The greatest gift

Listening to Manea speak of her family's belief system and their laws was enrapturing. It was like a sermon but without the preaching, a simple and direct explanation of how her reality was. He was no stranger to ceremony and beliefs of higher or ancient powers. It was what he had grown up knowing under the Amarix pack and had prepared for with his betrothal to Lurid. But whereas hers had felt stuffy, forced, a stand on ceremony for the sake of ceremony, Manea was passionate about her beliefs and her rites and rituals. Perhaps it was that passion that kept his attention where Lurid's had failed. Perhaps that was also why he was now lying with Manea after having bedded her instead of the Amarix princess. Wherever she was, he hoped she knew how much she had missed out on.

Manea explained how soulmates worked in the Mendacium belief, about the unifying of souls and how it affected their offspring. She also explained how his ancient soul was the reason for his obsidian eyes, his inky black coat with fire-kissed markings, and his violent and unstable mentality. But where others had called them "defects", she called them his gifts. He was happy to return her tender kiss while her feline-like paw caressed his cheek with loving affection, a life shining in his onyx eyes for the fae whose soul he was gazing into through aqua windows. Alastor had never seen anything more beautiful than the wildfire he saw burn in those blue-green pools. He was madly, deeply in love with Manea, and while she stroked his ears and explained how soulmates do not always fall in love, but he had given her everything she wished for and he was perfect, Alastor felt that compulsive need to burn her alive with his passion, desire, and love.

Bringing one massive black paw up to grasp Manea by the back of her head, Alastor responded simply by crushing his lips to hers, pushing his tongue into her maw to taste his mate and let her sample the fires he burned in for her. Sharp claws pricked and scratched at the back of her head while he held her to him, refusing to give her any space to pull back until he was done. Once their kiss ended and Alastor parted their muzzles, he released a long, contented sigh, black eyes flicking open to look at her with a smoldering need for her aching deep inside him. "I just needed to get that out of my system," he explained with a smirk. "Go on, dearest... Continue my lessons please."


"Alastor"