The sun had set long ago by time the two wolves had managed to find the doorstep of Fallen Tree Cove, replacing the giant ball of heat and light for its counterpart the moon whom offered the world a light that brought out a different side of things alongside her companion of stars. During daylight hours the lake lay bleak against the white canvas of the snow effortlessly blending in to the white powder with the collection of frozen particles that dusted over its surface. Come night though the scenery changed and the once dull lake became something new entirely. Under the pale moonlight the thick ice packed water gained a glow of its own. A beautiful shade of blue that was memorizing to say the least and was nothing less that night. The going had been slow, taking a couple hours extra than he had anticipated, but he would have gone even slower if it meant them getting home safely. The last thing either of them needed was another injury to occur. Luckily the two had managed to gradually make it home unscathed.  

Upon their arrival the pale coated woman had come to a silent stop, head tilting skyward before gaining a slight angle. "What is it?" He spoke lightly before allowing his own gaze to follow hers until they finally came to rest upon the spherical orb in the sky in all its beauty. What was there about the moon that caused her to stop? Had she saw something fly in the sky or something? The black tipped points of his ears flicked backwards for the fleetest of seconds before cupping forward again with curiousness. All he saw was a big ball of light in the sky. Nothing exciting. At least not anymore. Before he would have seen the beauty in its illuminating light. Notice the way things took on new life under its glow like the way it now casts Namid in a spotlight bright enough to make the paleness of her pelt radiate like the lake did with its blue glow. This was all overlooked by Vespertio. A slowly chilling heart refused to let him see the beauty in things. Not since Athena had left him heartbroken and alone when he was so close to making a giant decision. He was going to make them official. Now he was alone to run the entire pack by himself without a word or goodbye. How cruel life was.  

A brief look of bemusement crossed over the handsome features of Vespertio's face at the way she jumped hearing his voice, watching her recollect herself as she came back down to reality. “Ah, nothing. I suppose I got distacted, my apologies…sir,” she spoke, the last word stirring a subtle chuckle and snort. "It's alright, but you can drop the sir. We call each other by name, there's very few of us so formalities are not really necessary." It was odd in the pack world, but true. Since his rise to power the small knit group of wolves had never expressed formal words with each other. Nobody called Vespertio sir nor did anyone call Athena ma'am during her short reign as queen. Today he still didn't expect to be referred to as such and only sought the respect he deserved. A lowered height and adverted gaze was enough to appease the power hungry wolf that lay dormant deep down inside whom craved dominance over others. Unless you take in the actions of the tawny woman, Samhain. She was a wolf who toppled over with submission just by gaining sight of the patriarch. There was a constant war raging inside him, the good wolf verse the bad and it was the lost of Athena that had caused the first battle to begin.  

It felt extra odd though to have the she-wolf beside him tag on the word to her sentence. During their slow trek home the two had managed to keep a steady flow of conversation. Of course it was mostly her asking about what she was getting herself into by coming home with him, but it was pleasant none the less and had him having thoughts of possibly finding a friend as well as pack mate within her. Anthem so far had come to be his only friend. He wanted to know more about the new girl in town during her possibly short stay with them. He couldn't suppress the curious nature of his that sought out to learn about others. Sometimes the information he came to gain was proven useful later on when certain events arose. When need be he even stepped so far as to twist words spoken to benefit himself in the end. Vespertio wasn't below deceiving others, but the need for such actions were yet to present themselves to the agouti king.

Thankfully the woman offered no argument and simply accepted with a nudge of her head for him to continue leading the way. Which he did as the cream of his legs were set back into motion towards the awaiting warmth of the den tucked nicely away behind the fallen foliage and boulders of a winter prior. It was just large enough to hold a decent sized pack and offered shelter from mother nature for the most part which was a plus. Of course he had worries about the coming months when the snow would melt entirely and feed into the already expansive lake. Flooding was a very possible threat, but for now he left the worries of the future where they were. In the future. For now his main focus was just making sure he kept the borders well marked and the members well fed so they could see the snow melt and feel the warmth of the sun on their pelts. Getting them through the rest of winter was of utmost importance. Then he could allow his mind to wander onto other topics. Like the future of the pack and the events that occurred with the comings days of spring. Soon the females would be going nuts with their heat, hormones making their decisions for them and most likely throwing themselves at him to fill the burning desires that filled the pits of their stomachs and he too would have his own urges twitching at the base of his spine. Breeding season was just around the corner and he had a lot to think about. Hell, the pack didn't even have a lead female. Eventually he would have to come to a decision about that and right now he had no idea what he was going to do about that.

