It had been coming up on a year... since Kefka had died. And while Relm hadn't really felt any type of loss for her deranged father, she was starting to second guess herself. But honestly, it was probably just everything happening to her now. It had nothing to do with Kefka. She was fully into her heat season now which had felt drastically different from her last due to her evolved relationship with Alastor. She was recovered from her miscarriage which she had done everything to mask the physical change in herself while recovering. Emotionally that wasn't so easy to hide from Alastor. But Relm was quite the rollercoaster after all. She hoped that he'd see her ups and downs as a usual by now. There was a little avoidance of him, and he could have read it in anyway. But really she just needed to get past her recovery. She had kept up with her usual patrols, she spent most nights out at firefly lake, she didn't want any chance of Alastor finding out what had happened. Though maybe it was what would lead him on in the long run. She at least hoped he'd never know.

It was hard being away from him too. Harder than usual. It was easy for her to degrade herself, always put Manea and his children ahead of herself. That didn't mean she wanted it to be that way. With her summer heat, in tune with holding back from him and her father's death anniversary around the corner, she was struggling to keep herself at bay physically and emotionally. The emotions were stronger than ever. For once they spoke loud and clear to her, but she'd never tell him just what she wanted. He could always assume, always feel it in her soul. But she knew better than to say. Because they had to keep everything just the way it was. They'd never be able to go further. She knew that.

She had made an evening patrol around the island before making her way inland towards the lake. She was out here looking for him. She wouldn't take her usual seat in the meeting grounds waiting for him to show face this time. It may have seemed out of character for her, but really it wasn't. When she was with Alastor, she was her own true self. Coming outside of a shell she had grown too used to residing in. The only thing was when she found him, she did ask for it. What she had said she'd never do. She was taunting and teasing as ever, something she'd only show him when they were intimate. She guessed she wasn't breaking her own rules if she hadn't actually said anything to him. She wouldn't even meet gazes with him. It was intentional, maybe just dragging out that urge for him even longer. Just a side eye when she walked by, a pause, maybe even a smirk too, he'd know what she was doing.

She'd make her way back out to den in Firefly Lake she could have called her own at this point, he'd know where to find her when he was done with what he was doing. She had no doubt he'd be here at least. Maybe a little too confident in herself for once. But really, it had to be just drowning out everything that was behind her. She wouldn't open up all the pent up emotion even to herself. Right now this felt like the best way to redirect the turn of events.

"Relm"

Life around Elysium had grown tumultuous. Manea had brought some new boy toy back home with her from her trip to Fenmyre and was now in his company most of the day and all of the nights, Saracyn was waging his own little personal war with his mother over the arranged marriages Manea had attempted to set up for them, and Relm had gone back to being distant from him. For once, and shockingly so, Relm had been the least of his worries. Where he normally concerned himself over his paramour's wellbeing, he had gotten used to the ebb and flow of their relationship, of Relm's emotions wreacking havoc on her mental state and causing her to avoid him for some time while she sorted herself out. It was the norm for them, and right now his own personal life seemed to be burning down around him.

It was because of this that Alastor had taken to keeping to himself as well, no longer seeking out the company of others—especially not his wife—while he went about his daily life. Patrols, hunting, fishing, gathering supplies for the pack, working on some manual labor building guard posts around the lake... Every so often he'd catch glimpses of Relm, both of them exchanging looks from afar, then going about their own business, and he knew she was okay. Or at the very least still alive and healthy. He didn't notice anything different about her, and he trusted that if something was bothering her, she would come to him eventually. So on Alastor continued, going day by day, just staying alive. The demon wolf hadn't even realized it was coming on a year since his manic slaughter of Relm's sadistic father or the event that had set him and Relm on this course for their unorthodox love. It was no less significant to him for his lack of remembering though. Killing Kefka would always be one of his proudest moments, a time where he felt he'd actually done some good in the world.

