fancy seeing you here

She didn’t chuckle at his statement, the Klein family had been through too much tragedy for that. The emotions were still too raw and the hurt far too real for her to accept the light of the events that transpired in the past. She ignored it and perked her ears as he answered the question without hesitation. No. A rather unexpected answer in honesty. Hemlock was a handsome man, but he explained why he’d been so single. He was a wanderer and there weren’t many she wolves who shared that love of freedom.

Deathbelle was not one of them. She was a pampered princess, and enjoyed having her creature comforts, servants to do her bidding, a kingdom at her paws. Of course his return question reflected her own, and her mind was forced to shift suddenly from her privileged life to the loss she was suffering. Archon was dead. The Empress watched, over and over again with her nightmares, her beloved fall into the inescapable heat of the volcano. Belle’s gaze grew distant as she avoided Hemlock’s eyes. His words had been soft and cautious, and she tried to tell herself he knew not what she was going through.

”Yes.” She answered simply at first, her emotions lingering behind her watery eyes as she debated her words. How to explain herself while also keeping control of the volatile emotions beneath? She’d not told anyone but Zee and Sirius of her love for him, and doing so had also ended in heartbreak. Could she say that she was in love with Hannibal? ”I was even married recently, but…” Her gaze was forced to the east and the huge pillars of smoke and ash that still clung to the sky. Archon.

She felt tears fill her eyes again and she lowered her head to shake the emotion from herself. This was no pity party and she wished not to indulge her sadness, but the question begged an answer and that’s what Hemlock received. She aimed to gain control of herself, but couldn’t recover enough to offer her next question of him. Tears welled up into her lilac gaze and Belle stood up to look away from her ‘date.’ ”Excuse me.” She managed to whimper as dainty aws were brought up to wipe her watery eyes.