Mahniya huffed. Granted it was a quiet, barely audible sound, the rest of the pack was sound asleep, snoring softly in the respectable cave that had become merely the den. They slept together, a true family, a solid unit, Mahniya had spent the better part of the last year in this cavern and yet... she couldn't sleep. Her body was exhausted, broken down from the days labor, hunting in the snow with winter approaching fast wasn't easy... she should have collapsed in a huff and passed out. Mahniya was a sinewy dame and the blizzard coupled with the thick snow made dragging dinner home quite the episode. No one complained, in fact most of them laughed and joked, talking about days gone by. Mahniya mainly kept to herself but on occasion would throw in a comment here or there. Nothing substantial and she was easily lost amidst the noise once more. The woman would huff once more. So why couldn't she sleep?

Giving up, her head would lift, gazing out into the blinding blizzard of white, at night the storms only grew more violent, walks usually cleared her head but vanishing into that storm would be suicidal. She had no desire to die, especially not now. The woman's gaze would shift instinctively to her... mate. That word still rolled from her tongue like a lovers caress leaving her in a state of awe and wonder. It was shocking to her that anyone had looked at her twice, she tried to make herself invisible, thats how she had been raised, she was a slave... but Rogue had always seen her, Rogue had always found her. A fond smile drifted across her mouth as she watched the steady rise and fall of his chest he was sprawled haphazardly, limbs stretched out as he lay on his right side. He was gorgeous and God only knew why he had picked her.

The smile would fall from her maw. The rest of the pack had not been told of their marriage, and perhaps in this desperate time of grieving it was for the best... but they were mates and what was she doing on the opposite side of the cavern? Grunting, she pulled her sore limbs beneath her and as quietly as she could, she navigated through the slumbering masses and reached her Rogue. For a moment she took the time to merely study his form, so lost in how such a creature could chose her. With a smile, she would lower her front end, using her nose to nudge up his front forelimb. She crawled beneath the appendage, until it lay across her shoulders. She turned to face him, tucking her own legs into her body so she could press against the length of his torso, listening to the steady drum of his heart as she nuzzled her maw into the side of his neck, breathing in the heady scent she had come to love. With a small smile painting itself across her maw, she would relax. In his embrace, she had found her peace.



Speech!

Thaddeus Rogue had been exhausted when his family had returned from the hunt, her lanky body sore. It had seemed that his brother had not forgotten Rogue's grate nose and put him in tracking duty, making Rogue run all over the territory looking for the best pray, and let him tell you, that could make any skinny male fall over himself to sleep. But he had first sought out with his eyes her figure, she still seemed to be in a small daze, and they had come to a silent arrangement about their sleeping arrangement, and no matter how much Thaddeus wanted to just snuggle up with his Ayala he was going to give her time, time enough to get comfortable with him and her own emotions. So he watched her lay her body down on the other side of the den from where he lay. He sighed as he watched her get settle, and then he himself lay his head on his paws and slowly drifted off to sleep.


As his mind slowly came out of the heaviness of sleep it was the smell that first assaulted him. He had always been able to pick out her scent but not this strongly. His eyes flew open, as he pulled her lovely smell into his nose more deeply, just marveling about how right it was. But it was not the fact that he could smell his mate what made his eyes go wide with wonder and love, it was the fact that she had found her way to his side, and had nudged herself into his haphazard legs and had pressed herself into his mane. She was still sound asleep, her black and white face losing the edge that was always present. He watched her in wonder, joy and rightness filling his heart, she was meant to be here with him, to be close to his heart, always; but it was like when Rogue was courting her, he had not wanted to push her too fast, so had bended to her wishes about them taking it slow.

Thaddeus Rogue pressed his face into the fur on the crown of her face, pulling more of her alluring scent into his nostrils, never becoming tired of her scent. He flexed his legs drawling her closer to him, wanting to mingle her fur into his and feel her heat melt into him. He was content to stay like that for however long it took Ayala to wake, even though the sun had already made it partway up into the sky. It would only be when she started to stir that he would lick her forehead and then whisper. "Morning, ma Lumi?re." He smiled tenderly at her, his eyes showing everything in his heart.

The dame had coiled herself into Rogue, his massive frame dwarfing hers, her tail had found its home coiled around his flank and draping languidly down his back, her bodice pressed into his, molding them into one being, her maw lost to the fur upon his mane. Within mere moments of trapping herself within his embrace her mind would find restful peace and without hesitation the woman would drift off, to dream of the male pressed against her. She didn't care who knew that she was his, she would wear his brand willingly.

