Vayko was… tired. He was tired of a lot of things that were happening in his life. He was tired of glares, of snarls in his direction. He was tired of being walked on because he had just tried to do the right thing. He was tired of this pack. He was tired of the way his family continued to spiral into their own victimization and pathetic behaviors. It was met with irritation. He was tired from chasing after the kids, from pulling his weight as more and more wolves disappeared without a word and yet somehow did not seem to earn the ire that he had earned for sticking around.

Vayko was sick of it all, and every day his patience spread more and more thin. Every day, he felt the anger he had felt as a yearling filled with piss and vinegar building up inside of him begging to be released.

And then his nephew showed up.

No, not his nephew. This was not one of Sharlee’s children. At this point, it felt as if he was barely family.

Immediately he would snarl, though exhaustion would still hint at his features as his tail arched above him. He would not take this from some snot nosed kid who barely knew the difference between his right and left paws. Eros, for all of his life, had been sheltered. He’d been handed a stack of poor cards, but Vayko would not continue to coddle him as so many others had.

Vayko would not stand down… as Eros postured at him, he snarled. As if that was going to work? Against a man who’d seen more violence in the matter of a few months than Eros had ever actually seen in his lifetime? No. He would rear back away from the man's muzzle grab, his teeth barely catching the edge which Vayko quickly pulled away. He would dart around him, aiming to snap at his tail as he ran past him without trying to bring about bloodshed.

Despite it all, he would not sink to the level of Vasco… nor would he try to bring further pain to his cousin by inflicting grievous wounds on the boy… no, instead, he would taunt him until he gave up, realized he could not beat Vayko, and move on so that Vayko might get back to his children.

He had a certain determination and vigor that Vayko could not deny… the boy wanted it, even if he was a boy. Perhaps it was hypocritical of Vayko to think, knowing that he had been in a similar seat at a younger age… he had been Viorel’s second until he had been old enough to ascend himself… so perhaps he should not be as hard as he was on Eros… then again, his anger was not directed really at Eros despite the sharp words between them earlier in the month… no, it was directed on a certain member of his bloodline.

They circled each other for a moment, and Vayko braced against the ground as the boy slammed into his side and hip, sending him akilter but he managed to remain on his paws, reaching his maw around to try and grip loosely around the boy’s shoulder in return, contorting his body as he did so to nearly fold it in half like a fortune cookie in order to reach for it.

He would make him earn it. Vayko still did not think Eros could win, but if he could it would not be without a hefty fight.

The grip he got was not one he was happy with, despite it’s success. He had wished to Force the man down. Gods, perhaps he was getting old! Though he wasn’t even that old to begin with, just two years older than Eros himself was. He growled as he tried to pull the man down, making Eros’s push less effective though it was effective nonetheless. He felt his teeth go in and he pulled back with a hiss, blood from his gums from the impact as he spit, hints of it dripping though it was all superficial.

He had to admit, it was a good play, but that hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things. Instead, the other man went for his chest and jaw, catching the side of his neck in response near the shoulder, away from some of the neck’s most sensitive areas. Vayko brought his paw up to batter at the man’s head in response, hoping to knock him off as he threw all of his weight on him to try and topple him over.