I've Been There Before

He frowned as he listened to her describe what she knew of her first litter's fates and how their father had taken one of them away. He couldn't really help the anger he felt toward this Tyranis even though it was a wolf he had never met and would most likely never meet. His protective nature over Aranea made him a little bit irrational in his emotions toward anyone that had hurt her in the past because he knew that it was at least partially because of them that she had to endure these struggles and emotional turmoil. She was such a genuinely gentle and kind soul in his eyes that was absolutely no reason she should have had to go through any of this. He desperately wished their paths had crossed earlier in their lives so that he could have protected her from all of it, but he always had to remind himself that there was no guarantee that even if they had have met earlier that they would have been as drawn to each other as they were now.

There was nothing he could do to change the past. It was something he had to continually remind himself of, but it was particularly hard to remember when he saw how much it hurt the woman he loved. He was quiet for a few moments as she said that she should have been there for her pups. It wasn't her fault, he knew that for a fact, but he could tell that there was going to be no convincing her of that. This was something that had sat with her for too many years for just his words to make a real impact on her thoughts on the subject. All he could do was try and shape how she felt moving forward. He shifted to lean his side into hers, dipping his head to give the top of her head a gentle kiss. "Thank you for sharing with me," he told her softly, knowing that it wasn't the easiest thing to do. Giving her an encouraging smile, he added, "I'm proud of you. After all of that... I don't know if I could have given any of this another chance if I had gone though even a fraction of that. We can't fix the past, but we can make the future brighter. For us and for them." He nodded to their pups that were playing and tumbling over each other with an energy that he could barely remember ever having. "Lets go be with them and not think about all of this heavy stuff for a little bit."

Walk | "Talk" | think