i've come to the realization

His words that questioned her judgment were swiftly dispelled when the snow and shadow Empress quickly reaffirmed her claim that she meant every word she said. She wanted him to be with her. She wanted him because he wasn't a highborn lord from a noble family. Venom wanted him as he was, as she so eloquently put it, phrasing her heart's desire far more poetically than he likely would have. She had had her highborn husband once upon a time and it had laid her low, rent her heart to pieces and left her in the state that he had found her in. She didn't want someone for titles or accolades, power or fortune. She wanted him. The gravity of that claim left the dire brute reeling in shock. Maverick had always ben a bit of a Casanova, able to charm and flirt his way to just about anything he wanted, but that had always been with lowborn wolves such as himself—commoners who saw him as a handsome face and toned body. He'd never once gotten to this degree of commitment with any of them. Perhaps that made him a bit of a reprobate, but he had never cared. He'd followed flights of fancy and whatever his heart wanted at the time, and all those times before his heart had wanted a quick and easy lay to satisfy his urges and then to be on his way. But this time... this time things were different. He'd invested himself with Venom in ways he had not anticipated. For once in his life, Maverick was thinking past tomorrow. For once, he didn't want to run away.

The vagabond wolf swallowed hard, his breathing shallow as all sorts of unfamiliar emotions welled up and tightened in his chest. His heart was racing, pounding against the inside of his ribcage as he gazed deep into Venom's hopeful eyes, those sunset jewels looking to him for the answer she was no doubt praying to hear. This was the turning point of his entire existence—the point where Maverick had to decide who he wanted to be. Would he reject her, break her heart, and keep running away like the vagabond he'd always been? Would he take her up on this chance to become something he'd never been before? What if this was who he was always meant to be? The man beside the woman, giving her the support and love and assurances in herself she needed from someone. He had already seen the happiness he could bring her in the short season they'd been spending time together and it made him feel fulfilled in ways he never expected it would. Was that enough to turn the wide-eyed wanderer into a domestic man? Maverick was intimidated by the shift his life was facing—but the more he thought about the notion of running away, of leaving Venom and hurting her, of being alone again... he realized he couldn't do it. That wasn't the life he wanted anymore. The realization brought an incredulous grin to the wolf's face. If only his brother could see him, the wily renegade, being tamed by the sly and shrewd Empress.

"Venom Klein Abraxas..." said Maverick with a chuckle beneath his husky breath, gazing into her stunning eyes with his own teal pools shimmering for her. He shook his head in disbelief and gave a breathy laugh. "I always wondered if anyone would be able to get me to stop running. Huh... guess I have my answer now." The brute reached forward with a large multi-hued paw, gently taking one of hers in his and lifting it to hold. He marveled at her, this incredible fae that had bewitched him and twisted him up inside so much that he couldn't tell up from down, like drowning in a riptide that he didn't want to escape from. The power she gave over him was but a mirror of the power she held over him. A rebel with no loyalties or allegiances that had been seduced and swayed to find fidelity in her. There was still so much he didn't know about her, about her family or her pack or her life. But that mystery was part of the fun. Now they'd have all the time to learn one another, inside and out and as intimately as they desired. Maverick turned a crooked grin to Venom, then leaned in closer until their noses met and he felt her warm breath against his lips, her warmth staving the cold of winter away from him. "If Venom and the Empress want me to be theirs, then I hope you're both ready for me, because this scruffy, rough tramp lives a wild life. But he's ready to run with you if you're ready to run with him." Now it was Maverick's turn to feel the suspense and adrenaline that made his heart race, knowing that Venom was accepting him and wanting him as he was, but still anxious at facing down the barrel of an entire life change. But he trusted Venom. With her, he was ready to take the plunge.

"Maverick"