Let me set the scene

It was a rare thing for Artorias to receive a message from a bird, so when he recognized Briar's winged companion Willow swooping through the air to intercept him during his morning meditation, he knew it had to be something important. At first the young alpha feared the worst; with all the strange occurrences happening in the world, his initial thought was that something had happened to Briar. Fortunately, Willow assuaged his concerns when she told him Briar was fine and that she was inviting him to an evening picnic in the Fern Gulley. Artorias happily accepted, of course, and the following day began to prepare for the short trek it would take to get to the northern continent. Fern Gulley wasn't incredibly far, just shy of a day's journey from Castle Carpathius, so once he'd seen to his morning tasks that day, he delegated the rest of the day to Ezra and then set off northbound to meet his beloved princess.

The journey was entirely uneventful, crossing from summer into winter as he trekked the Bifrost with Argent in tow. In his mouth, Artorias carried a bottle of Hallowed wine, one of the nicer vintages he'd found in their wine cellar. Though he was far from a sommelier, the young brute had taken it upon himself to learn the different types and tastes of each vintage the castle stocked, learning how they could be made, adjusted, perfected so they could produce their own signature blend in house. He kept the rarer, finer vintages locked away for special occasions, but this felt like a good time to break out one of the nicer bottles, especially since he knew how much Briar had liked it the last time they'd shared a drink together. Coming up into the fertile valley, Artorias was surprised to see the land mostly devoid of snow and still bearing a good amount of flora. But what caught his eyes immediately was the gorgeous fae lying on a fur blanket beneath a tree just across the valley.

Grinning to himself, Artorias crept just out of sight down the valley and up to where Briar was waiting for him. He stalked closer to her, amber eyes eating up her slender form stretched out and bathed in glorious twilight. Everything about Briar was perfect, and he hesitated in his approach for a beat to appreciate her in her entirety. This wolf that had captivated his heart, turned his blood to fire with every touch, filled his every dream of longing... Gods, how lucky he was to have her in his life. Finally finishing his approach with a loving smile, Artorias set the bottle of wine down beside Briar, knowing it would get her attention and then swiftly catching her lips in a quick kiss when she turned to look at him. "Good evening, my beautiful princess," he said with a wide smile as he settled down to lie beside her on the fur. "You look like you could use some company." Behind him, Argent beamed when his whiskey eyes landed on Marigold, giving her a wave and a wink.

"Artorias Carpathius"