The cooling days of Auster’s autumn had begun to ebb away into the chillier climate of the southern continent’s winter. No snow had fallen yet, but Artorias didn’t exactly expect it to. After the extended winter he had suffered through in his first year of life, no winter in Auster had come as bad, nor did he anticipate it to again. Still, the old castle could get quite cold during the cloudy days and longer nights. Tonight was one such night. A bitter wind whistled and whipped about the stone walls of the castle outside, rattling the windowpanes in their frames. The night was dark with only the stars and a thin silver sliver of moon lighting the world. Otherwise, the world was quiet and still.

The Aegis was finishing making his rounds in the castle, pausing in the great hall to lay a few fresh logs in the grand hearth to keep the fire burning within to warm the halls. With his nightly patrol around the inside of the castle completed, Artorias made his way upstairs to his bedchambers to join his wife. The Hallows was secure, everyone was bedding down in their rooms for the night, and he could rest easy. The obsidian and azure wolf ascended the staircase to the second floor, made his way down the quiet hall of the Carpathius Wing, and nudged open the doors to their shared bedroom. The mahogany doors opened with a soft creak of iron and wood, and then he stepped inside.

Artorias closed the doors behind him and slid the latch into place, ensuring the alpha and his queen had all their privacy. He knew what to expect and what Briar would want. With the coming of Auster’s winter was Boreas’ summer—their birth season and the start of Briar’s heat cycle. And if it was anything like how she was last year, Artorias had a hunch that he was going to have his paws full with a very needy queen. But this time, things would be different... He and Briar had discussed the possibility of starting their own family this year, of taking that leap into parenthood together. Tonight they would create something wonderful. With a sly smirk on his lips, Artorias turned away from the door, fiery amber eyes turning to find his mate. “How are you feeling tonight, my beautiful Queen?” he asked as he turned from the door.

"Artorias Carpathius"

The steadily cooling days that led them into Auster’s winter also brought all the telltale signs of her heat—something she was far more prepared for this year than she had been last year. She had known that being in heat was a thing that she should expect, but what she hadn’t anticipated was how it would affect her nor how ravenous she would be for her now husband. It had made for quite the enjoyable season and she certainly didn’t expect anything less this time, but there was another part of this that had nervous and excited butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

She had intentionally had Lia prep her thoroughly with contraceptives before they even arrived at the castle last year since she wanted to be able to spend some time with Artorias as a proper couple and enjoy having one another without the separation and distance without becoming parents immediately. She knew how important family was to both of them and it was something they would undoubtedly do eventually, but last year hadn’t been the right time. This year… This year she felt ready. They were both fully settled into their roles as Aegis and Queen, their lives here in The Hallows established, and this castle felt like it had always been her home. The only thing that was really missing now was their own family.

She went up to the room a bit earlier than she usually would, arriving well ahead of Artorias. She knew her husband would do his usual patrol around the castle as everyone was settling in for the night and she used that extra time to give her coat and tail a bit of grooming, leaving her tan and turquoise coat silky and shining in the warm fire light from the hearth, her tail trailing gracefully out behind her. She considered using some of her scented oils, but she didn’t want to distract from her natural scent since she knew Artorias loved it so much. The last thing she did before she moved toward the bed was open the box that held the crowns that Chimera had given them as gifts for their wedding, placing the delicate crown of gold chains and blue opals on her head.

She climbed onto the bed after that, turning toward the door and settling into the plush furs to wait for Artorias to join her. She laid with her front paws slightly hanging over the end of the mattress, her tail draped around beside her and doing the same. It wasn’t long before her mate walked through the door to their bedroom and she smirked a little as he immediately locked the door. He clearly already knew what to expect from tonight and she certainly wouldn’t disappoint him. “I feel like I need you in this bed immediately, my handsome Aegis,” she replied with a grin to his question, giving him a sultry look full of promise for what she had in store for him.

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"

The sight that greeted Artorias when he turned away from the bedroom doors would have sparked a fire within any red-blooded brute. Briar was laid out on their spacious bed looking like something out of an adolescent male’s fantasies. Her beautiful tawny brown and turquoise fur was brushed to a silky smooth sheen, her lustrous coat flowing like water with her tail cascading like a waterfall of silken fur off the edge. She fixed him with an inviting grin, the sultry look in her gorgeous turquoise eyes promising him an evening of exquisite carnal delights. The cherry on top, Briar’s brilliant golden crown rested atop her head, shimmering in the warm glow of the firelight from their fireplace that offered the only illumination in their chambers. Briar looked extraordinary, like a goddess who had taken flesh to walk the mortal plane.

Artorias’ heart skipped beat after beat, pounding and racing with excitement in his chest as he drank in the sight of her, a slow and lecherous grin spreading across his muzzle. Briar coaxed him to bed with her salacious words, her voice sending wanton shivers running down the Aegis’ back that settled between his legs. A deep inhale through his nose drew in the intoxicating scent of her heat; the entire room was filled with the heady, pheromone-laden perfume. It was delicious and enticing and oh so wholly Briar—like an amplification of her natural smell designed specifically to arouse him. Artorias crossed the bedroom without a word, seemingly hypnotized by his mate while he prowled closer, massive paws padding softly on the stone floor. His gold-flecked amber eyes shone with a primal hunger, reflecting the instincts that drove him. He knew what Briar wanted. They had talked about starting a family shortly after their wedding. Now it was time for them to get started on the next step of their lives together.

