A Love Like War

The reprieve that Manea gave him from her chokehold hadn't been expected to be anything more than momentary, but when he said what he did, Alastor was surprised to find his wife's massive leonine paw falling away from his throat rather than squeezing it shut again. He gazed up at her with confusion in his abyssal eyes, watching the gamut of emotions running across her face and flickering in her aqua eyes. She wanted to be angry with him, but it seemed to be getting more and more difficult for her to do so. Eventually, Manea settled with her paws resting on his fluffy chest, gazing down at her feet atop his broad, muscled chest while she sat perched atop him, practically sitting in his lap as she loved to do while she grappled with her emotions. Alastor didn't say a word, just letting her process things while he waited to see if he was still about to be killed or not. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to die today, the black-furred brute began to relax, not yet daring to try and touch her or say anything yet.

Manea did eventually break the tense silence between them, looking utterly defeated, confused, and even a bit scared. He'd never seen the woman he loved like this before; she was always so confident and composed. This raw and emotional side of her was uncharted territory for the Mendacium man. Then Manea began to speak, telling Alastor the story of her life growing up. She hadn't been subjected to the abuse or torment he and Relm had suffered through, but she had tribulations of her own she had to overcome, difficult choices she had to make. The pressure of perfection placed upon her by her own parents, and then her mother's subsequent betrayal of her family and how she had to punish and exile her. Alastor remained quiet, giving his mate all the open space she needed to fill while she let all of her emotions come spilling out in her vulnerable state. It was very difficult, however, for Alastor to suppress the rumbling murrs of delight threatening to bubble up in him while her paws began to comb sharp claws through his long fur and rake across his chest. Even in her emotionally fragile state, just Manea's fidgeting on top of him was delightful, but now wasn't the time. He was trying to be respectful of her.

When Manea brought her worried aqua eyes back up to meet his, she would find Alastor's calm and focused gaze locked solely on her. She was his only focus now; she had all of his attention. He gazed into the depths of those blue pools, only now daring to reach up to touch her. While she admitted that the fear that she might lose him to someone else was always in her heart, Alastor reached a massive black paw up to tenderly caress his wife's cheek, stroking paw pads along the curve of her jaw. His other paw lifted to rest on her waist, rubbing a small circuit up and down from her hipbone to her lower belly, where the swell of her pregnancy was just starting to show the most. "Nobody can steal me from you, Manea," he vowed, his deep voice low and gentle as he spoke. "I vowed this to you on the beach that night many seasons ago. No one can ever know my soul or have my heart the way you do. No one. I'm sorry I made you fear any different." Alastor remembered the vows they'd made the night they took one another as their mate, bound their souls together, and he was given the name Mendacium. He remembered every promise he ever made, because they meant something to him, but none more so than that one. No matter how close he got to Relm, nor anyone else, no living being could take him from being Manea's.

"Alastor Mendacium"