He had just returned from Halifax, from the chance encounter with the pale D'artisian who had been his father. He was sore and tired. His body ached from the battle with the shadow followed by the sudden appearance of Taliesin. Still, he carried the cured jerky and the cleaned skin with him. He was torn between making something of the black pelt, or putting it in the special alcove he'd claimed as his. He was no cave explorer, but he had found a niche all of his own hidden in the deeper shadows. A narrow tunnel lead to the alcove which was maybe ten foot tall and four foot wide each way. It was big enough to be a den, but the tunnel was small enough that no normal luperci would want to claim it. He was okay with that.

He glared at the crowd which announced his arrival with their usual obnoxious croaking. He paused to check on "his" house, then continued on his way to the caverns. He debated on going to his personal alcove, but decided to just return to the den he shared with his woman. He was too exhausted to do much else. The minor cuts burned as he laid on the furs they shared as a bed. He could smell his mate, but didn't see her in their den. While it was possible he had overlooked her, he doubted it. His saffron eyes drifted shut and he fell into the slumber of the exhausted.

Ayasha was busy exploring the caves and getting a better sense of where things were in her home. It was getting easier the more that she explored it. It was definitely different than her home in AniWaya. She still sometimes missed it, but not enough to leave her mate. Though she was curious how it was doing. She didn’t want to check when she went to visit the Other Liam and she was pretty sure that her brother wouldn’t tell just to be a pain in the ass. So she would ask Liam if she could go to AniWaya to visit. Though she was unsure of who was still there that she knew.

She had wondered where her mate had disappeared off to for a couple of days. Not that she needed to know where he was at all times but she was rather curious. She hoped that he was OK. So she was relieved when she got back to their rooms and saw him lying down, seemingly exhausted. Ayasha was slightly worried but she figured that he simply needed some rest. Then she got an idea. He was bound to like her lying next to him. So she took off her belt and put down her bag and slid next to him, wrapping her arms gently around him.

He barely stirred as she pressed against him. As she wrapped her arms around him, he murmured something unintelligable and nestled closer. In sleep, his usually closed face gained a softness that rarely showed through in his waking hours. He muttered something again, something that might have been her name, and settled back into the mercifully dreamless sleep of the soundly exhausted. It could have been hours or days when he finally stirred to wakefulness. All he knew was the sweet musk of his mate filled the air. Her hands rested on his chest. A tendril of her mane brushed his cheek.

The rustic male stretched without standing, feeling every muscle in his body flex in response to his inner command. He squeezed her hands lightly before rolling over to wrap his arms around her, pulling her close. He murmured a still sleepy greeting to her, smiling at her. No shadows danced in his eyes, no whispers filled his ears for the moment. It was as if destroying the shadow wolf had banished them for a short time. He brushed the loose tendril of her mane out of her glorious blue eyes. "hey, kiddo. Where you been all my life?" cheesy yes, but felt by the heart.

Her mate slightly stirred but settled back in soon after. She gave a soft smile as murmured something that sounded a bit like it might have been her name. Not that it was important but it would have been nice if he had said her name. She grinned and gave him a quick barely there kiss, not wanting to wake him up before he was ready to get up.

She snuggled back into him and soon drifted into a pleasant sleep. In her dreams, she and Liam were a few years older and they had several kids, differing by a few years. Plus, it would appear that in her dream she was pregnant again. Liam was there for her and oddly so was her brother Ahiga. But she wasn’t in danger and was filled with love.

Ayasha then woke when she felt her pillow stretch. She blinked in confusion as she looked around and saw only Liam and her not being pregnant. Liam wrapped his arms around her and said good morning, which she said in return. He tenderly wiped a piece of her hair out of her face. But his greeting caused her to grin and giggle. ”Hey there loverboy. Have you always been this cheesy?” She then wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him down for a kiss.

His tail wagged, softly thumping the ground as she smiled at him in return. He grinned impishly at his woman. With a playful growl, he asked her, "I don't know, kiddo. Have you always been this beautiful?" He kissed her back, his tongue teasing hers for a moment. He then pulled back, stroking the velvet fur between her eyes. He loved the way it felt, loved the smooth velvet under the pad of his thumb. He found himself gazing deeply into her eyes, the seething anger and fear he usually felt simply nonexistent.

"I will never love any other woman as much as I do you, Ayasha. No matter what happens, I mean it. There is no other female who means as much to me as you do." He kissed her again, one hand idly resting on her hip, holding her possessively. He imagined holding her close like this a year down the road, five years down the road, her belly swollen with pups. His expression softened more as he gazed at her, a rare sweetness stealing onto his face. "Someday, my love, we will have a beautiful family. Nothing bad will ever happen to them or us."

She grinned at her mate as he grinned back at her. His response caused her to roll her eyes and give him a gentle and playful whack on the chest. But she did respond to it. ”I suppose you’ll just have to find that out, Mr. Handsome.” They kissed and she was in heaven for a few moments until they pulled apart so they could breath. Liam then stroked the bridge of her nose and she sighed happily. It was rather relaxing to have him do that.