Once the massive brute reached the edge of the bed, Artorias paused long enough to let his wanton gaze roam down the length of Briar’s body once more, doing nothing to hide the way his appreciative gaze ate her up. He had no way of knowing what Briar had in store for him tonight, but he was enjoying this more dominant and commanding side of her. “It would be my pleasure, Your Grace,” he replied in low, purring lyrics, his baritone voice seeming to turn huskier with his amorous state. Azure paws hooked the edge of the mattress and hoisted himself up to join her. “And where would you like me to lie, my Queen? Beside you here, or further up the bed?” Art gave Briar a playful grin, his eyes shining with a naughty curiosity. He was having fun playing up her title and letting her soak in the power that came along with it, and he was very eager to see what she had in mind for them this evening.

"Artorias Carpathius"

The way his fiery gaze lit up at the sight of her and how he immediately started to take in the display she had created for him made a wider grin pull across her lips. It was exactly the reaction she had been hoping for—not that she had doubted her husband’s ravenous attraction to her for a moment. As he paced across the room to their bed she let her own lustful gaze wander across his form as well, taking in his handsome, masculine features, his strong, toned form that she could practically feel under her paws already from memory. She knew and adored every part of him and she couldn’t wait to get her paws on him.

She watched as he reached the edge of the bed and consented to her demands, climbing up beside her with a ripple of muscle under his thick coat. Her gaze lifted to find his once more as he asked where she wanted him to be and she grinned, enjoying this little taste of having control over their evening. She wasn’t usually the dominant one in their relationship, but something about how she felt in that moment made her want it. She couldn’t entirely explain it, but she didn’t want to. She just wanted to savor this feeling of having her large, dire wolf of a husband wrapped around her paw.

“Further up the bed,” she told him, as she started to rise to her paws as well and smirking as she added, “On your back.” She turned and followed his movements as he followed her directions to the letter, enjoying the sight of her mate as she settled in on the comfortable pile of pillows they kept mounded around the head of the bed, her turquoise gaze unabashedly tracing over every part of him. Even if she hadn’t been in heat, she still would have been ravenous with need at the sight of him, but as it was that natural instinct and drive made her even more needy for him than usual.

A pleased hum sounded in her chest as she slowly moved up the bed toward him, stalking toward him as if he were her prey. She stepped over him with a graceful sweep of her tail that caused the long, silky strands to fan out on the bed beside them. Her smaller, more delicate paws rested on his chest, letting her claws lightly trail over his skin and through his fur as she settled into him and pinned him to the bed beneath her. They were surely going to be tangled up in one another for as long as their bodies would allow and even then she didn't know if that would be enough to satisfy this fathomless sea of desire he had for her husband and the love of her life. As she joined them together with familiar pleasure and passion she lost any conscious thought beyond her primal need for him, giving herself over to all of it while they began to create their family together.

- fade -

"Artorias & Briar Carpathius"

Having Briar's lustful, hungry eyes devouring and appraising his form always felt like the highest form of flattery Artorias could receive. Knowing that he pleased his beautiful mate simply by existing for her made him quiver with delight and want to show off for her all the more, a willing piece of eye candy for her to enjoy in their daily lives—and a delicious temptation she could indulge in during all of their private moments together. Briar gave her directions for him to move further up the bed, joining him on her paws before adding that she wanted him on his back. Artorias cast an intrigued glance at his horny wife, an excited grin playing on his lips while he followed her instructions to the letter. "As my Queen wishes," he purred in reply, moving up the large, plush mattress and over the sheets and furs until he collapsed into the mound of soft and cozy pillows at the head of their bed. They cradled his larger body while he sank into them, lying on his back as Briar had requested so all of him was on display for her. Looking up to see her salacious gaze exploring his form, Art gave a slow stretch of his body while he got settled in, his taut muscles rippling beneath his thick fur for her to watch and enjoy, stretching his paws and legs out for good measure. Was he showing off for her benefit? Oh hell yeah.

With the blue of his underbelly turned up for Briar to enjoy, Artorias relaxed back into the pillows with his forelegs curled up to his chest and hind legs spread out. Artorias' breathing had shortened a bit, a side effect of his excitement and eagerness while he savored the way Briar looked at him like he was about to be her last meal. His core clenched with a primitive need as well, every breath through his nose drawing in more of her pheromone-laced scent to intoxicate his brain further and bring more of those feral instincts out of his genetics. Her heat alone got him in the mood to spend all night shaking this castle to its very foundations, but now that he knew her heat wasn't being tempered by her usual regiment of contraceptives and her body was yearning for his on a primal level, fertile and ready to grow their pups from their mating, there was an extra layer of lewd interest for the young dire brute. Knowing that their couplings tonight would likely lead to him impregnating and breeding his mate was just another turn on and almost had him writhing with need for her already.

Briar didn't keep him waiting long. With a pleased hum at what she saw, Artorias watched as his instinctually aroused wife stalked towards him up the bed, leering down at him with a predatory gaze. Her movements were languid, supple, her hips swaying as she moved and forcing Artorias' lecherous gaze to jump back and forth between her shapely rump and the lewd hunger painted on her beautiful face. He swallowed hot and hard, gazing up at his mate when she stood over him and placed her paws on his chest, keeping him pinned down to the pillows beneath her. Artorias gasped, wide amber eyes blinking up into Briar's lust-maddened turquoise ones in surprised delight. He saw that possessive fire in her gemstone eyes in response, telling him through her gaze alone that they were going to be up all night tangled up in one another in the most carnal ways imaginable. She was asserting the fact that he was hers now, fully under her control, and he was loving every moment of it! Briar settled back into him, joining their bodies together as one and wiping the dire brute's mind blank with a heated gasp and a shuddering groan. Familiar pleasure washed over him, drowning him while also setting his body ablaze with boundless desire for his gorgeous, flawless wife. Primal instincts took over then, and massive azure paws rested on Briar's hips while she began to move, giving himself up to her as she gave herself to him and they began what would be a long night of making their family together.

- fade -

"Artorias Carpathius"