His ears gave a gentle flick in Namid's direction as her voice soon broke the comfortable silence that had fallen between them since continuing on, golden eyes remaining forward on the path he was following. Her words had somewhat mirrored his thoughts, as if predicting that the pack would grow in spring. Soon the snow would be gone and traveling would be easier meaning more wolves would be out and about instead of harbored up to escape winter's chilling grasp. In this she was right and he knew it. With spring came migration of all sorts of critters from the herd like animals to wolves as well. Some wolves held different dens for the season even as he had noticed in his loner travels before settling in the lore. One den was used for the winter and spring until pups were old enough to travel then the pack would adjust locations to the second location for the summer and autumn. It had its pros and cons he guessed, but Vesper was content with the single den location. Now turning his head to face her he let his words fall from his lips. "You are right about the coming of spring. Others will be finding their pads itching for travel soon. I just hope their paws lead them to the lake and the pack can grow. I only want to see us thrive." They fell so easily from his mouth, his mind completely forgetting that the wolf beside him was all but a stranger still and yet here he was comfortably talking to her about what he wanted for the pack. Being a recluse with his thoughts and emotions had been so second nature to him among the others in the pack, aside from Anthem, but not with Namid. It was like she worked some invisible charm on him that made him spill without a second thought. Hm, maybe the approaching spring was throwing him out of whack earlier than usual.

A nod of acknowledgement followed her words as he mulled them over within the silence of his mind. Again she had made another valid point. The patriarch would love to be able to snap his nails together and have the pack be large like he had caught wind of from a neighboring pack in the heights after an unexpected meeting at the borders. The number of personal aromas that adorned the ivory lead's pelt easily swallowed the numbers the cove had even now with the newest temporary(hopefully permanent if he could help it) recruit in their midst. But he knew such magic could not be done and things would have to be done the old fashion way. Hard work, some blood and patience were the key ingredients in the concoction of a successful pack. Nothing came easy and Vespertio was starting to learn this. He had changed so much already since he set first paw on lore soil all those months ago. Back then he was power hungry, driven by his internal desire to have a kingdom of his own that he had played the charming man that could woo any woman he wanted in order to survive and weasel his way into Athena's plans of rising a pack all her own. That was a rare opportunity that happened to fall into his paws.

So perfect was it that the two happened to meet and to recall now what had grown between them. The handsome man had started to develop feelings for the equally power hungry white queen although words were never truly shared between the two wolves, but look where that had got him. Now he was alone with an entire kingdom to himself. The darker side of him would have been jumping for joy and romping in the snow for being rid of her, savoring the power that belonged solely to him now. But the truth was he wasn't as thrilled about it as he thought he would be. Honestly it made him contemplate his past actions more and more. Was it really worth trying to overthrow his parents back in his early years? All that did was leave him banned from home, family-less and a mind plagued by nightmares that his brother was still out there waiting to slice his throat in his sleep. Even the words his brother spat venomously in his ear still haunted the depths of his mind. According to Valfred he was destined to fail and never find peace or a home all his own. Sometimes Vespertio thought his brother's omen would come true. The pack had almost become rubble once. What was stopping him from failing to keep them from doing so again? It was thoughts like these that left a dark cloud to suspend above the Vuesain's head, threatening to open up and poor down on him at any second. "You're right, Namid. All we can do is protect what we have and work hard to build upon the foundation in place." He finally returned in response to her first statement. As soon as the words left his lips his head craned to face forward, the scent of fresh blood on the air bringing his body to another standstill.

Instantly his body grew rigid as the mixture of feline and prey danced in an intertwined number under his sensitive nose. A damn cat had dared to hunt on his territory. Stupid feline had made a big mistake. Turning his gaze back to the pale woman as she asked a question, a gentle smile graced his lips despite the edginess that began to fill his veins from the fact a predator was close to his home and fellow pack-mates. "How about I tell you over deer?" He mused knowing that by now her stomach must have been pestering the woman for another bite to eat. A rabbit did little to hold off the pangs of hunger for long and the long trip home had given her stomach plenty of time to digest the meager meal. If anything he could simply slip away from her side to chase off the bastard in a flash and drag the carcass back for burial in a cache. Even if spring was just around the corner you never let the chance of a meal go by. Who knew when prey would be plenty again. Better to be safe than sorry.