The Princess and the Pea

While ordinarily a decent sleeper, Alastor had also had his senses highly trained to alert him to any sort of disturbance in the middle of the night—an unfortunate side effect of living a life where anyone could murder you at any time, especially when your guard was down. So when the subtle sounds of paws moving through the cave in the dead of night was picked up by his keen auds, Alastor's eyes snapped open, Stygian optics virtually invisible in the dark of the den much like his massive form was. He waited for a beat, tensed, waiting to see if that sound was someone sneaking in to try to kill him or his family, or someone sneaking out. When no one emerged from the darkness, Alastor lifted his head an inch and peered about the den, only rising to massive paws once he heard nothing any longer. The gigantic sire wolf made his way to the chamber his pups slept in, noting that only Malico was within. Mariah was absent.

With a concerned frown tugging at his lips, Alastor sniffed the air, catching his youngest daughter's scent fresh in the tunnels and leading outside. Moving surprisingly quiet for as large as he was, the dark brute followed her trail out of the mouth of the den. Where was his pup going to in the middle of the night? Turned out, the answer was even simpler and more surprising than he expected. Emerging out into the moonlight, Alastor spotted his onyx and ruby princess laid out on her blanket atop a rock, gazing out at the midnight forests of their island home. A curious tilt angled the brute's head as he watched her quietly for a moment. Maybe she couldn't sleep with the summer warmth? Maybe she wasn't feeling well? Either way, Alastor plodded over to where she was resting, extending his claws to click against the stone with each step so as not to startle his child.

"Trouble sleeping, little love?" Alastor called out to Mariah once he had come upon her, a gentle smile that was usually so uncharacteristic to the demon wolf gracing his features as he looked at his daughter. Plopping down onto his belly beside the rock, Alastor looked out over their island with her, watching the stars sparkle in the sea and the lake. "What's on your mind, my darling?"

"Alastor Mendacium"