04-25-2017, 07:59 PM
He breathed through the burn in his limbs, the sting in his lungs. The white of his coat was slicked to a silver, soaked through and through like the rest of him. The purple dabs on his hide almost looked like the black they would normally have been, dampened and dark. More than sweat alone, the frost of his skin melted under the heat of his body, pushed to its limits time and again as he tried to run off the emotional tension that had freed his magic. Get it back under control again. So much turmoil. It had to give. Someday, it just had to give.
The season made it worse.
Breeding season.
The first without her.
He swore there was love and sex in the air everywhere he went. Maybe that was what he was trying to outrun. He wanted to be happy for them, all of them. But damn he just needed to be away.
He was panting hard when he caught sight of her, barely heard the forlorn cry of a lost and aching babe. It stabbed straight through his heart, that sound, but he began his way slowly closer. Steam from his mouth and nose clouded the immediate air with hollow and burning breaths. The loud huffs left him like a beast weary from fighting against its chains. Like the beast in his mind that had fallen eerily silent. He could still feel it, still sense it, knew it was there. But it lay in wait. For what?
With a deep breath, he tried to calm his racing heart, settle his thirsty lungs and breathe normal, quieter. His steps were careful, nearly silent, and the ice of his gaze never left her. She leaned against a tree for support, small and fragile. Far too young to be alone. Far too strange to be left behind. Everything around her reflected across her body in shadow blues, as though made from solid ice. She didn’t look cold though, didn’t chill the air, and when she carefully pushed herself from the tree, she jingled and twinkled like a living, quiet wind chime.
Her movements were so tentative and cautious as she tried to step away from the trunk that had held her up, so fluid and graceful with every dancing reflection gliding down her little body. He came into view and neared as she stumbled, locking her legs to keep from falling, eyes wide. That was when he reached her, in the quiet of the forest with his velvet black nose gently seeking the shine of hers. His breath fogged her surface, glacial eyes warm as a calm settled through him, turned his thoughts away from previous bothers.
With a sudden urge to be his wolf, he lowered himself to the ground and flattened to his side in playful submission, rolling to his back and twisting his head around to look up at her before turning to his side again with a quiet huff. He stilled for a moment, watching her. Then, as though making a wish, he blew out a slow breath of magic to her and frosted her to look like him: glassy blue points with a snow-white middle, peppered with empty places to allow her color to show through the leopard pattern.
He lay his head back down with a smile, rubbing his cheek into the dirt then settling to admire her.
The season made it worse.
Breeding season.
The first without her.
He swore there was love and sex in the air everywhere he went. Maybe that was what he was trying to outrun. He wanted to be happy for them, all of them. But damn he just needed to be away.
He was panting hard when he caught sight of her, barely heard the forlorn cry of a lost and aching babe. It stabbed straight through his heart, that sound, but he began his way slowly closer. Steam from his mouth and nose clouded the immediate air with hollow and burning breaths. The loud huffs left him like a beast weary from fighting against its chains. Like the beast in his mind that had fallen eerily silent. He could still feel it, still sense it, knew it was there. But it lay in wait. For what?
With a deep breath, he tried to calm his racing heart, settle his thirsty lungs and breathe normal, quieter. His steps were careful, nearly silent, and the ice of his gaze never left her. She leaned against a tree for support, small and fragile. Far too young to be alone. Far too strange to be left behind. Everything around her reflected across her body in shadow blues, as though made from solid ice. She didn’t look cold though, didn’t chill the air, and when she carefully pushed herself from the tree, she jingled and twinkled like a living, quiet wind chime.
Her movements were so tentative and cautious as she tried to step away from the trunk that had held her up, so fluid and graceful with every dancing reflection gliding down her little body. He came into view and neared as she stumbled, locking her legs to keep from falling, eyes wide. That was when he reached her, in the quiet of the forest with his velvet black nose gently seeking the shine of hers. His breath fogged her surface, glacial eyes warm as a calm settled through him, turned his thoughts away from previous bothers.
With a sudden urge to be his wolf, he lowered himself to the ground and flattened to his side in playful submission, rolling to his back and twisting his head around to look up at her before turning to his side again with a quiet huff. He stilled for a moment, watching her. Then, as though making a wish, he blew out a slow breath of magic to her and frosted her to look like him: glassy blue points with a snow-white middle, peppered with empty places to allow her color to show through the leopard pattern.
He lay his head back down with a smile, rubbing his cheek into the dirt then settling to admire her.
