Willow Ridge intricate

Her pelt dusted with the falling snow – so very different from the stark ivory of his own, and in turn, his ex-mate. Demi had never taken to such rompings – at least not with him, and while he might have mused on the possibilities that the female had saved her energy and playfulness for his best friend, Phineas could not dwell on such things, not when his attention was being pulled by the rather enchanting she-wolf above him.

They wrestled as she settled atop him, her jaws seeking out the thick fur of his nape while his own would nip ever more gently to her own. His playful growl faded silently within the winter’s embrace, and his tail agve a light lash as the male felt a smirk pull to his inked lips. He quieted then, surrendering his bites to her and allowing her the full victor. She had, after all, placed him in a compramising position that had he not been in a playful wrestle but a fight for his life, he would have been dead already.

“I think it’s safe to say you win this round, lady,” he murmured lightly, attempting to tilt his head on the ground to catch view of her features, though to no avail as she was buried in his nape.

He surrendered with his stop of nipping and more formally with his words to which Elettra returned with yet another mock growl, pressing her jaws into his nape to confirm her right as the winner before lifting her skull up to view the man below her as still, she rested atop. "I'd no doubt." She peeps, a smirk toying along the edges of her greyed muzzle before her body rolls, arching easily over the rounded barrel of a chest Phineas had until she is laying on the ground once more on her back, limbs curled and tail swaying along the snow covered ground. "Perhaps this it the calm before the storm...." She speaks, a whispered memory of the balance life held which she had been taught. Fate played a cruel game of offering tiny bits of happiness before a wave of tragedy. Unfortunately, yet to her knowledge the swirling downhill for her pack had already begun.

Her retort stirred a smirk of his own, and the grip of her teeth to his nape to reiterate this statement elicited a low growl of playfulness from the male. She shifted her weight from him then – leaving the male to feel suddenly empty as the cold winter wind swept up and took her place from only milliseconds before. As the she-wolf settled beside him, Phineas cast a sideways glance to her, feeling the shift in dynamics as their play desisted all very suddenly with her heavy words.

“It doesn’t sound like you mean the weather,” he observed with a rumble, his fiery eyes drifting from her to glance up to the skies above them. Spring would be upon them soon – he could feel it, as instinctual as his very being. With it would come the season of cubs, and the ivory wolf felt a pang in his chest at the thought. His own ‘brood’ would be a year soon, and briefly he wondered what their lives entailed.

"No...." She confirms, her words a near whisper to the thought, though perhaps her own ideas did not swirl to the thoughts of spring, a time of breeding and birthing and love, all three things which Elettra did not handle well, but to simply the peace she felt now. She was far too happy in this moment to not believe that it would be followed with rage, grief and sadness. It was the one underlying bad thing which was possibly a piece of why she rarely allowed herself to settle down in such a way she did as Phineas' side now. She breaths deeper, her hot air a stir in the chilly air and her laid body wriggles, inching close to where the mix of her grey, black and flecks of golden hairs would mingle into the white, ginger and black speckling of his own. "I can smell spring already...." It was a small comment extended with her deep breath, the twitching of her nose. Though the air was chilly, the sun showed itself more now, sparkling the snow and melting some away. The scents of new life - herb and flower was like a memory playing at her senses. "...Will you go?" Her silvery eyes remained on the skies, though her question holds deep meaning. He had initially mentioned staying for the winter's season and now that it was to end soon, she wondered of his intent.

One whispered syllable and Phineas felt the tightening of his chest release as concern flashed within his eyes. He did not look at her – dared not to, for he assumed such a moment of uncertainty did not slip past her lips in voice very often. There was a small pause of silence that stretched between the two, though she did not explain her thoughts, nor would he press her to. Whatever ailed her, he would lend an ear should she ever confide to him.

Instead, she shifted the topic to spring, and in turn, he gave a grunt in response. How things had changed in a year, and yet he felt no more sorrow for what he had lost.. which given his ex-mate’s hidden personality, was not much in the end. His only longing was for the cubs he had once believed to be father to, and in turn, the absolute need to have this once more. This time, he would follow no illusions.