Alastor had gotten so set in his new rhythms, that when Relm began to come back his way, it was a pleasant surprise to the dire brute. She'd started with simple gestures, walking closer to him when they passed by, a quick sideways glance and smirk, a brush of their fur when they got close... Relm was teasing him, toying with him, then acting coy when he'd shoot her an intrigued stare. He'd feel Relm's hungry argent gaze on his body when he was out patrolling or doing any sort of physical labor, and it was when he picked up on her heat scent during one pass that he realized why she was acting this way. Relm had said she'd never ask him to fuck her and love her, and in a way he supposed she still technically wasn't, even though her body was screaming at him to take her. Her body language asked him for it, her eyes asked him for it, every part of her asked except for her voice. That was fine; Alastor didn't need the verbal clues to know what his pink lover wanted and oh boy, was he going to give it to her!

Finishing up pulling some spruce logs Avacyn had asked him to gather for some of the guard posts around the lake territory, Alastor was satisfied his work had been completed. Then the dire brute wasted no time, turning and heading to Firefly Lake where he knew Relm had set up a den at. He was driven by an instinctive urge, a feral part of his brain triggered by Relm's delectable scent coaxing him onward. The giant wolf only stopped to give himself a quick dip in the lake to wash off the sweat and dirt from his coat, shaking it dry, then making haste to Relm's hideaway. Her scent was stronger here, the air thick with her pheromones calling out to him like a siren's song. Alastor didn't hesitate, didn't wait to call or announce his presence. The dire brute marched right into Relm's den and stood just inside the entrance, ravenous obsidian eyes instantly seeking out the pink fae with a primal, animalistic look in them. Relm's scent was even stronger inside, and every breath he took, Alastor could feel something inside him coming unraveled in the best possible ways. No words were uttered or spoken while he entered the den, seeking out his lover to give her what she needed and asked him for, and to see what she had in mind with all her earlier teasing.

"Alastor"

She had been so out of tune with him over the last week or so, she wouldn't know the troubles inside his own head. It would seem that he understood her more than she understood him. Or maybe it was just the lifestyle they had. She was always waiting for him or hoping he noticed her. When they were together it was like they lived in their own little make believe world. Relm cared for him deeply and would do anything to make him happy, she just lived the narrative of not being his one and only or almighty. It was old news.

She could feel his presence as soon as he entered the den, still spacious but not as much as what she had back at Alias. He may not have been focused on the things she had inside of the den, but it would show that she had made the place like home or as much as she could for a temporary den. She was laid down on the furs with her back and rump facing him, she was already disrobed for him. It may have been a show of confidence he had never seen in her before or at least at the start of their usual encounters.

As it was, nothing had to be said between the two. Relm peeked back over her shoulder with a small grin before she carefully rolled over onto her back. She didn't move other than that, wouldn't reach for him, wouldn't coax him by touching him, but her pale eyes told him everything. All of her own troubles were hidden just behind, hidden well through her show of desire for him. Maybe it hadn't been that long since they were together last but to her it felt like a long time coming. Maybe just from her bad events and recovery. It had felt like forever for her.

Her half lidded gaze flowed down past her nose as she looked back at him just in the door way, she dropped her head back onto the furs as she waited for his response. But by the way he looked, and looked at her, she could tell she wouldn't be disappointed. She never was.

"Relm"

There she was... laid out beautiful and perfect like a present waiting for him to come and take her. Wide obsidian eyes ate up Relm's form, drinking in the details of the lewd sight before his ravenous gaze. She had disrobed already, her cloak nowhere to be seen and showing off every feminine curve of her body. She laid out on a bed of soft furs, glancing back over her shoulder at him with argent eyes shining with playful mischief and a grin on her lips that set his blood on fire. There was a confidence in Relm that he had never seen before, a sultry and sexy self-assurance that made the Mendacium brute hungry. Those predatory black eyes gleamed with primal delight as he watched the pink and black fae roll over to present her belly to him, those same eyes roving with lecherous desire over every inch of her, eventually coming to settle between her legs where that delectable scent was originating.

