Ten Thousand Ways To Lose

Alastor had noticed the shift in Relm's personality following their last encounter by the lake, when he'd found her injured and broken emotionally. Where she'd admitted that she loved him and where he had shared his own emotional connection to the young woman. Relm was someone who mattered to him, someone he felt compelled to protect and care for. She was one of his wolves, but knowing that this care was also harming her made things... difficult. It was impossible for Alastor to ignore the way Relm retreated into herself, keeping away from the majority of the pack to keep to herself—even keeping him at a distance—just going through the motions on her own like a phantom stuck in her own life. He hadn't wanted to approach her without some idea or suggestion to make things between them good again, but the dark-furred demon wolf was stuck at a standstill. And every day he delayed, he saw Relm's depression deepen and her dour mood grow. It killed him to watch her crumble into herself like that. He missed the lively fire in her silver eyes. He missed the way she smiled when he passed by. He missed the Relm he knew, not the Relm she'd become.

Yet as the days stretched into weeks and life continued, Alastor could bear the friction no longer. Every day he spent not seeking out Relm was a day he allowed to separate them more and more. Maybe some would say it was better this way; that he should let time and distance drive the wedge between them so she could be free of him and find someone better and more worthy of her than him. But Alastor couldn't let Relm go. He was a selfish bastard in that regard, but he just couldn't. The thought kept him awake at night, trying to figure out how to fix this mess he'd made. He loved Relm, but he couldn't be hers the way she wanted him to be. The only way forward he saw was to talk to Relm.

It was still early enough in the wintry morning when Alastor strode out of his den that some of Elysium would still be asleep. He knew Relm favored the early morning patrols for the solitude they brought, so he'd risen early and left his warm bed to venture out into the snow to find the pink fae. It had snowed the night before and the land was covered in fresh banks of powdery snow, a cold breeze kicking up gusts of the glistening white substance. Alastor trudged through the snow, crunching it beneath large, heavy paws as he headed for Relm's den with a freshly caught salmon in his jaws. When he arrived, he found the young woman lying near the entrance. He greeted her with soft eyes, mouth opening as if to speak, but no words came out. He shut it after a moment of silence, looking away, then sighing and stepping forward to settle himself down on his belly at the den entrance as well, lying against the opposite side from her. Any other day, he would have immediately sought to cuddle her, but with the tensions between them still unresolved, he didn't push his luck. "I brought you breakfast," he said after a moment, passing the salmon over to Relm from across the small space between them.

"Alastor"