Golden irises watched wearily from atop the communal den as the slow falling flurries began their descent from the grey washed skies above. The unique shaped, ivory snowflakes doing their hardest to cover up the warmer toned leafs that had fallen long ago to decay upon the cold earth, leaving nothing but flecks of reds, yellows and oranges beneath the thinner sections of snow to remind others their presence was still around. Soon, though, the snows would claim this place in its entirety allowing nothing to escape its chilling grasp. The true, cruel reality that winter was here to stay and cause havoc.

A shift in the breeze brought a light dusting of snow to the already gathered collection upon his thickening pelt along with a faint perfume too familiar to disregard. Heaving rib cage in the form of a heavy sigh, the agouti man knew eventually he would need to confront Athena about the events of the pack hunt sooner rather than later. Today, being sooner. Shifting onto all fours Vespertio nimbly descended the fallen ladder like tree that allowed him passage to and from the stony surface of the den he often referred to as his personal throne, allowing his sense of smell to guide him towards the location of the pale coated woman.

It wouldn't take him long to reach the abandoned den site the Moon vixen had opted to inhabit since her acceptance, a decision on her behalf that he refused to admit left a sour taste in his mouth. "Athena." He spoke casually as creamy limbs carried his bulk closer to the perched woman, keeping his tail at a neutral stance. There was no need to posture in his old lovers presence for she knew well his power. She had been the one to bestow the crown upon his dark masked skull.

Scolding her before strangers and fellow subordinates alike was a poor decision on his part, regardless any right the patriarch had in doing so. He could have waited, should have waited, but chose not to. It wasn't easy for the Vuesain to control the emotions that raged inside. One part of him longing for the familiarity Athena offered, one part torn at the thought of losing what had come to blossom with Namid. The rest of him screaming to be rational. He had children to raise, how would they view him if they came to know the bond their father shared with another woman whom was not their mother?

It was like nails on a chalkboard grating against his ears hearing the tone of voice she used to address him. The ivory woman opting to use his full name in place of the nickname she had come to so easily dub him in days prior. A heavy sigh of his own was expelled from his lungs as rust tinged audits swung back to rest against the thickening fur that lined his skull, tail flicking apprehensively at his hocks. There was no doubting he had earned a mirrored front row seat into her bad graces from the public scolding issued earlier.

Hesitantly Vespertio lowered his creamy limbs to allow his haunches to touch the cooled surface of the earth, the plush of his tail flinging bits of dirt into a small plume of dust with each small thump. "I've come to apologize if that means anything to you." Sincerity etched deep within those molten gold irises of his as they met the single fiery orb of Athena's, hoping she would see past her temporary anger at him to hear the truth conveyed in his words. His world had become such a chaotic place as of late. His past had come hurtling into his present so sudden and unexpectedly, there were bound to be times where the wrong lines were crossed. The miserably failed pack hunt one of the very lines.

Vespertio could have sworn he felt the sting of her claws colliding with his cheek as the question tumbled loose from her salmon tongue, a single optic closing to reveal an obvious wince in response. The rust tinted audits upon his head once more swept back towards the rear of his skull. Of course the ivory woman's feelings meant something to the tawny man, hell they had grown too close in days prior for him to so easily brush away the ties that connected them. Regardless of the pain she had single-handedly caused him and having a wife and children now, he still cared deeply for Athena.

Molten gold irises dropped their gaze from the single fiery one above, eyelids closing in a near anguished manor as another heavy sigh escaped his leathery lips. "Of course they do, Athena. I loved you for too long to have them be obsolete, even now." Creamy lids lifted to reveal those sunny eyes of his once more, limbs lifting to bring his frame back to its full height. A swift shake freeing the collection of fallen leafs that adorned his lower extremities before slowly approaching the perched vixen. "Hell, I still love you." the words toppled off his coral tongue before a proper thought was to be had, but there was no turning back after it had been said. Creme tinted limbs froze in that moment, unsure of how this proclaimed affection was going to be received, or if another had happened to hear the words fall from his lips.

It was a constant tug-o-war inside the Vuesain's head and heart. One side pulled by Namid, the other tugged by Athena in a battle over who would win his love entirely. It was exhausting on the plains brute, but he knew not how to deal with it all. Never before had such a predicament crossed his mind as plausible.

Two hearts beat frantically as one as the ice melted from his limbs with each stride that brought the tawny pelted man closer to that of the ivory coated woman, intense golden gaze refusing to deter from the fiery counterpart of Athena's. A mental dam that had been installed to hold back the whirlpool of emotions cracked further and further each paw step taken until the cement wall gave way completely, a flood of suppressed emotions engulfing the lakeside king like a torrential riptide. Perhaps it was just the play of the light, but a glint of moisture visible against the corner of the Moon woman's eyes and a look of confusion perplexed the male. "Hh- ow? After all I've done to you?" grated against Vespertio's eardrums.

Well that was a perplexing question to answer and one he wasn't sure he had the right answer to. Days in plenty were spent pondering a similar question. How could he still hold such strong feelings for a woman that deserted him at his most vulnerable, at a time when he was so certain they would rule the world. Together. "I wish I knew how to answer that. I don't know how, but I do." Was his answer, a hesitant step bringing his looming body within closer proximity to hers. Oh how that suppressed side of him longed to curl up around her slender frame like old times, to feel her fur mingle with his. To test if that intense sybaritic electric spark between them still existed. He needed answers.