Things were different now. In little more than a month, so much had changed for the Argyris man, and none of it settled well with him. In the past, he would have ran. It had been so easy, such a beautifully simple answer, yet such cowardice was no longer an option. He was damned to shoulder not just the responsibility he had chosen to take on, but everything he had tried so hard to escape his entire life. Perhaps this was his purgatory, punishment for all the wrong he'd done, the sins he'd committed. His shadow was a barghest, mocking him every step of the way, and he refused to feed it any further.

Every fiber of his being recoiled at what his life had become, and yet he faced it head on all the same, for once being reliable for those who had placed so much misguided faith within him. It was the only salvation he had, dedicating himself to his brother, ensuring that the Argyris legacy within Silent Moon Plateau survived. Thrived? That was perhaps aiming too high, but he could keep it together long enough until @Celandine, @Takis or even @Hypatia were ready to bear their father's crown. Keep it fed, keep it safe, keep it sheltered against the coming winter. He must.

His patrols now extended beyond the pack's marked territory, preemptively scanning the surrounding areas often enough to ensure that no one was sneakily encroaching upon their land. It took a large amount of energy to complete such expeditions, but his body had grown stronger because of it, the exercise fighting off his age and returning a sliver of his youth to him. He walked with confidence that did not reach all the way inside but defined his outer appearance, inferno eyes refusing to miss a single beat. It was this vigilance that alerted him to her presence, the window pulling her scent away from him. He'd spotted that intimately familiar black cape, draped over the delicate shoulders that he used to lean against so long ago. The sight had frozen him to the spot, his mouth suddenly a desert and his mind incapable of processing thought. The man should have known this was coming, that Delia would be so hot on the trail of her children, and still it struck him to the core. He was not ready for this, just as he had not been ready for Zane and @Zeta to appear upon his doorstep.

He began to descend, picking his way carefully down the mountainside to reach her elevation, drawn to her as if by strings attached to his very bones. The closer he got, the more details his ember eyes captured, and he came to realize that she was crying. Erebos tried to think back, to recall a time that he had witnessed such a thing before, and came up empty pawed. Suddenly, he found himself angry with the twins and their reckless quest to seek him out and force themselves into his life, leaving behind their mother in the process. Leaving her to become this. At last reaching the same slab of shale that she rested upon, his stride slowed, but did not stop. His steps were tentative, features absent of emotion, as he didn't know what to feel. Pity? Guilt? Fear? Disgust? Anger? None of it seemed right.

"Delia," he voiced at last, the sobs that shook her body now painfully audible within his ears. "They're here. They're safe."

His voice had been like an iron curtain, released so as to shield her once more. Her crying ceased immediately and her silver eyes hardened, but even as she stood to hold herself high and address him with coldness, the tears would not dry so quickly and he could still see them upon her colorless cheeks. Of course she would want to see them, and that was for the best, he was sure. Delia could take them home, out of his hair and out of this mess that he had found himself king of. It was what he wanted, surely, and yet... he felt the need to pause, to hold her here away from the children. It was not that they wished not to be found (at least @Zeta did not, he was certain that Zane very well did) that held his tongue, but rather that a small part of him wanted more time with them. Erebos hated to acknowledge it, but now that they were grown, it could no longer be denied even by a man as willful as he that they were entirely of his blood, and if the Argyris brother cherished anything these days, it was family.

At last his tongue loosened enough to speak, but before he could get the answer out her own voice cut the air to ribbons with her questions. Left speechless once more, his ember eyes could only stare at her for a moment. He knew his reason, both the one he would've have given and the one locked secretly within him. Now that he knew they were his children, however, neither seemed proper to give to her. Yet how could he lie? Erebos had thought it was only @Phineas he needed to make amends with, that serving him and his royal children would be enough to make up for the wrongs he'd perpetuated in his life. It felt wrong however, to continue such belief now. No, he owed this too. He owed the woman he'd once loved the truth.

"I thought they weren't mine," he finally told her. "Then they started changin', catchin' their colors, and I knew they were mine," and that was what had truly made him leave.

"I've always been a runner, Delia. Y'knew that." I've always been a coward.

Just like that she changed from soft rain and steel gray clouds to pitch black tempest, and he found himself tensing against the force of her anger. His lips curled back, scowling in the face of it as her words assaulted the air, for Erebos hated to be faced with his mistakes, to be reminded of his own shortcomings. Most ironically, coming back home had become an escape of sorts. Here, he had regained his strength and skill. Here, he was now a king. If he tried hard enough, Erebos could pretend that he wasn't as much of a screw up as he truly was.

Yet he could not hold any of the venom against her, for it was he who had poisoned her to begin with. He deserved her wrath, deserved to be crushed under the weight of it... and still he could not force himself to calm. Why had she loved him so blindly? Why had she been so accepting of his flaws? He had been vulnerable with her, told her of his past mistakes, from the wolves he'd abandoned to the harm he had perpetrated against his own blood. Still she had stayed by his side, holding warmth for only him within her blizzard eyes. It hadn't made sense.

"Well ya should have!" he bit back, the sound a bit more explosive than intended by nothing worse than her own native-tongued curse. "I know I've fucked up plenty, and you knew that too. I was the last guy ya should've been havin' kids with."

He shouldn't have done it, should've known the trouble it would get them in. The moment he'd smelled her heat upon her he should've turned away from her company until the danger had passed. Instead, he had embraced her. He had embraced this, a mess he didn't want. Once again. At last, his muscles slackened as a frustrated sigh escaped him. What good would any of this do, their screaming at each other? He supposed she had a right to vent, to seek her answers, but Erebos was sick of being reminded. There was an exhausting struggle within him, between serving himself as he had always chose to do, and finally doing right by the woman before him who had tried to give him so much.

"Clearly, ya didn' tell them I was no good," he muttered darkly then. "Why not? Why'd you always give me all these chances, Delia?"

A good man. She had always been the only one to view him as such, looking past the rotted surf brought to shore and into the offing of his heart where the horizon obscured the truth. Was she right to put so much faith into him? He had been making strides in the right direction at last, even earning enough of Phineas' trust to be titled alpha within the pack. Lately, he had felt failure breathing down his neck, threatening to overtake him, but he had stood tall against it thus far. Perhaps he had changed, found his truth north, and perhaps he could finally do right by both Delia and her children. Their children.

Erebos took in a breath, ember eyes looking out over the mountainous terrain surrounding them. As his thoughts attempted to find a steady pace, it occurred to him that he didn't much have a choice at this point. Delia would not be kept from @Zeta and Zane, and for whatever reason, he could not say no to his daughter when she turned those unevenly-hued eyes upon him.

"They want to stay with me, Delia, for... whatever reason. And as long as they're in my pack, you have a place with us, too." The mess that existed between them would have to remain unsettled for a little while longer, as there was nothing that could be sorted out in this very moment, and he could not stay atop this precipice with her forever.