How long had it been since they'd bedded together Alastor wondered? A week? Two? Time had slipped by so seamlessly that he hardly kept track of it anymore. But this... oh, this he would want to remember forever. Relm's pale pools set in her dark face called to him, beckoning him over like a siren song. Alastor was a slave to those eyes, to that grin, and to his own instincts as he gave in and let his mind slip away. Heavy paws carried the dire brute over to his fae, practically salivating while he looked her over from tip to tail. Neither of them had said a word to one another yet, and perhaps neither of them would. They would speak through their actions, their body language, and the sounds they would coax from one another amidst their frenzied fucking. Alastor practically stood over Relm, looming above her while he drank in her scent with each breath, and each breath served to further intoxicate his lust-addled brain. His core clenched hard, a heat deep inside of him radiating like he had swallowed a small sun. Relm's scent made his body tingle, his nerves on fire and ready to pounce. And he would... but not yet. First he was going to make his lover sing for him.

Raising one massive paw, Alastor went to press his paw down onto Relm's lower belly, not applying his weight forward but instead slowly trailing his claws down through thin fur and over warm skin. He didn't press hard enough to cut her yet, but she would feel the sharp edges of his siam claws tickling at her flesh. His eyes followed his paw down, down the length of Relm's body until he reached her waist. Then he slid himself down to his belly to settle himself between Relm's spread thighs. Lust-fogged eyes peered up at her silver set from across the length of her, a lecherous growl rumbling in his throat, the sound of a predator about to feat. And feast he did. Alastor wasted no time in grabbing each of Relm's thighs with strong paws, holding them spread apart while his muzzle dipped down with tongue extended to taste her, finding familiar and intimate flesh with a primal hunger he'd never shown her before. Obsidian eyes watched her face all the while he sought to please her with his mouth, watching for her reactions while he devoured her alive. He wanted to savor this moment and watch Relm come undone before he spent the rest of the night giving into his nature and doing as their bodies and instincts demanded.

"Alastor"

She'd never really understand the way he saw her, in a physical level and emotional level. It was known just how hard she was on herself but she made a habit of just keeping it to herself. The relationship they had built wouldn't make her feel so insecure, but in this lifestyle she had made she felt she wasn't so desirable. Up until moments like these where she could forget everything outside and feel like it was only her and Alastor.

She took a quiet and sharp breath in as his paw pressed down into the sensitive skin of her stomach. She honestly didn't feel much different than her off seasons because she always craved being with Alastor like this. But there was this sense of maddening that went along with the beginning of their interactions. She couldn't beg him any more through the way she looked at him, the way she gave herself up wholly to him. It wasn't really anything new but from the hidden emotions surrounding their secret loss, this meant more to her than he could know.

She had almost considered sharing a moment of what she had discovered in their short time apart, but it seemed like he would be enough. He always would be. She didn't need drugs to make her feel any better right in this moment. She was always at his will. She could demand, she could beg, but in the end she was only here for just the ways he wanted her. As he slid down her body and made himself comfortable she knew what to expect next. And while it was a physical pleasure that he had shown before, she loved to see the way he reacted to her own body so she knew he would feel the same way about her. She settled in too taking a deep breath as he moved in and started on her. Only this time she'd test her limits a little more. She would learn how to hold back if only just a little more than she had the first time he had tasted her. Their time together escalated quickly from the moment he entered the den but it was what the two of them were after. It was what she had been asking for.

She taught herself how to hold back, at least some until the next time they would do this together. Maybe he could tell how she was dragging out coming to that first close in their evening together, maybe he was even playing a part in it. The way she sighed and whimpered would never cease to tell just how much he did the job right, down to the point where she working with him and then trembling into her end. But she knew it wasn't over, she wouldn't want it to be. Her paws pushed just gently into him to try and give herself some room to roll over onto her stomach, wanting that more feral dominance from him over her. He'd have the upper hand on her either way. His brand over her back was a lot more subtle than it was a year ago, and only seen by those who may have been looking. It was the least of her worries now as she instinctively moved her tail to the side to reveal the results of his own act on her. She knew he would take the bait, it wasn't even needed.