He stilled at her question, knowing it would come sooner or later. In truth, he had no answer for her – his desire to leave was waning with each passing moment, and as his shoulder brushed gently against hers, he realized she played a major part to this. “My intention to leave was to settle with a mate – given past mistakes, I want to be careful with who I choose to do so with..” There was a pause, his breath huffing out to the chilly air. How had Elettra and Koda found one another? “As it stands right now.. if there is still room in the spring, I would like to stay and help with yours and Koda’s cubs.” If nothing else, Phineas would vicariously live through those that had found such luck within their lives.

UH-OH. HERE IT COMES.... !

He reveals himself to her and the intentions which he originally held. He had intended to leave when spring unfolded to do what any natural wolf would do - break from the branch, find someone to love and create a family all their own. ...Live happily ever after. ....What a load of shit. Though it would seem that even he knew that this way of thinking was not an easy one, mentioning that he was to take his time and be careful as to not mess up again from his former mistake. Elettra could agree, though where he was willing to get back on the horse, so to speak, Elettra was not. Each Spring she hid away, both angry and fearful, lost from her pack in attempt to keep herself from any natural desires. Though she could keep herself from loving someone, keeping herself from her natural instinct to breed was another. Her dominant nature helped her not an ounce with this, nor having experienced birth before. Now with being Leader, all the odds were against her this Spring and she would likely lock herself in a cave until all was said and done...
Then with his next words, she would take to catch his willingness to stay during the Spring, to be a part of the pack until at least he did find that 'one' and could start over again from wherever it had failed last time - however it failed. Though it was the second part of his sentence which immediately had Elettra's body flipping around so that now she was on her belly, laying closely next to him, her pale grey eyes looking down into the bright fire of his own. "Koda...he's not..." She pauses, stilled for a moment as a lump formed in her throat. There were quite a few which knew Koda and Elettra were not mates and the more who knew Nina knew well enough the truth in her being his true mate. Where there any left that did not know the truth, savor Phineas himself? "Koda is not my mate. Never was." She speaks, throwing it out there in the chilly air quickly, as best she could only hope. "I didn't want..." She stops herself. Why would he care to know that she did not want to take a mate? That she was not ready to open up, to trust, to devote herself, to be weak in her fallen guard to that one male and one male only...that perhaps, she never would be ready ever again. Never trust ever again. "...I've made some mistakes too."

(This post was last modified: Feb 12, 2013, 03:15 AM by Elettra.)

He could not indulge in her thoughts – pick apart the pieces of her insecurities and in turn, soothe her of them. She remained quiet for a moment, seemingly taking in his words, though she did not offer input to what she thought of his wants or desires; some wolves were meant to lead, and others weren’t.. and as content as he was now to play the subordinate to the lady beside him, he knew he would never find true fulfillment in such a life.

Before he could reiterate that his plans to stay were unknown even to him, the ebony she-wolf shifted her weight, pushing herself to her belly. His gaze flickered from the heavens to rest upon her now, surprised at the serious facade she gave now before waiting to what words would accompany this. Of course, he did not expect to hear what she said, and the fiery eyes of the ivory wolf blinked in confusion. The quiet counterpart to the ebony regal was in fact, not her mate. Not even a lover. Was Koda even a blip on her radar, then, aside from friendship? In retrospect, it made all the more sense now. He had thought them a more introverted couple in one another’s presence.

His eyes slowly shut for a moment, a sigh escaping his lips as he finally opened them to move back to the sky above. The small bloom of attraction he had felt for the she-wolf at his side had been kept at bay all because he had not wanted to move in on another’s love. Not when he had such a thing happen to him. Suddenly, a flicker of hope would stir in his chest, and unbeknownst to the alabaster wolf, such a hope was lost upon a she-wolf who held no interest at all in settling with a mate.

