Close Your Eyes, Sometimes It Helps

He had managed well enough through the remainder of the cursed, wintery spring well enough. He couldn't tell if the trip to The Hallows had helped or hurt his children. It had hurt him beyond belief, but all he could do now was wait. Wait and see if Aranea held true to her promise, or if she would fail them and abandon them entirely. At this point he didn't even want her for himself, he only wanted his children to have a relationship with their mother. The days drew closer and closer to summer and be began letting himself grow excited for her arrival, preparing more space for her in their dens, creating a separate alcove for her just in case she didn't want to sleep near him - or in case it became to difficult for himself. He didn't know what to expect and it was hard being torn between disappointment and excitement.

As the beginning of summer came and went, he began awaiting her call, watching for her at the border whenever he wasn't busy with other things, putting the last finishing touches on a place for her to stay. But as the days ticked by, the more frustrated and doubtful he became. He had nearly given up on her, writing her off in his mind and deciding to himself that he never wanted to see her again. Then he caught a hint of her scent at the border. It was faint, as if she had been here only briefly, only to turn away. If he hadn't been looking for her so fervently he might have missed it entirely. But he hadn't, and as soon as he began following her trail and realized it was heading back down south, doubling back on itself, something came over him that told him that he had to find her. He had to have some kind of resolution. He couldn't decide if he was more worried that something had happened to her or if he just wanted to find her to tell her she was no longer welcome with his family.

He followed her trail further and further south, all the way into Auster, down to a dammed up river. It wasn't hard to find her once he neared the end of the trail and when his blue gaze landed on her pale form... he froze. She was such a small wolf, it made it easy for her pregnancy to be blatantly obvious, the swell of her sides familiar to him from when she had been pregnant with their children. But these were not his. They hadn't mated when he saw her last. "Aranea..." he spoke softly as he stepped a bit closer, emotions churning in his gut, watching her uncertainly as he tried to decipher which emotion would win out over the others.

Walk | "Talk" | think