Shifting Worlds

Artorias didn't see any of Briar's shellshocked reactions when he dropped the Bowen bomb on her. He had kept his eyes averted the entire time, physically unable to meet her gaze like a shameful puppy getting a scolding, only this was much worse. He felt like he was systematically dismantling her heart and his own at the same time. The quiet that followed after his final words stretched on for much longer than he had anticipated. Briar was taking her time, really absorbing everything and processing it, deciding on her response, no doubt. It was painful for him to sit still through, waiting to see if she'd take him up on his exit offer, or if she'd decide she wanted some of his blood before she left. He would have deserved it, and he wouldn't have blamed her for taking her upset out on him.

Instead of feeling claws or teeth, however, Artorias was startled when a paw jabbed at him in the chest. He blinked in surprise, looking up at Briar as she spoke with a hard edge to her voice, showing she meant no nonsense. She instructed him that if he ever felt like this for anyone else, he was to tell her. His brow furrowed in confusion. She directed him to tell her if he ever did anything with Lia or Bowen, and now he wore a bewildered expression on his face. She wanted to know if he felt these urges for anyone else, or if he was intimate with Lia or Bowen? Did that mean she wasn't leaving him? What was going on right now?!

Artorias listened while Briar calmed down and explained how she didn't want him to feel trapped in himself, trying to keep parts of himself hidden or restrained. But she was particularly specific when she said she didn't want him having any harems or slave, and Art was still too perplexed by what was happening to say anything in response. He had no intentions of starting a harem or becoming a slaveowner. In fact, he'd had no intentions of doing anything with anyone other than Briar, but right now, it sounded like she was accepting the way he was and granting him permission, so long as he abided by her rules. Artorias stared back at Briar with immense confusion clouding his fire-toned eyes. Why was she doing this? Why was she suddenly so accepting of what he'd told her?

Briar's next statements cleared up his confusion there. She asked that he promise her that she would always come first, she would be the one to marry him, have a family with him, rule the Hallows with him. Art's eyes widened with realization; she was concerned that he would love someone other than her. She wanted to be sure her place in his heart was secure. This all still felt like a whirlwind to the young brute, and he was trying to digest it all, but he could focus on his Briar right now. That part was easy. He wanted to reach out, to touch her cheek and pull her body close to his, but it didn't feel right trying to be physical with her at this moment in this conversation. "You will always be the only wolf I love with all my heart and soul, Briar," he said, gazing into her eyes with an intense yet caring conviction. "Nothing is ever going to change that. You're the girl I want to spend my entire life with, raise puppies with, have at my side every day and night. You are the wolf I love completely and wholly with everything I am. I guess... I guess I just love other wolves too, but in a different way."

It was the only explanation he could come up with. Artorias was staunchly loyal and protective of the wolves he cared about. He loved his wolves in all different ways. The love he felt for Lia was different from the love he felt for Bowen, and both were different from his love for his pack or his family. But Briar... The love he felt for Briar topped everything. It was his apex, his beginning and end, the one thing he would cling to at the end of days. He was still reeling, finding it impossible to believe Briar was actually accepting him for all his flaws, and allowing him to no longer temper those urges down. That really only left one major question in his mind. "Why? Why are you doing this?" he asked, voice soft and trembling with the rollercoaster of emotions he was going through.

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Corbin" | "Argent"