“You didn’t want what?” His tone was serious now. Usually, he was not one to pry, but the intensity of his emotions needed to know why she had not chosen a male to lead at her side as an equal. At the end of the day, he would need to rip the band-aid off the wound that would only form from this conversation.

Obvious confusion stung him with the blinking of his orange gaze and Elettra thought to go further, to explain that Nina had been his true mate not at all far from after Koda had dedicated himself to the Willow Ridge pack. That much of their time had been away from one another, for it was both their promise and dedication to their packs which had allowed them to remain so far apart for the time being. Now that Nina was forming a pack of her own and that spring was nearing, Elettra could only wonder if her time with Koda at her side was coming to an end. Her thoughts stopped her from otherwise explaining, though something that could be figured by Phineas, or questioned soon enough when the time came.
He sighed then, closing his eyes for a moment only to then focus them on the skies above him, still upon his back. All the while, Elettra's attention remained on the large man before her - the colors of his fur, subtle hints of cinnamon and black where she held bits of silvers and gold. In the brightness of the sun, the snow sparkled and so did these bits of color, bringing them out as they did her own. His eyes danced wildly, so bright and fiery in much opposite of her pale, chilly gaze. In the silence, she would take to admire his attraction, though only for the time seeing this, as she had seen attractive pieces in both Angier, Sica and some before whom came and went. Though maybe interest had her longing, lust had overpowered her, none stirred the emotions of her heart. Elettra enjoyed being with Phineas, cherished their play and enjoyed her time with him. But could she ever love him? Could she ever love anyone?
He questions her then, serious and sudden and her gaze, fixed upon him would suddenly turn, out amongst the woodland of her home. "To be hurt again....to love again." The words were nearly shaken in their whisper on her tongue - so delicate, so weak. It sickened her for these feelings to rise in her, feelings which she had not embraced since she had been so happy in the arms of the man whom had created such feelings. It was he who had given her true happiness and he, with one act, that had taken it away. Had she ever spoken this aloud before? Had she ever admitted it? She couldn't remember. It was so foreign. But he had too admitted making mistakes, of whatever kind. Would he understand her, would anyone?

Her answer was short, and yet wholly honest. It was what he had expected her to say, though when the words whispered past her slender muzzle, the male had not envisioned the emotion that would be behind them. He withheld a small frown, wanting to know more and yet unwilling to ask what her past entailed.. after all, she had never asked him of his, and in turn, he would respect her own privacy.

“Someone will show you that love and hurt aren’t always attached to one another someday,” he offered her quietly then, his eyes drifting back to study her, noting the way her pale eyes kept stubbornly to the trees now. Would he be the one to show her this? Would she have ever let him in? Phineas was no mind reader, nor a fortune teller.. but the thought of the stunning lady beside him could that he could potentially court gave him a feeling of elation, and he released a soft sigh, his fiery eyes settling upon her cheek. But perhaps that was not what she wanted. Each day seemed to pass more quickly than the next, and not once had the ivory beast heard the dark female speak of a family or loved ones.

It was almost as if she did not want anything to do with such a lifestyle.. and yet, why lead a pack if one wasn't searching for the right to choose a loved one and breed?

(This post was last modified: Feb 13, 2013, 04:04 PM by Phineas.)

He speaks, his words telling her that one day she would find love again, perhaps, and that it would not be marred with the underlining of pain as it had been before. Elettra Archer had her doubts, much of them to be exact to the point where she had not necessarily given up, but knew herself to be far too stubborn to allow herself to be that open and acceptable as she was before. Her trust in love had shattered her to a way she was unsure she could, or would ever try, to recover from. So she didn't answer, knowing anything she said would be short coming. Silence fell between them again and for awhile her attention focused on the bare tree line still until finally drifting back to the laying man at her side. She once more rests her head, but this time not upon the snowy ground, but along the length of his nape as a sigh brushes past her lips. Could what he said ever be true, or yet another fairy tale which had gotten her in trouble in the first place?

Fin?