Thicket of Secrets She Will Be Loved

"No..There's another pack to the west, in Cedarwood Forest. Grizzly Hollow." Daedalus raised a brow, this being the first time he had ever heard of another pack besides Swift River. He canted his chin as he gave a slight tilt of his head – already planning to visit this other pack, Grizzly Hollow, the next time he headed west. He was about to stand, ready to clean her neck when the female suddenly looked at him and all movements paused as he looked at her awkwardly as she spoke. "Daedelus... why help me? For all you know, I could have killed the alpha's pups or something and gotten chased out.." The male’s nostrils flared wildly as a grin of disbelief pulled at his raven lips. Fangs flashed as he grinned at her and gave a casual shrug of his shoulders. <b style="color:#8a321c">"I highly doubt that!" He teased before he settled back comfortable by her side, his tone growing more serious.

<b style="color:#8a321c">"I may not know the reasons behind these wounds, but – right here and now, you seem to be the one in most need of help." His was warm and calm as he tried to once again reassure her. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Besides, if you really were a pup killer, I doubt I’d be standing here talking to you right now?" A small smile trailed along his lips as he finally rose to his feet again and stood to hold his muzzle directly above her neck, looking at the wound again. "Vlarindara Windrunner, Second of ...ex member of Grizzly Hollow." His ears perked then as he turned to look at her and for the briefest of moments his hackles quickly shimmered along the smooth arch of his spine. So Vlarindara had once held the Beta position within Grizzly Hollow? Daedalus was impressed and now even more curious as to how she ended up leaving the pack. <b style="color:#8a321c">"What is his name…the Alpha?" He asked, a hint of aggression stirring in his voice. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Did he do this to you?" It was almost like a threat, as his lips stiffened in contempt.

"My apologies..." Daedalus remained silence and instead focused his attention back to her neck. Again he gently brushed the blood-matted fur aside and paused for a moment before nuzzling his nose in closer. With warm, tender strokes his tongue moved delicately across her skin as he set to work removing the bits of dirt and grit that had got embedded in the open wound. The taste of blood caused his tail to stiffen as he maintained a steady focus, continuing to clean the bite-marks on her neck before he would move to the tear that snaked down her face.

"Borden? No! Neither he or his mate did this to me...it wasn't either of their faults.." Technically..it hadn't been. "It was mine." And it had been.. her pride had caused her her place in the pack - she had left so they wouldn't see her injuries...but only gotten more ill in doing so.. The touch of the male made her neck sting even more - but she clamped her muzzle shut to stifle the whine that wanted to escape her - she'd never had her wounds cleaned in such a way.. The white female had always just let nature run its course where it might.

Though, oddly enough the anger in his words warmed her - making her wonder if it really WASN'T bad to be as nice as she was - as she would have done the same on behalf of an injured wolf. Vlarindara stayed silent while he cleaned her wounds, shifting to lift her head os he could better reach the injury - though she wouldn't have expected the same from another. "I...thank you, Daedalus.. I wouldn't have expected to find someone like you out here." She had to wonder - did he have a pack? He didn't smell like he belonged to one... but maybe he might have a home to go to.

OOC: That last bit almost got a bit too mature LOL. Don’t worry, though, I re-wrote it differently…

His entire body posture seemed to change at the thought of the Grizzly Hollow alpha attacking Vlarindara, and his fiery amber gaze moved to settle coldly upon the ground so to not to direct his anger at the very wolf he wished to protect. His hackles spiked along his back and his tail lashed out aggressively as he stood, waiting for the female to explain. "Borden? No! Neither he or his mate did this to me...it wasn't either of their faults.." Daedalus’ tail lowered, but his concern was still obvious by his stance. "It was mine." The timber wolf canted his chin, slowly drawing it in towards his chest awkwardly. He had not expected Vlarindara to admit that.

As he carefully removed the last bits of dirt from her neck, he gave a few more warm strokes of his tongue along the marks to slick the fur back and keep it from becoming matted again. His saliva would do the majority of the work and was sure to speed up the healing process now that the wound was clean. "I...thank you, Daedalus.. I wouldn't have expected to find someone like you out here." He heard her say as he moved slowly around to face her, his tail swaying gingerly behind him. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Someone so handsome, you mean?" A teasing grin flashed pearl-white fangs at the female as he stepped back to give a mock bow in gratitude.

Shifting closer to sit directly in front of her, his nose hovered lightly over the scratch that ran down her face. He felt a little awkward now that he was facing her, but he refused to let it show. Instead he held a cool and calm aura about him as he signaled for her to tip her head forward a little. Hot breath stroked down the length of her muzzle as he leaned in tantalizing close. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Close your eyes…" He breathed, as his tongue approached the start of the scratch near one socket. <b style="color:#8a321c">"My apologies, this might hurt a little." Came the dark, rough murmur before he licked her face, gradually working his tongue down the edge of the cut.

She laughed despite herself when he commented on being so handsome. The amber eyes of the female shifted to look him up and down as she chuckled. "It's unbecoming to give yourself airs, sir.." There was a joking tone in her voice as she spoke, her ears shifting when he commented on cleaning the wound on her face. This she was not going to relish - but at least it would hurt less than the deeper wound on her neck.. Silently, she did as he asked and tipped her nose towards the air and let her eyes close.

Normally, Vlarindara would not have done such a thing - it just as easily exposed her throat to a possible attacker, but why wouldn't she? He could have done something while cleaning her neck wound.. Instead, the white she-wolf chose to listen and did as he asked. The touch burned- but not nearly as bad as the wound on her throat had.. but she endured it in silence until he was finished.

Figured we could just move to Rachel’s thread now? So feel free to powerplay Daedalus following Varindara however you wish. :P

Daedalus smirked and his tail swayed behind him contentedly. Whilst he had to admit the circumstances were a little strange, he was quite enjoying his time spent with Vlarindara. She was sweet and polite and exceptionally trusting once he had reassured her. She was also vulnerable. The male didn’t quite know what it was about her vulnerability that enticed him so, perhaps it was the pleading expression within her warm amber eyes – Daedalus shrugged, briefly sweeping his tongue across lips anxiously, before turning back to give her wound one final warm stroke with his tongue. Shuffling back, he took another glance at both injuries before he was satisfied. A chuffed smile tugged softly at the corners of his mouth as he nuzzled her softly, letting her know that it was all over. <b style="color:#8a321c">"They should stop stinging in a while..." He breathed, hoping he hadn’t caused her too much pain in the process.

"It's unbecoming to give yourself airs, sir.." A brow raised playfully upon his face as he tilted his chin up to highlight his toned figure. Shoulders rolled back to allow a ripple of lean muscle beneath his earthen coat as he raised his tail proudly above the smooth arch of his spine. A boyish smirk spread across his face as he held back a sarcastic snicker. He lingered by her side a moment longer to make sure she was feeling alright before he trailed down the path a few feet and paused, his nose twitching at the metallic taste of her blood that now cling to the insides of his mouth. The bridge of his muzzle wrinkled as he quickly scraped his tongue along the sharp ridges of his teeth, but failed to remove the raw sanguine taste from his lips. Although he could not see so for himself, there would undoubtedly be blood coating his lips also and staining his muzzle. He gave a small cringe, hating the idea of looking like a savage criminal. Bits of blood and dirt also stained his teeth, so from now on he refused to smile.

Turning to Vlarindara, feeling a little awkward considering, he approached her quietly with his ears flat against his head. He needed to wash the blood off his face, before anyone grew too suspicious. <b style="color:#8a321c">"Is there somewhere nearby where I could get cleaned up?" He murmured, a single fang biting back his lower bloody-lip.