She had been awaiting this time of year eagerly. She wanted it, was ready for it. Last time had been a bit awkward, where their trust was finally coming to a seal. Her relationship with Kiche had been merely of force, dominance and power and the other so far in the back of her mind she would not even allow the memory to cross it. This time everything would go by smoothly, or so she hoped... There would be no doubt in @Angier Lyall that she was awaiting him. Over the past few days she had been strutting the lands as though she were made of gold: tail high, chest forth, and more proud then she were ever. Her shoulders brushed along the trees of her home and she fell, wallowing in the snows with a deep, low, growl in her throat. Her calls are high, however, nips and playful woofs for her mate's attention. He could not hide from her forever.
She had been awaiting this time of year eagerly. She wanted it, was ready for it. Last time had been a bit awkward, where their trust was finally coming to a seal. Her relationship with Kiche had been merely of force, dominance and power and the other so far in the back of her mind she would not even allow the memory to cross it. This time everything would go by smoothly, or so she hoped... There would be no doubt in @Angier Lyall that she was awaiting him. Over the past few days she had been strutting the lands as though she were made of gold: tail high, chest forth, and more proud then she were ever. Her shoulders brushed along the trees of her home and she fell, wallowing in the snows with a deep, low, growl in her throat. Her calls are high, however, nips and playful woofs for her mate's attention. He could not hide from her forever.
devils & heathens alike
Pray 'til I go blind.
Pray...
'Cause nobody ever survives.
Prayin' to stay in her arms just until I can die a little longer;
Saviors and saints, devils and heathens alike.
She'll eat you alive...
- Puscifer; Rev 22:20
March 3rd; Freezing fog; -7 ° F, -21 ° C
Once upon a time, Angier Lyall hated this time of year. Once a rogue with no mate to care for, his mind had been a figurative playground for the unthinkable, the sinful, the asinine. How long had it been now? Since Vlarindara... since Skylah, Makita, Adonia, Amelié... even Naira and Remy... Aniu... Jaysyek, Corinna. The list could have gone on but Elettra eclipsed them all. Long ago he might have relished in his self-made games of hide-and-seek, secretly spying on his Leader's significant others and playing coy if and whenever he had been caught (which was a rare occasion in itself). These days, the masked Leader of Willow Ridge had a different agenda; and, where he had once been keeping out of sight and very much well aware of where the lead Archer woman might have been at any time, he was doing the opposite in seeking her out.
Through the willows he strode about with a purpose; his head was held high with his tail curled up and over his back. For the better part of the last year and a half (a full 600 days now, actually), Willow Ridge had been his to look after and maintain as the highest-ranking male in Elettra's pack. Having her bear his children had only solidified the fact that he ought to mark the lands with an avid desire to reign over it. When the time came, his sons (if Skoll and Morganna did not already have plans to take their mother's place) would inherit the land. For now, though, he had every intention to make certain that everyone within and beyond the Ridge knew that he was someone to behold and, only he, more than any other male beneath him, held the privilege to call the matriarch as his equal.
While she had been on the opposite end of the territory, it was only when Angier decided to deviate from the borders and head towards the other side by cutting across and passing the Infirmary did he finally hear her beckoning calls. It was instinctive now, regardless of her tone (which was surprisingly a little more lighthearted and youthful than it usually was), that he heeded her barks without even a second thought. Lumbering through the trees and their whiplike branches, it was not long until he caught sight of her. As regal and as bold as ever, he remembered to take on a similar stance.
The fog shifted at his arrival, continually concealing her from view, and he dared to draw closer to her - putting just enough space between them so that she was no longer a shadow or silhouette but a less-saturated version of herself. His tail gave a lofty wag and, through his smile, he gave her a low, expectant growl in greeting. He had shown up and presented himself - as was required of a man of his stature - and now he was ready to be rewarded or handsomely compensated for sparing his precious time. He held his breath, but a small part of him still wanted to be surprised by the reason she had summoned him.
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devils & heathens alike
It would seem he had been well-received and it was with yet another wag that he acknowledged her greeting. The trace of scents about her that hinted at her impending heat and what promises of parenthood could be had curled in his nose. It sent chills across the back of his neck and down the sides at his ribs. He wanted her - then and there - but she pulled away almost too quickly with a playful nip of her teeth at the base of his ear. She pranced away and almost immediately he followed. Where her steps had been well-spaced with light-footed skips and hops, he strode along, compressing the last of the snow underfoot and making a clear trail to where she had come to a stop.
