howl.

Send me three names + a number...

“Knew you were a noble. Though that does answer your question, doesn’t it? Commoners only, nobles are exempt, so no, what’s mine is mine and I’m not feeling generous anymore. And no, but frankly I don’t think much of stuck-up nancyboys who think they’re so above it all they can’t even be bothered with basic manners. Also who turns down free food? Only idiots in my book. I might look like I’m next to homeless, but thanks to some good people and constantly working for it, I’m not. So you can shove your hoity-toity attitude right up your ass.”

“Go whine about it to someone who gives a shit,” Alexander spat, rolling his eyes. Just what he needed after a long day of mentally exhausting himself in Sansorian court; dealing with this pain in the ass. “I have wonderful manners, but I don’t say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to intrusive bitches who get their panties in a twist when I won’t feed them confidential information. And I’ll be sure to get right to doing that, princess, as soon as you pull the iron rod out of yours.””

Tatiana couldn’t have been more excited over the fact that she had finally managed to stumble upon her favorite big man - after nearly a week of being without him, she had been missing him so desperately that she could hardly even stand it…and now, he was here and standing before him, and they were finally reunited. He didn’t seem to be quite as exulted as she was, but she reasoned that was due to how reserved her Shura bear’s nature normally was to begin with. Surely he was happy that she had found her way to Aurelia to visit him - after all, the last time that they had been away from one another, it hadn’t been easy on either one of them at all. Now, however, she was quite the excited little squirrel - she stood on the tips of her toes to clutch at his broad shoulders and kiss all over his face, mewling in delight as she even allowed her tongue to flicker out in an attempt to ‘groom’ Alexander and mark him with her scent. She didn’t stop even when he spoke, in a low voice, to let her know that she shouldn’t have made her way into Aurelia to begin with - why on earth was he so concerned in the first place? “Shura, is - is okay! Tatia being leave note before she left letting retainer know that she being with big man and big brother! Is not Tatia fault new bodyguard being fall asleep outside of door when should be standing guard instead. Hmph.”

This was a death wish...as was everything else Tatiana seemed prone to doing, as a matter of fact. A day didn’t go by when Alexander didn’t spend his time worrying about what would become of his princess. Now that he had stepped up to serve as one of King Viktor’s inner circle in particular, he wasn’t permitted to keep as watchful an eye over the bubbly young princess as he once was. No doubt her new bodyguard would receive a verbal lashing for allowing the princess to make it all the way to the neighboring kingdom before realizing she was gone, but if Alexander had anything to do with it, he’d make sure the man was whipped for his idiocy.

Mirroring Alexander’s advance, Rhee lessened the distance, raising his chin while the other spoke before smirking. Come now, did he think belittlement would work now? Rhee was a god in comparison. And him? This prideful knight? A peasant. “Tell me, when I’ve killed your Queen and your entire pack, how strong are you all on your own?” The inquisition was met with a tilt of his head before he bowed his head, as if showing respect for someone grieving. Turning his body, he moved to walk slowly around Alexander until he was to the wolf’s back, “Do you remember how easy it was for me to get inside your bitch’s room? I’d really hate to think about what I could possibly do next to her. Gut her, perhaps? Cut her from head to toe like a deer carcass? Hang her upside down while I let the blood drain from her poor, defenseless body while you watch? That would drive you mad, wouldn’t it?”

Alexander really wasn’t in the mood to deal with Rhee’s half-assed bullshit this evening. The other alpha (or beta bitch, as Alexander continued to refer to him as) was growing increasingly deranged as the weeks and months slipped on by, and Alex couldn’t help but wonder how much further Rhee would push himself and test the limitations both of mankind and the kingdoms of Ronsanella before the world came crashing down on him. Being reckless and bloodthirsty would only end with Rhee in a messy grave, sinking to his own death far too prematurely. Is this what would have happened to Alex if he had strayed down the path of wicked? Is this how his life would have become if he had chosen to divulge himself in something other than vengeance through justice after his mother’s death? Some might have said that Alex and Rhee were two sides of the same coin; that they were constantly spinning and twirling around one another, blurring the lines between what was right and what was wrong.

It was mere moments after she had attempted to ask a nearby stranger for any insight on where she could find her brother or her mate that Tatiana felt the back of her cloak being tugged upon, and with a startled little squeak, she was being yanked backwards into an alleyway just to the left of where she had previously been standing. Immediately, her eyes went wide, and she let out a shocked squeal of a sound as she was forcefully lifted off of her feet; the hands that were grabbing at her were incredibly familiar…they were strong and warm, rough and calloused, and Tatiana knew them as home. A breathy gasp fled her parted petal-soft lips as she realized the true nature of the supposed stranger that had roughly tugged her away from the view of the public eye, and she paid no mind to the angry sound of his voice as her mate - her mate - demanded to know just what it was that she was doing in Aurelia. 

