was willing to do anything to soothe this fire that was threatening to burn her alive. "Kane..." she whispered against his lips in response just before she pressed her lips to his in another slow, heated kiss. Her paws gripped at the fur on his scruff, that desperate desire pushing her forward for more and more, her kisses growing more insistent and heated. She needed this. They both needed this. For tonight they would drown every ounce of loneliness in their hearts with passion and take advantage of the fate that had put them together.

-fade-

Tamsyn Carpathius

There could be no doubt that they both wanted, needed, craved this from one another. Two souls lost in the misery of loneliness, one fresh to the pain and one so numb to it he had forgotten the ache. She had reminded him, brought back old urges and emotions he had killed and buried. She had started the fire that was threatening to immolate him from within. She had brought him back to life. He felt her paws wind their way up around his neck, gripping tight to his scruff and his shoulders as if she couldn't pull herself tight enough against him. Big paws traced her shoulders, then followed the curves of her body down along her sides, claws running through raven-black fur as luxurious as fine silk, following every natural dip and bend in her body until they settled on her hips, paw pads flexing and gripping at her. He wanted her as badly as she was showing she wanted him. He wanted to sear the sorrow and pain away from her with the inferno she'd ignited in his core.

Tamsyn whispered his name in reply, and shivers ran down the brute's spine in response. He responded to her heated kiss with firm lips and gentle fangs, moving to the same slow, gradual rhythm she did. He released a low growl of desire under his breath, tasting her on his tongue through their deepening kiss as she pressed for more and more, and he gave eagerly. His paws pulled her hips tighter to his, winding one foreleg around her lower back to hold her snug to him in the cot and to support her against his larger frame. She felt so small and feminine next to his bigger, distinctly masculine body. She responded with ever more desperate and insistent kisses, and he greeted each with his growing fire, matching her passion for passion. He needed this. She needed this. They needed each other. Even if it was just for tonight, Kane would burn away the pain in his soul and wash away the sorrow from Tamsyn's.

Shifting himself to situate himself more comfortably with her, Kane pressed himself to Tamsyn's hips, following primal instinct as he awoke actions and skills he hadn't used in far too long. He didn't care how out of practice he might be, everything with Tamsyn was coming naturally, and he had no doubt that they would find their rhythm together. Another deep growl of passion came from the hunter as he melded with her, a sharp inhale as the pleasure hit him all at once, and then he lost himself in Tamsyn. Nothing in the world existed outside this room, outside of her, and as they began to find relief in one another, Kane let the fire consume him whole.

— FADE —

"Kane"