A dreamless sleep would bind her captive, restful and deep she would sleep until late in the day, coiled around her mate. A soft groan left her maw as she was tugged tighter into the loving warmth that encased her. She never wanted to awaken, she could never recall having slept so deep before. She had been trained to be a light sleeper, in case her master wanted for anything during the night, but the alluring scent tickling her nose and the calming warmth that encased her like a cocoon was attempting to keep her dragged down, drenched in sweet slumber. A kiss, that began upon the top of her head and drifted between her eyes would be the final key to awaken her.

Arching her spine, the dame's jaws parted in a wide yawn before tired crimson orbs blinked open. They were misted, fogged with sleep and the delirious scent of Rogue clung to her senses like some exotic drug. Instinctively, her tongue would dip from inky black lips, to swipe upon the multi-hued fur before her as she tried to regain her bearings. Rogue's voice, a deep baritone rumble would cause a small, albeit small, to pull at her maw. Yawning once more, she would pull back her head enough to see him, bumping her nose against his own. Tenderly, she licked at his snout, bathing him in soft kisses, reminding him without words that she loved him.

Her memories and mental faculties, finally catching up with her, she had the audacity to blush and gently nudge his maw up, to bury her own beneath his, hiding from him, a fierce blush stealing across her cheeks. "I couldn't sleep, your scent brings me peace, my love.""\ She would murmur, nearly inaudible into his throat. Her voice rumbling with sleep and embarrassment.


Speech!

Thaddeus Rogue watched in amusement as Ayala opened her eyes sleepily and curved her spin. She reminded him of a mountain lion getting up from an afternoon nap in the sun. His smiled deepened as her tongue lapped out from her mouth and kissed him on the cheek. Her eyes where still absent the shadows of her past and very lovely to look at without the shadows of shackles. She pulled back as he watched her slowly wake up and as she meet his eyes her nose met his. His eyes went wide, it was such an innocent thing but yet still very intimate, and he wanted more. But before he could react she was assaulting him with little butterfly kisses and then his world flipped upside down. He was in heaven, the woman he loved more than anything was pressed against his body and showering him with her affections even though this must be very new to her and she may feel a little awkward, hell even he was filling it; Rogue was just that, a vagabond, he never stayed in one place long enough to get to know any woman let alone love her, but she was different, it had taken nothing on her part for him to fall hard and fast in love with her. Ayala pushing her head under his chin snapped him out of his little thought.

"Ah Ayala, I enjoy waking to you, hell I wish to for every day of my life." He pulled her closer to him, breathing his scent deeper, wanting her to forever infuse into him, he wanted her to forever be part of him. She was in his heart and always in his mind, she was his world, the only thing to make him real in the real world where he was a ghost. "I love you, ma Lumi?re, but I am willing to wait however long it takes for you to get used to the idea of us."

Thaddeus Rogue moved his head back from her and licked her face, wanting to show her every bit of affection she deserved. He pushed his nose into her cheek, wanting to be closer to her, wanting to never move from this spot. His tail curling around her, his legs encasing her, possessing her. He could not help it, he was a male after all.

"Ayala what would you like to do today, I do not think the Gargie planed anything for the pack, seeing that the hunt yesterday was successful." Thaddeus Rogue looked out into the snow, it was lightly snowing after the snowstorm, that left a hefty layer of snow, and the perfect play ground for two in love wolvens to play like pups. With that thought he wondered about her childhood, she had been a slave he knew but for how long and at what age? Did she even have a childhood? Rogue's chest hurt at just the thought of her lost puphood. But he wanted her to forget her past and to forge new memories, with him, and maybe a day of playing the freshly fallen snow was a good place to start. "What do you think about playing a game?"

