Fool's Gold Chasm and it ain't never, ever, never gonna change

Woya felt her patience running thinner each and every day, along with a growing need to frolic and expend energy topped off by a sneaking discomfort, something like an itch deep inside. Her heat was coming, a familiar occurrence by now, but given the context she felt very little outside of irritation with the situation when every year before she'd quite enjoyed herself in March.

Now, she couldn't help but regard woman and man alike with suspicion, leaving only the children safe from burning glances and curt dismissals. Given he was the only pack member she was not fond of, it was Leviticus who was most often snapped at and sent packing when she hit the scene. She'd done so just now, easily chasing him away from their water source when she'd come upon it to drink and found him already present. In her way.

With an aggressive clap of her fangs she'd sent him wordlessly skittering out of sight, and a smirk showed brief satisfaction as she watched his black-tipped tail disappear.

"Good riddance," she muttered to herself, before dipping her head down to drink, temporarily content with her solitude.

She felt that itching presence but was doing her best to ignore it. While she was blessed for having Enera, she did not wish for a repeat of the year prior when she let her whims get the best of her so she was doing her best to simply remain in place and shelter herself away. She went on patrols alone and hoped to run into nobody, kept her daughter close, and simply did what she needed to do in order to get through the season relatively unscathed.

Still, that didn’t mean her plan was flawless. She was on her way to the nearest water source when she saw Levi running away, towards her and away from the woman’s silhouette that she could find on the horizon. “Having fun?” She could not help but asked with a raised brow, though there was no hint of judgement in her tone. She had found she’d reacted similarly in the past, after all. She was prepared for whatever the woman had to throw at her because quite simply, there was really nothing Woya could do to hurt her or surprise her. “What did he do to you?”

It didn't last, not even for a few scant seconds. No sooner than she had seen Levi off did another pack mate approach, this one carrying the same scent that was starting to overtake Woya's own. She couldn't help but stiffen, and it had nothing to do with the actual relationship between herself and Rhaegara. While they hadn't carried a deep conversation since their match out on the ice, Woya had hoped that her attempts with Enera had made things better. It would be hard to tell now, with it clouding her senses.

She glanced over at the muscular wolf as she spoke, asking after Leviticus without the judgment the Macieo might have expected. At least no one had dared to really challenge her grumpiness, yet. They likely understood what was to blame. She felt her face flush and focused on the water instead of Rhae's features.

"He fuckin' bugs me," came her blunt answer, "always skulkin' around like the sky's gonna fuckin' fall."

She couldn’t help but raise a brow at the returned statement. “Yes, I think you’ve made that clear. He looked like he was going to shit himself on the retreat.” There was just a hint of a light tease as she made her way close. Despite their differences, she did not find the woman as unbearable as she once did. She chose to take a few moments to collect herself, finding a drink from the pool of water which sent light ripples through it.

The season never got easier. “Where I haphazardly throw myself at anything male, you snap at wolves when you’re in the season, don’t you?” She asked, her head tilting to the side, wondering if this was wholly the effects of the season or if it was something rooted more deeply.

Woya frowned, before Rhaegara's not-so-eloquent turn of phrase got an amused snort out of her. Yeah, his face had been pretty great, all wide-eyed like a rabbit. Stupid kid.

Her delight didn't last, the other woman coming closer still. Her fur bristled as though an electric current were rippling along her spine. Gods, she was ridiculously enamored with her scent. Woya side-stepped, encouraging distance between them. This was lust, and she knew better than to shit where she slept. It was precisely why she needed out.

Where I haphazardly throw myself at anything male, you snap at wolves when you’re in the season, don’t you?

She blinked at Rhaegara, before her muzzle split wide with a devilish, tooth-filled grin.

"I'm sorry, did you just call yourself a slut?"

Miss Proper?

(This post was last modified: Mar 15, 2022, 04:16 AM by Woya.)

The other woman side-stepped but Rhaegara thought nothing of it… it wasn’t until Woya asked her question that Rhae actively snorted some of the water she was drinking from, a hint of a grin and a devious glint on her features.

“A slut? No, I’m a downright filthy whore when I’m in heat… doesn’t matter who it is, I’ll throw myself at them. I don’t even know the name of Enera’s father… never asked, just banged and ran.” She responded, leaning in for the last bit as if letting Woya in on a prized secret.