The stench of lynx faintly lingered in the air, making a growl of his own reverberate through the silence. When he fell quiet again, his dull golden eyes looked over her figure and where the remains of a deer had been seemingly left for only them. She had sprawled out on the ground and, while he gave a snort as to clear his nose of all the other foul scents in the air, he prowled over to her. He lowered his head slowly to carefully help himself to a stringy morsel of leg muscle, his eyes never leaving her face as if waiting for a sign of her approval.
If she wanted him to eat, he supposed he had done well to assume. As far as he was concerned, he was going to utilize the kill site as a source of energy, fuel up rather than deplete what strength he currently held. Five generous bites later, he let out a wordless growl as if to signal to her that he was more than ready. Finally, after having waited for so long, Angier Lyall was the sort of man who knew how to heed and obey a woman of Torbine. A reigning queen.
His tongue slithered forward to come down the curves of the right side of his nose, his stance finally lurching back a step so he could stand at full height before her. This could very well have been a game of 'Simon Says' or 'Mother May I?' but the other Leader of Willow Ridge was already so eager and anxious to see so much as the flagging of her banner-like tail. All she had to do was to tell him what else to do as to obtain such a privilege.
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She flips then, so that her belly is to the ground for a moment before she lifts, her upper half falling for a stretch, her back legs arching up so that she is on the tips of her toes, her tail waving high in the air. "There has never been a man in my life more deserving." Her words growl as she lifts to her full height, a smile (no smirk or smug expression) forming over her lips. "Come, Angier Lyall." She was certain she need not say more.
devils & heathens alike
In this very moment, all Angier had lived for was that simple flagging of her tail and the overwhelming tease of her scent. Again, she rolled over, righting herself to gather her limbs beneath her and stand up as well. A zealous growl was let loose from his throat and his jaw quivered in longing as he unabashedly stared. Then, he caught it, the lifting of her black pennant of a tail. She purred to him with a genuine smile, ordering him then to come along with her and nothing more.
There was no mistaking it and there was little else to verify its authenticity - that, Elettra Archer, an inextinguishable fire and unrelenting sovereign still burned for him. Beckoned from his place across from where she had laid just moments before, he edged forward, anxious and intent to please his mate, whose playful yips had struck his fancy.
The year before, she had been downtrodden by grief, weighted down by so much loss; and, now, after so much they had misplaced and recovered, it was apparent that, this year, she was all for celebrating what they had and could have... After raising three boys in addition to their three older step-siblings, there was absolutely no doubt about following each and every instinct. If she so wished to bear more of his progeny, he would give her that chance without hesitance and without even an ounce of reluctance.
His large paws might have thundered through the willows if he had been any larger or heavier than he truly was; but, once he had caught up to her and his pace had slowed, he nuzzled his face to her side, wanting so much to make it clear to every other member in their pack that Elettra was his and his alone.
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It had taken time, much time, but over the years of knowing Angier as both questionable informant, ally, friend, care-taker to her children and now, their father and her lover, she had come to trust him more then any other male she could have ever considered to stand by as equal, as her mate. "I love you..." She whispers, certain that with him at her side, there was nothing she could not handle. There was nothing she would not achieve.
devils & heathens alike
"I love you..." she softly spoke, every syllable making it feel like every hair in his pelt was standing on end. There was never an instance in which he would have hesitated to return the sentiment and repeat what she had said back to her, "I love you, too." He had grown still, remaining pressed against her while his ears swiveled one way and then the other while the world had grown quiet for just a short while. If Morganna or any of the boys had come tip-toeing their way, he was sure they would have heard them. A quick sniff, attempting to analyze what was layered well-beyond her tantalizing perfume, confirmed that no one was nearby. Even if they were, the fog had grown to be much too dense to see anything further than a few meters past the tip of one's nose.
A small sigh and he was back to nuzzling the side of his face into her ribs and up along the middle of her back to rest his chin there, still listening to the world around them. For several minutes he waited again, only moving once he was certain that they might have been far enough from the common areas of the territory as to be completely hidden and undiscoverable.
"You think we have enough time to ourselves?" he asked, his voice hushed as if he might have been preparing to tell her a coveted secret. "I think you could really use a break from ev'ryone, what d'ya say?" He shifted then moved in such a way as to suggest that he was willing whenever she was fully ready for him, the angle of his stance implying that he was practically on tenterhooks to have her. He gave another smile; truth be told, Angier Lyall could have waited for her for forever. The Leader had exercised months of patience and a year of perseverance for this, what was a few moments more for the King Consort of Willow Ridge if the Queen, herself, had already acknowledged that she was as much his as he was hers...
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(Fin.)