"Relm"

The pink and black fae beneath him held nothing back, and she gave him everything he was craving and needing in this very moment. Alastor knew Relm would never keep herself from him, but even in that knowledge, seeing how she offered herself forward to their carnal desires and the instinctual needs of their biology was as arousing as it was enticing to the predatory brute. Every shaky breath and pleased sigh he pulled from her lips spurred him on, the symphony of pleasure he was conducting with the careful and precise ministrations to her most intimate parts his masterpiece while he watched her squirm beneath him, for him, coming undone before his very eyes. Alastor would never grow tired to seeing Relm like this—wild, lusty, free. This woman he had with him now was a night and day difference from the Relm he had known when he'd freed her from Kefka's control. It was how he always wanted to see Relm and how she always should be.

Alastor savored the taste of Relm on his tongue, devouring her as if she would be his last meal on earth. When she reached her end with sighs and whimpers, he growled in response, a low and pleased rumbling to watch her find that peak. She was drawing out their time, holding back to make him work for what he wanted. It incensed the dark wolf in all the right ways and made him crave her all the more deeply. As soon as Relm had finished trembling through her peak, Al felt gentle yet insistent paws pushing on his head, moving him away from between her legs. Although he was loathe to leave her, he did as she bid, watching with smoldering, starving eyes as she rolled to her belly to present herself to him like a centerpiece to a feast. Alastor was practically salivating at the sight, the smell of her burned into his brain. And then she lifted her tail for him, allowing those abyssal eyes to roam freely over the work he'd done to her nethers, and then Alastor was unleashed.

The ebony and ruby wolf wasted no time rising to his paws and stalking over to her like a hunter, his massive body easily covering hers with his own while he gazed down at her. A slow grin spread wide across his lips, revealing deadly fangs while he drank in the sight of her. Beneath him, he could see the marks he'd left on her flesh the year prior. A permanent branding that she would carry with her for the rest of her days. Raising one gargantuan paw, Alastor pressed it to the top of Relm's shoulders, right between the blades where those scars began, and then he pressed down, urging her to lower her front half for him. There was no question or request in his actions. She would yield to him or he would make her yield. That same paw then flexed, extending his siam claws out to prickle against the raised skin of her scars, following them with a feather-light touch from their peak to their base halfway down her back. Then he slid that same paw beneath her and hooked his muscular foreleg around Relm's waist, tugging her hips up and back into his.

A sigh of lustful delight seethed past Alastor's gritted teeth when he pressed his hips to Relm's, giving her only a moment to feel him against her before surging forward with a snarl to bring their bodies together as one. Claws dug into Relm's thigh where he held her, his other foreleg bracing himself against the furs as he tore at the bedding with his other paw. Black eyes screwed shut, lips peeled back from sharp teeth, and Alastor lunged forward in time with his movements to snatch Relm by the scruff, biting down hard to hold her in place while he had his way with her. The Mendacium brute held nothing back from her again, but it wasn't the same sort of unbridged and crazed lust she'd seen from him in his blood frenzy after he'd murdered Kefka. He was wild, he was raw, and he gave her his all, but he did not subvert the passion he felt for her and showed her in their actions. He would have his Relm and he would give all of himself to her many, many times tonight, and he would mark her again and make her scream for him, of that he was sure.

"Alastor"

Every way she reacted was driven wholly from born instinct and everything he had given her. She was this way because of him but it was also because she could feel so open and free with him. She felt relieved to be with him like this because it was like every weight was lifted off of her shoulders. There was no judgment, there was no holding back. She was truly his, and her own Relm.

