Beast

The moment Gryphon started speaking, Lykos' eyes darkened and he already opened his mouth to protest... only to shut it quietly, without a sound, at his brother's gesture. Alright, fine, he'd listen - and he'd try to listen without the flaming protest in his gut and an open mind. Try, anyway. Swallowing his protests, he tuned back into what his brother was saying, and he narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

Okay, yeah, maybe, fine. Maybe Gryphon had a point. He did, however, furrow his brow when his brother through the rhetorical question in the air and stared at him. Well, he was wondering that too - loyalty was most important, yet she was hurt when he was loyal. It still bothered him. But... after a few moments, Gryphon's words started to hit him, and he found himself slowly nodding. "That... makes sense," he murmured, almost without realizing it. And it.... made him sad, rather. That two different kinds of loyalty would cause such conflict and disagreements.

But it all made sense - to him, pack was family, just as much as blood was. In fact, blood didn't determine pack, either. The torrent of thoughts was put on held though at Gryphon's grin, and Lykos snorted. Yeah, okay, maybe his brother had a point. If his brother was more loyal to pack, then he'd not be here. Of course... if his brother was loyal to pack specifically, Lykos highly doubted Gryph would have stayed in Talis. So, in a way, it would end up with his brother here, with him, in the cold north... just different means to the end, he supposed.

"She insisted she wouldn't, though." Perhaps that was immature of him, that focus on those words which were clearly so true, but it was that promise, that it would be fine, that it would be supported. And even then, he'd been conflicted, hating the fact that his mother's decision had forced him to choose - even now, in a way, it forced him to choose. And then...

Lykos' eyes widened at his brother's revelation. That he could have been made heir not because of the reasons she stated, but trying to win back his loyalty and love, like she had lost it in the first place. With everything that happened, it seemed... logical. Okay, not really - it was completely idiotic for his mother to even think of that logic, but once she was certain of something, that was it. And his brother - he was completely right. They weren't trying to stop Mom from being unhappy, they were protecting her... and doing exactly what they were raised to do.

It made him angry, but he swallowed it. This... wasn't the time to be angry, and to be reminiscing on his mother's fuck ups. Literally the whole point of them talking... well, it seemed to have the purpose of fixing things.

A flicker of confusion crossed his face as Gryphon continued, and he shook his head. Did he follow? Well, yeah, his brother's words made sense but it... it didn't connect in his brain. He couldn't grasp how one would follow that line of logic at all. He confided in a close friend... not betray the pack or whatever. "Yes... and no," he said slowly and honestly. "I understand your words, but... it just doesn't make sense." It truly confounded him, how one could... think that. Of course, it completely confused him that his mother might have thought she needed to buy Lykos' love back in the first place. Instead that, presumption... well, didn't destroy his love, but changed it into... something else. He still loved her - and a part of him always would - but he didn't want anything to do with her.

"It doesn't make sense" he reiterated moments later, when it was mentioned that his mother did indeed do exactly against what she preached - going to do a stupid thing while angry. And then, of course, Gryphon stated his opinion, and Lykos nodded. He couldn't help the dark expression that crossed his face, and he snorted at Gryphon's question. "That's pretty easy to figure," he muttered blackly. "Dragon was jealous and didn't think I deserved the heir position - whether I did or not, it matters not. But he likely only heard one side of the story and instantly assumed that it was right, and didn't even bother getting the other side of the story. He just assumed... combined that, and his anger towards me, and turned it into... this." His voice broke into a growl at the end, his ears flattening briefly before he shook his head and forced his ears to stand up again.

By that point, Gryphon was speaking again, and Lykos scowled. Yeah, Dragon definitely took it personal. He took it personal without even being there, and took it personal without even hearing both sides of the story. The anger dimmed - it didn't go away, but it dulled, as Gryphon's next words made him pause, and something unidentifiable filled him. It was somber, it was serious, and he wasn't quite sure what it was.

"Until it comes down to one of you guys being maimed or dead." Lykos grimaced. He was then assaulted with the image of being in that scenario - a confrontation between the both of them, brothers, fighting, but violently, not fun, and he realized that despite his anger, despite wanting to disassociate himself, he really didn't want to hurt his brother. He really didn't want to fight Dragon... or his mother.

He didn't want to have anything to do with them in his life again - he wanted to be able to be at peace, to find his own path, without being held back, like Mercy said, but he didn't want to hurt them.His gaze found the ground, and he sighed softly. A sliver of pain entered his voice as he spoke again, "I don't want that to happen either. I'll go." He didn't miss his brother's words, though, or the pain in them - "You'll never have to see the family ever again if you don't want to." It was clear Gryphon didn't want that to happen, but he was willing to accept it and even help it happen if it stopped the animosity and what... what was going on now.

Once again, he was pulled from his thoughts and emotions by Gryphon. This time, Lykos frowned. He could see how Gryphon came to that conclusion that Mercy was acting in her interest, and perhaps she was, but Lykos still believed the white wolf legitimately cared for him. But... he could see where his brother got that. And he could see how his brother would want to do, well, their loyal thing and track her down. Hell, if the positions were reversed... he'd probably do it too. So he didn't like it, but he'd respect it. He nodded to Gryphon. "I don't like it," he replied firmly, "but I will respect it because I understand where you are coming from. I will not stop you If I encounter her, though, I'll let her know you're coming. But I'll leave that between you two to solve." After all, that was his brother's decision. He might warn Mercy that his brother was coming, but he'd not stop Gryphon - nor would he stop Merxy, unless it was to seriously hurt Gryphon. But in a way, he was hoping that if he warned Mercy, then she'd not be as... vicious in her response as she might otherwise be.

As he said, he didn't like it - but he'd accept it. Seemed that that was the majority of his life now.

"Lykos"