Have a Little Fun

And there it was! Maverick saw the flush of embarrassed heat spread across Venom's cheeks and he knew he'd gotten her. A small personal victory to know he'd managed o get underneath the ludicrously composed wolf's facade. She tried to hide her shock behind a scowl, but it was too late. The vagabond had seen it all and was grinning triumphantly. The look of shock in her sunset eyes wouldn't soon be forgotten, but it did prove to him that maybe—just maybe—Venom wasn't quite as prudish as he thought she might be. That was fine, he could work with that. He'd changed the minds of many an uptight lady before, not that he was aiming to make Venom his latest conquest. After all, she had been kind enough to help him out with his swing when she could have just as easily ignored him and carried on about her day. But she'd been entertaining, and so he didn't see her simply as a means to an end.

Venom retorted that his ego could use a bit of a hard time and again Mav made a big dramatic display of being wounded by her words, as if he'd just been struck in the heart by an arrow. "Lady Abraxas, please, I beg of you! No more! My poor, fragile masculinity can't take it! Have mercy!" It was almost enough to make the dire brute burst into laughter at how overly dramatic he was being just because he knew it made her roll her evening-hued eyes. Venom's assumption about him was spot on. Neither himself nor his siblings were highborn wolves. Gods, he'd likely have killed himself by now had he been expected to lead an aristocratic lifestyle like she seemed so accustomed to. Her comment about not being able to trust him to not be trouble around her borders drew an incredulous groan from the man who shook his head with a tsk. "Oh, dear sweet Venom, if you think land is more important than you're life, you've got a lot to learn," he said almost as if he were chiding her gently like a parent would a pup. "Packs rise and fall. Land is claimed and lost. But your life... well, you only get one of those. Might as well make the most out of what you've got."

Perhaps that was what explained Maverick's flippant attitude towards packs and laws, his carefree and wild lifestyle governed by his heartfelt believe in living life to the fullest. After all, laws and rules were only as strong as the belief one put into them. If he didn't regard her authority, then she was virtually powerless. If no one regarded her authority, then she was actually powerless. It all came down to perception. How one was perceived by others. She was powerful by the grace of others alone. Without her pack, she was just Venom, another wolf in a wide, wide world—just as he was Maverick, and that was it. All they had at the end of the day was themselves. He snickered and shook his head. "'Hooligan' is way too old a term for someone as young as you to be using. That's what my grandmother would call noisy pups when she was trying to take a nap." Snow white shoulders rolled in a shrug as he added, "You can call me whatever you'd like. You're a free wolf, Venom. I'm not gonna tell you what you can and can't do anymore than you can to me."

Oh, but that brought up an interesting question in his mind. That devilish grin making its way across his lips again, Mav's pale turquoise eyes shown with mischievous life as he slid away from the tree and moved further away from Venom—and closer to Ashen territory. He stopped with his paws right beside the scent-marked borders, looking back at her and lifting a single paw daringly. "So what would you do if I stepped over the border?" he asked, wiggling the digits on his paw playfully. "Would you call for the alpha? Sound the alert? Attack the trespasser?"