Feeling just the presence over her was intense, but she wasn't scared of him. She never would be. She'd always be just his, any way he wanted in her or his own will. Her lungs let out a near silent exhale as he pressed down between her shoulder blades and she moved gently as he motioned her down. Not fighting him, but keeping that tension between them still while she bent to him. Her cheek laid down on the furs as she glanced back at him, but soon closed her eyes as he trailed along the scars that were his. Her dark anticipation grew through her deep breaths, a quiet sigh, both from their moments before and reminiscent of what led them here today. She didn't need to be reminded, but she was for everything he had done for her and how much she cared for him. It made these moments so much stronger. She couldn't fool herself into thinking this was all just for the physical pleasure.

As he pulled her up against him, she let out another one of those sharp, demanding huffs, a lusted eye looking back to him with a quiet smile only he would be familiar with. The internal igniting she felt as he pressed against her making her desperate for him. Something that she had felt before with only him but felt completely new surrounding her more experienced heat season. Right now in these moments with him she could feel beautiful, and confident, and her best self. She could feel it, and they may have meant more to him than she knew.

Finally connecting them he'd be met with probably the best sounds of relief and enjoyment. Her paws dug down into the furs of her bed and he'd still get the view of her pleasurable, responsive faces if he chose to. She was quick to move into rhythm with him, still begging him when he gave her everything she asked for and more. Brutally grabbing her at her scruff was exactly what she wanted and he wouldn't receive any resistance back from her. Her body still worked in everyway to make this the best time of his life, at least with her. And he was right, she would be screaming for him. Only for him. Every drop of her soul never wanted this to end. But she craved to give him that final release after all the building they had done together, admiring him in that afterglow was the most satisfying for her. He'd make all the marks, and she'd be his most willing and grateful participant.

"Relm"

Relm was oh so truly a delight for him to play with! A malleable and resilient lover who matched his energy and desires in virtually every conceivable way. Everything she did and all that she was was an experience that shook his world. Every breath, every sigh and moan, every look and grin she threw at him from over her shoulder, the way her body trembled and worked back into his own spurred him on. It was as if Relm was trying to tug at every seam he had and get him to come undone, pushing every button she knew how to find to bring that ticking time bomb down to a zero count. She wanted him to give her everything he had to give, and he was doing exactly that. Every movement they made together created a crescendoing symphony of carnal noises from the pair of coupling wolves while the dire brute dominated his lover. Instinct had full control of his mind and body. Alastor was little more than a wild animal hellbent on banging out the brains of the fae beneath him.

The pink fae moved in harmony with him, digging her claws into the bedding while he dug his claws into her flesh, holding her supple form to his, grabbing at the curves of her hips, her taut thighs, her lithe sides, any part of her that he could reach just to keep her from toppling over while he collided his body to hers over and over and over again. The growls and snarls of feral lust coming from the brute were only somewhat muffled by the mass of fur and flesh held tight in his jaws, razor sharp teeth threatening to tear into her scruff as he tugged Relm back into him. It was like no amount of connection between their bodies would ever be enough; Alastor longed to be coupled to Relm for all eternity. Hind paws kicked and scrabbled against the furs below their feet, jerking in time with his pushes. There was no grace or fluidity to their sex. This was raw, wild, impassioned mating between two needy and primal creatures feeding off of one another.

One massive ebony paw lifted from around her waist and slid up her side, grabbing Relm by the shoulder to help leverage her for more force and depth, showcasing his larger size over her and how his body completely covered hers. Alastor growled his pleasure out around her scruff in his jaws, obsidian eyes switching between scrunched closed against the mind-numbing ecstasy and peering down with lecherous fire to drink in his lover's reactions. With how pent up Alastor had been recently and how badly she was affecting him, it didn't take long for him to begin to approach his end. Wanting to go off with a bang, Alastor gave a snarl and tugged back on Relm's scruff, forcing her head back to expose her vulnerable throat for that paw on her shoulder to snake up around, grasping her firmly between strong paw pads. He squeezed her windpipe, not enough to fully choke her, but enough to exert his dominance over her and flex his power as he claimed her fully. Black eyes screwed shut as he reached his finish, giving a muffled howl into the back of Relm's neck as he burst into pure blinding pleasure. Strong forelimbs clutched Relm to him, keeping their hips pulled flush while he rode out that high into a blissful euphoria, his massive body twitching and trembling atop of Relm's.