She sighed softly with that. “It’s easier… than trying to form a connection and coparent. I get to make all of the decisions about how Enera was raised. I don’t have to be faced with the rejection or betrayal of a lover who I took time to cultivate feelings for. Being a slut is better than being foolishly in love with a gender that can’t be trusted.”

Well wasn't this a conversation she'd of never expected to have. Woya's wolfish brows climbed ever higher with amusement as Rhaegara went ahead and dug up a heft of dirt on her own self. She couldn't help but laugh, until that sigh. It marked a shift, and her own features morphed to mirror the sobriety with which her pack mate spoke.

Woya had certainly wondered after Enera's father, especially after realizing that her own niece and nephew had seemed to think it had been Hudson. However, she'd recognized it as not her business - it wasn't as though the woman wasn't enough to be both mother and father for her only child. Her decision to parent alone was not the only point of interest, however.

A gender that can't be trusted, she said, marking a clear distaste for men that prompted her to reflect on her own biases. Woya did so adore the company of her own sex, and shared a general mistrust when it came to men. Still, there were enough of them that weren't so bad. Some who even slipped under her skin entirely, a slow but potent burn.

"That makes sense," she conceded, "havin' her like ya did. Smart, actually."

Woya might've wanted kids herself, had she not ended up charged with her brother's. It was an option she likely would've considered, given her apparent fate to remain loveless.

"I'd like ta think some of us c'n be trusted."

The musing wasn't as confident as she wanted it to sound, however. Losing Aweho and the choices subsequently made had impacted her opinion of the others more than she was willing to admit.

(This post was last modified: Mar 15, 2022, 06:51 AM by Woya.)

Rhae was glad the other woman seemed amused. It had been the goal to lighten the mood given the clear irritation the other woman had… and she even went as far as to offer a light smile at the mention of it being the smart thing to do. She took a moment to reflect on that. It had been smart… and she wished it had turned out differently all the same, but for different reasons. “Her brother… Sirius… he wasn’t mine.” She admitted softly as she turned her head to look at the other woman.

Perhaps women could not be trusted as well. Perhaps she should only trust herself. “His mother was abandoning him… I found her, and the child… and I took him in but something was wrong, and he didn’t make it. I let the entire pack believe he was mine.” Their due dates had been close enough that no one could question the difference. She remembered the other woman, Incus, with distain now. She could not imagine wanting to give up one’s child. She couldn’t imagine not wanting Enera. “I think maybe some can be trusted, I just don’t know if I have the capacity to… to trust.” She admitted, this conversation falling deeper than she’d been hoping for, she could admit.

“Do you have anyone you can trust?” She asked, wondering if the jaded woman had anyone who could work past the defensive walls she put up.

(This post was last modified: Mar 15, 2022, 06:01 AM by Rhaegara.)

Rhaegara went deeper still, and Woya found the remnants of flame within her doused. Where moments ago she'd wanted to be left to her anger, the Macieo was instead humbled by the intimate secrets the other woman imparted. She wouldn't have been surprise if she'd simply been out of the loop regarding Sirius' origin, given she'd been late to the party, so to speak, but Rhae said it herself - I let the entire pack believe he was mine.

She couldn't help but feel, especially as the topic of trust lingered, that she did not deserve to know something so personal to the other wolf. There was an urge to whisper that those things made the boy hers, but she was asked a question instead. Attempting to return some light-heartedness to the conversation was her first impulse.

"I know I c'n trust you to at least be honest with me," she told her with a smirk. If anything was guaranteed, it was that Rhaegara was not shy to call Woya out on her shit. Still, after all of her sharing, she knew that her company deserved something a bit more raw.

"... Hudson," was her admission, the name quiet upon her lips, as her pale eyes drifted back out toward the water.

She couldn’t resist the soft snort that came with her statement, a smirk finding her own features in the rare moment of peace and camaraderie between the two women. “There are two things you can be certain of with me: I will always tell you the truth about what I think, and I will never leave this place. I’ll die here, regardless of whether or not wolves want me here… they ever try and kick me out, they’ll have to kill me.” This was her home. She’d been driven out once before, and she would never be doing so again.

There was a rawer moment, her eyes softening as she remembered her own brothers. She missed them dearly. “He’d be proud of you… looking after his kids.” She added softly, not sure what to say knowing that the woman had been left here while Hudson galivanted off. “I can’t say I ever really knew him well… but I’ve known a brother’s love and trust before… and I know he’d be proud of you.”