She rose from her sleep, for once it had been dreamless, her slumber peaceful. No memories of punishments or phantoms from her past. They still lingered, reminding her of the days spent under the lock and key of another and in some ways she would always carry remnants of her days as a slave. She was quiet, gentle by nature, unwilling and hesitant to perform a task without a command given. She hunted and retrieved water for herself, but a vast majority of her time was spent in limbo. She went on walks without being commanded too, she accompanied Rogue whenever he wished her to be with him... all of this was leaps and bounds for the black and white woman, and all of it, or at least the vast majority, was thanks to the heavy body currently coiled around her like a vice. She was still trapped in the lingering visages of sleep but her tongue escaped her maw to bathe him almost absentmindedly in kisses, as distraught as her own mind so oft was, it recognized Rogue as safe, protective, loving. He could ask of her anything and she would do her absolute damndest to see it to reality, there were no words to describe the depths of her love for this wolf. She was half tempted to recline back to sleep, nuzzling her head beneath his chin, her eyes would flutter, only to open as his deep timbre reaching her audits easily. Her mouth curling into a smile against his skin.

"Then I will move here permanently, the warmth of your body and the scent of your fur chases away my nightmares." Her words were little more than a ghosts whisper against his skin, still refusing to move from the home she had found, twined around his body. She would smile at his next words, so soft and gentle, her tongue escaped her to lick at the column of his neck, her voice rumbling up through her chest once again. "I just want to love you Rogue and as long as I can do that for the rest of my days, I will be content." Her words were brimming with adoration and love. Absolute truth lingered in her tones, she spoke no lie.

Whether it was her words or simply the need to be closer to her, she didn't know, but he twined himself around her, tail coiling around her bodice, limbs tightening their hold, her eyes slid shut as his tongue bathed her maw in kisses, a soft almost inaudible giggle falling from her maw, how sweet her love was.

His next words were surprise her as slowly he unwound from her bodice, she was loathe to let him go, could they not lay curled forever in one another's embrace? Alas, the day must be faced at some point and with reluctance she parted from him to stand, to shake the disorientation from her languid coat. Her head would tilt to the side, curiosity brimming in her eyes at his inquiry. "A game? What is a game?"




Speech!

Thaddeus Rogue reluctantly let go of Ayala, Watching as she got to her paws. Happiness swelled his chest, she had said that she will sleep with him, that he helped her cope with her life, but she also talked about nightmares, ones he was sure where from her past. His heart ached then, all the challenges that she must have gone though just so she could live. He loved that woman more than anything, she was his world, the wolf that made him whole. He got up then, his lanky legs caring his frame easily, her words burned into his mind, making a nest there; ah he had never wanted to listen to the same words so often in his life, but he could not get used to her telling him that she loved him, it was like a gift every time.

He moved close to her, pressing his nose into her fur and then bounding away, light on his feet, with a playful smile on his muzzle. As her voice again filled the air though Rogue stopped abruptly, his head tilting to the side. So it was like that, and that made the male so sad, she must have been born a slave, given nothing but orders and punishment, not allowed to be a pup, not even allowed to know what a game was. Thaddeus smiled again, knowing just how to remedy that. If she did not know what a game was he would show her. He approached he again, his eyes showing mischievous intent. "Ma Lumi?re, prepare yourself." With that he pushed at her with his nose, then quick as a rattlesnake he ran off into the snow. He bounded about his movement playful, pushing the soft snow with his paws, and leaping in the air. It was a simple game, one of the first that he ever played with his siblings, just a bit of tag. "Come Ayala, beat you cant catch me!" He bounded about more, his paws flying in the air tossing snow this way and that, trying to entice her into playing with him.

They untangled themselves from their web of fur and limbs and Mahniya rose to stretch, her front end arching down, claws flexed and scraping against the stone as she stretched out her lithe bodice, spine popping back into place before she righted herself. Her jaws would part in an exaggerated yawn and she would shiver, shaking the dust and debris from her pelt before her gaze returned to her mate. Her tail flickering almost absently between her legs as she watched him. A smile would cross his maw, he nudged her and bounded away, confusion settled upon the dual colored dame. What was that? Some kind of trick? Some ritual she was unfamiliar with? Was it a sign of affection or perhaps he was trying to get her to do....something? She stood, head cocked like a curious bird but she remained still, standing where she was, what exactly did he wish of her?

His words came playful but the meaning behind them was threatening, her muscles would tense instinctively as he leapt towards her again, what was this madness? What did he wish of her? She wished to please him, she loved him, of course she wished to please him, but she wasn't sure what to do, uneasily a few cautious steps were taken and suddenly he was racing away from her, leaving the woman rather dumb founded and at a loss for words. He wanted her too....chase him? What was she supposed to do once she caught him? Frowning, but not wanting to displease him, she forced her limbs to unfreeze, setting off at a heavy gallop, chasing after her love.


Speech!