Alexander’s heart was hammering something fierce in his chest. Of anywhere in the world he could have wanted to run into Tatiana, the middle of an Aurelian town center, surrounded by civilians who might recognize her and an army who knew her by name was the last place on that list. He’d spent so many weeks trying to shield Tatiana from this more...gruesome side and aspect of war; to protect her in ways which he was otherwise failing. To realize her new bodyguard had allowed her to slip away under his fingers had Alexander simmering with rage, and the urge to hunt the bastard down and spit in his face until he understood the severity of what he’d just allowed to happen was stronger than ever before. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, nostrils flaring as Tatiana explained exatly how she’d managed to escape.

It was Tatiana’s first-ever visit to Aurelia, and despite the fact that she wasn’t technically supposed to be inhabiting the kingdom - and that was putting it lightly - she couldn’t help but be curious about the country on the brink of heading to war with her own. She had been nothing short of distressed when she had learned that Viktor and Alexander both would be travelling to the opposing kingdom to stand guard; she couldn’t stomach the thought of them being so far away from home for so long…thus, after having managed to slip past the not-so-watchful eye of her newest bodyguard, Tatiana was able to sneak into one of the carriages being used for luggage, and now…now, she was in Aurelia. 

One minute, Alexander had been surveying the streets of Aurelia--his home, he was home--and the next, he felt a tug deep within his abdomen. The hair on the back of his neck bristled, and he grew stiff as he sniffed the air around him. Something felt...familiar, yet so achingly out of place, and as he turned his head to the left and spotted a streak of red scurrying through the crowd, Alexander swore he felt his heart drop through his stomach. That movement, so telltale of a woman he’d grown to know quite intimately, was coupled with the sound of her begging people to move aside for her and asking if anyone had seen her grumpus.

“Some people aren’t comfortable with silence. Once you get a taste for it it’s hard to stop. There’s not much in this world, we have to fight for all we can. The ones dwelling at camps aren’t being forceful, they’re defending their piece. Some just talk big.”

“Sometimes--and I know this might be considered a radical opinion--it isn’t about comfort, but about what’s most practical. Most intelligent. Defending Sansoria and protecting it...yes. That’s exactly what we’re doing.”

“Unfortunate, that is, to finally realize Aurelia isn’t the only nation capable of bloodlust and strategy. I do pray for the next day where you’ll lift that veil and see how weak your great kingdom truly is, especially under rule of the new Queen. It’ll be worse when she finds out her one and only loyal knight has gone and done the unthinkable by falling in love with a naive bitch across the pond. Tell me, Barrett, who of the two would you sacrifice? Love or honour?”

“Charming; I see someone’s forgotten to call the exterminator again,” Alexander snapped, his blood freezing to ice and his heart thudding with anger against his rib cage. He hadn’t seen Rhee face-to-face in quite some time, but now, with all of the...history and turmoil brewing between them, Alexander was having to exercise a great deal of control not to reach for his nearest weapon and slit the fuckhead’s throat then and there. How sweet it would be, having Rhee Oliver writhe and squirm for his last dying breath at Alexander’s feet. He wouldn’t go down without a fight, of course, but it was a charming thought nevertheless. One to entertain for a later date, perhaps.

“Oh buggering shit, not you.” Her hard-eyed glare turned to a full glower. “Matter of fact, here’s an invasive question for you: what’re you doing on my land, however small a piece that may be, with your bad attitude and more idiot comments. Haven’t you got anyone else better to bother?“

“What’s that saying commoners like to preach to each other? What’s mine is yours and all that? I suppose that rule applies here, hmm? Ah, so now I’m an idiot for not wanting to spill private, confidential information to a woman who looks like she’s living on the cusp of homelessness?”

“Right. Because any amount of discretion would do me good here.” Viktor remarked dryly, trying not to roll his eyes at his newest adviser. “The commoners don’t know what I look like, and even if they did, they know better than to start anything. Do you honestly think I would show my hand to their scouts without just cause?”

“If you wish for your head to be served on a platter by a rogue assassin or wandering sentry from Aurelia, then by all means, the choice is yours, your majesty,” Alexander commented, struggling not to let his irritation show much through the hiss of his teeth clenched together. “You lead and I advise, remember? I’m merely upholding my end of our new arrangement.”

“Me?” Maddox asked, voice lowering at the mention that Alexander had been looking for him. “Right…Well. Is it about the queen?”

“First and foremost, I wanted to make sure you’ve been practicing since our last training session,” Alexander began, his eyes honing in on Maddox.

“It’s…unsettling to see how few guards there are around these parts. Are they seriously out at the castle? Without any thought to have security out in the streets? What are they thinking?”

“Your majesty, I implore you to use discretion at an event this large. You risk exposure by talking to anything that breathes.”

“Sorry. You look a little…lost. Did you need help finding anything?”

“You, actually. I can’t stay long; King Viktor will wonder where his new favorite little lapdog has run off to.”