His words of not loving anyone as much as he would her caused her to gasp but she was happy about it. She beamed up at him and said, ”You’re kind of stuck with me, loverboy, since you’re the only person that I constantly think of.” She hoped he knew what she meant. She thought it was rather evident but she would clarify if she needed.

He promised her a family and she pressed another kiss to his lips. ”I want a family with you. But I hope we don’t have to wait to long for our someday, loverboy.” She reached up and played with his earring, mostly thinking about her future family with Liam. ”Where did you go off to?” She was curious but not accusing him of anything. He could leave whenever he wanted.

As she asked where he'd gone off to, he shrugged lightly. "Went down to Halifax for a bit, looking for ideas on what to do with the house I'm working on. On my way back, caught some prey, smoked it, tanned the hide. Brought it back for you, I was just exhausted. Pretty well came straight back." His tail wagged lightly. He knew he'd dispatched another shadow wolf, he felt good about it. He felt clean and unhurried for the first time since December. He didn't remember the chance meeting with his father, or he might have told her that. Instead, he sat up and twisted, pulling some of the smoked meat from his sack.

"If you want some, it's pretty good. I don't have a knack with spices or nothing, so it's just the flavor of the meat." He nibbled on a piece of his 'special' jerky himself as he offered his mate a piece of it. He figured it would give him the strength the always best the shadows, but it would afford her some protection from the shadows as well. Or so he hoped, at least.

He wasn’t upset about her question and told her that he had gone down to Halifax to see if he could improve on the house. He then caught some prey and brought the pelt back for her. She nodded and asked, ”Can I see it? Or are you going to do something with it first?” Her tone was a little teasing but she wasn’t being to him. She had no idea that it was a wolf or that he had met his father and beat him up.

He then twisted away from her and she pouted slightly, watching as he grabbed some of the meat that he had prepared. He then offered her some and she shook her head. ”Maybe later. I’m not that hungry right now. I mostly want to spend time with you. I’ve missed you.” Even though he had only been gone a few days she still missed him.

She then got a slightly naughty grin on her face as she thought of what she really wanted to do. She pushed him to lay down, straddled him, and put her mouth to his ear saying, ”Though you can satisfy a different hunger, loverboy.” She trailed her hands down his chest tantalizingly. She was pretty sure that he would get what she wanted but ground into him slight to make sure he got the picture.

He chuckled as she pressed him back, yet he went willingly. They spent their time together, reacquainting themselves with each other, and with their mutual hungers. After both mates were sated, he held her close, stroking her tussled mane gently. They hadn't been overly rough this time, which eased his mind. He had actually felt guilty about hurting her that time in the hot springs. He kissed her gently, resuming his earlier activity of running his thumb down her nose. Something about it stirred a vague and distant memory of a scent and a voice, a distant and blurred shadow that had been a comfort to him.

He spoke softly, not quite realizing he was speaking at all. "Sometimes I think how different things would have been if Azza hadn't killed Liadain and my mom. I don't even know what my mom looked like. I remember her scent though, a rich smell of grass and sunshine and mothers milk. And her voice, too. She had a soft voice, but a rich one. It was deep and musical... she spoke our names with so much love, even Taliesin's. And once, Azza's too." He fell silent, an ache in his chest that he couldn't name, he couldn't define.

He laughed at her, most likely her eagerness, yet he still allowed her to push him back onto his back. She wasn’t sure how long they spent in each other's arms as they reacquainted themselves with each other, like it had been centuries since they last saw each other, not days. But she didn’t mind, even though she was sated from his loving. Of course he was extremely gentle with her and she was pretty sure that it was to make up for their time in the hot spring. She gave him a kiss just to say that she forgave him.

Afterwards, she cuddled next to him, her head on his heart and hand on his chest, listening to both his heartbeat and breathing, feeling extremely content in his arms. She wrinkled her nose as he ran his finger down it and was about to make a wise crack about it when he started to speak, almost as if the motion set off something in his brain.

Her guess was right as Liam talked about how he remembered his mother. She listened and watched his face as he spoke about how he didn’t remember what she looked like, only smells and sounds that he associated with her. He fell silent and she spoke about her birth mother. "I don't really remember much about my mother, my birth mother, either. All I remember is her protecting me from a bear and that she was white like me. I don't even know anything about the rest of my birth family, not even my own father." She reached up and pressed an understanding and soft kiss to his lips.

He kissed her gently, nuzzling her neck sweetly. There was something amazing about this female that made his achingly aware of his failings. Right this moment he knew there were issues in his head, he knew that if she knew the things he did, she would be disgusted by him. And with the same helpless knowing, he knew he'd never be able to change himself. He could pretend, he could seek solace in the absence of the whispering voices on occasion, but he would never be normal.

He couldn't bring himself to voice these thoughts to her, to his beautiful and pure mate. Hell, it almost hurt him to admit these things to himself. He almost longed for the whispers to chase away this empty and hateful clarity. He nuzzled into her, holding her tenderly, closing his eyes. If he couldn't banish the clarity of the moment, maybe he could slide back into slumber. He swallowed as he rested his hand on her chest, over her heart. The steady beating reassured him.