Can a frayed rope be mended?

The disappointment and disgruntlement on Manea's face was almost humorous to Irilyth when she instructed her lover to take no action against her husband for his misdeeds. She knew Manea was a much more directly confrontational wolf than she was, and being told to stand down when she felt the need to act would drive her bonkers, but it was the best way Irilyth could think of to take her power back from Alastor. He had tried to put her down, to break her and belittle her, but she would pick herself up and carry on like he had done nothing to her. Manea may not approve of her passive aggressive response, but it was not her call to make. Thankfully, the alphess seemed to respect her decision, no matter how much she disagreed with her, relenting to Iri's wishes in a few simple sentences. Irilyth gave a humming giggle and smirked up at the larger fae. "Does that surprise you that I'm less vengeful than you are? I wouldn't have survived half as long as I have if I tried to take on every wolf that ever wronged me." Iri had built a life on survival by servitude, subjugating herself to the will of others in exchange for protection and provision. Manea had been the first wolf to ever treat her as something more than a maid or a concubine.

A few more tender affections were shared between the two ladies, with Manea nuzzling into Irilyth's cream-colored chest and drawing happy sighs from her. This felt normal again. Being in Manea's arms while they talked and cuddled felt like the world was setting itself right again. Then out of nowhere, Manea lifted her head and gave her a sly, wicked grin that Irilyth knew all too well. The golden fae raised a curious brow, but before she could ask about the mischievous look on her lover's face, the larger violet fae was scooping her up onto her back and whisking her out of the den and back up the mountain paths. "M-Manea! Where are we going?" she asked amidst clinging onto the larger wolf's back so she didn't go tumbling off. Her question was answered not by words, but by Manea carrying Irilyth across the threshold of their shared home and down the private tunnel to the Matriarch's bedchambers. Iri's eyes widened in realization when Manea brought her over to the expansive bed of luxuriously soft furs and tossed her gently down onto her back, manipulating her smaller body in her large leonine paws with ease.

A squeak of surprise escaped Irilyth's lips as Manea was suddenly upon her, covering her petite form with her own much larger, slender body. Irilyth's heart began to pick up speed, beating faster and harder in excitement and anxiousness while she gazed up into her lover's hungry aqua eyes with a blend of yearning and apprehension. Still, that didn't keep the eager grin off of the blonde woman's muzzle when Manea slipped her paws beneath her to hug around her waist, pulling the smaller fae's svelte body up to hers. The alphess' words sent an excited and naughty thrill through Iri's nerves. Manea was really driving the point home to Alastor by fucking her lover in their bed. "Manea...!" Irilyth gasped out between heated breaths as the violet fae began to trail sultry kisses down her jaw and throat, then across her chest and barrel, moving slowly down her in a way Iri was intimately familiar with. "Alastor... He's going to be furious with us. Are you sure...?" Of course he was going to know what the two women had done together. How could he not? But it seemed like that's exactly what Manea wanted, and she was prepared to face Alastor in her own way. Still grinning while she watched Manea move down her voluptuous body with half-lidded raspberry eyes, quiet murrs and sighs of delight began to slip past the littler fae's lips while she basked in Manea's love. Thanks to her potent medicines and salves, her injuries had all but healed by now. Only the emotional and mental ruin still lingered, and Manea would be the first and only one to see just how much her body had returned to its former glory.

"Manea" & "Irilyth"