But Alastor wasn't done with her yet. Oh no, not by a long shot... Despite his age, Relm made him feel like a young buck. Time and experience had given him a great set of skills in bed, and Relm stoked and tested his stamina. Tonight, he'd give her all of it. Barely a moment after they'd both reached their peaks and felt the warm embrace of the afterglow, Alastor was releasing Relm's neck with both paw and jaws, looking as if he were going to dismount. Instead, that large paw slapped down on Relm's shapely rump, squeezing at her supple flesh with both paws before extending the siam razor blades from his digits to sink into her skin and muscle. With his violent hold on her, Alastor rose up and used his superior strength to topple Relm over, effortlessly flipping her from her belly to her back beneath him. His paws holding her ass dragged up, tearing through fur and flesh to grab her thighs and pull her legs up and open for him. He could feel the blood he left in his wake and knew he'd likely scarred up her hind end as well, but he didn't care right now. All he could think of was having his Relm again and again, bringing her to pleasure until she'd been fucked stupid by him. And with a wide, manic grin on his lips, Alastor began to take her again as he roughly rejoined their bodies and began to crash into her once more.

"Alastor"

As Alastor became more feral and more intense, Relm returned the favor. There was a deep rumbling in the back of her throat and chest but it was overlapped by her loud and responsive pleasurable cries and noises as Alastor continued on. Everything drove right down to the heart of her emotional connection and feelings for him, every time they were together felt different and new to her and she never knew how wonderfully she could feel physically. He gave this to her.

Every touch on her was turned up to a thousand with every way he handled her combined, a stark difference than the first time she had asked him to touch her and who knew it would lead to this. They were blended nearly into one with the way he held onto her, and she could feel every part of his massive frame and size through every part of her. Regardless of how brutal and aggressive their time together was, it made her feel safe and loved, none of it was a trick of her summer heat.

Not that he needed to assert that forceful nature as he pulled her head back and reached around to her throat, but it was just everything she wanted. She grit her teeth and rumbled again in his paws as he rode out that beautiful, fierce end. Knowing that she could do this for him, with the added bonus that she loved every second of it, it was what really made her feel complete. Like she was desired. Because otherwise she felt like she didn't really have any other good purpose in her life. Alastor may have seen her as more, but she'd never have exactly what she wanted with him to give her that whole, prefect picture.

She'd fall down onto the bed of her furs as Alastor released her, about to take that relieving, breathless moment imagining that he'd lay down to join her too. She would not expect what else more that stayed in his mind or at least so soon. She twitched as his paw came down on her rump, looking over her shoulder with a quiet panting smile back at him. In no way unsatisfied, but once he turned the tables and stuck into her it was instinct for her to hold her breath and eventually tense up in a pain response. She did yelp out as his claws dragged deeply over her hind quarters, but she wasn't pushing him off and away from her. After receiving both of their natural highs it wasn't quite the same than if he were actively riding her but once he rolled her over and she looked back up at the way he looked down at her, she went straight back into those lustful intents.

She was surprised all the while still eager to not stop what he wanted and what she forever craved too. He was met with deeper, more than satisfied grunts and moans as he continued on. Her eyes looking up at his familiar dark eyes and desires as she kept playing her part in the show she gave him. Her paw quickly reached down to hook around his bloodied one, attempting to direct him across her body and pushing it down into the side of her neck and downwards of her chest. She liked to believed that neither of them would be completely satisfied until she was beaten and bloody under him.

"Relm"