The Sentinels Before it's too late, stop trying to wait

@Osprey reposting this since there's the message from wifi too

Again, only if you want to and have time! It's aw so if someone wants to intercept they can!

Dante had known about Aria's promotion and trusted Lasher's judgement, though he expected some might not be happy about the decision.  Still Dante had failed to ask his mate of her wishes, and he frowned.  Was he mistaken?  Was the beta position something she had wanted?

It was too late now, and Dante would not ask Lasher to change his decision.  The alpha thought Aria capable and Dante agreed that her contributions had been valuable.  The promotion was hasty but the position had been long vacant.  Not since Dante's rise had all four positions been occupied.

He still needed to talk with his mate, however.  For he needed to know if she took the traditional view and opposed his own claim of a joint title with Aria.  In some packs, such a position was assumed to infer mateship, and if his wife resented the job share, he would graciously join the lower ranks.  Her feelings were more important to him than a title. Besides that, there was the message from Wildfire to deliver. He was not thrilled at the prospect, but he had promised to give her word and would do it regardless.

Osprey's life hadn't been very eventful during the past two weeks, aside from the fact that she was spending more time now actually hunting for a fresh game rather than trying to survive on scraps only. Though the success rates were between 1/5, the more she practiced the easier it got every time. Her instincts didn't have to be reminded about, how a job should be done, the only thing she had to do was to think less and allow the senses to take over. 

She was taking a break, sunbathing in the rare rays of winter sun, when she caught sight of Dante. Happy about the prospect of meeting him during the day, but feeling too lazy to actually get up and run in his direction, she lifted her muzzle and let out a quiet and melodic howl. At the end of it she tilted her head to the side and waited for his response.

He'd been so intent on looking for her one way that, it seems, he'd completely missed her on the other side.  Luckily she was gracious enough to howl for his attention, and his ears perked up as he woofed a quick response, eagerly doing the legwork to bring them together.  Cheerfully forgetting conversation for the moment, he nosed about her ruff a bit, playfully enjoying the warmth on his back too.  She appeared to have found the perfect patch of sunlight.

"You rang?" he said finally, lifting his head to regard her from above and cock a questioning brow.  He'd been looking for her first, of course, but he acted the part of the dutiful knight anyway.  He'd cut to the chase in a moment.

"I did indeed," Osprey replied, getting up to a sit and took a moment, sniffing around Dante's muzzle first and then moving up to the base of his left ear. Wealth of information, which she was too lazy to process at the moment. Therefore she sank down to her belly again and yawned, blinking her eyes to whisk the sleep away. 

"What news do you bring?" she asked, regarding him with a loving gaze. She had no particular reason to call for him other than to enjoy his presence. But him being an important member of the pack, she was not going to reveal her selfish deed.

He wouldn't even need to segue, it was almost like she knew.  He laughed, sitting down on a warmer patch of ground next to her.  "Well, we had a visitor.  Wildfire.  She actually had a message for you." He didn't mention that he'd heard they may have met, though he still was amused at the rememberance.

"Charon says you are welcome to visit whenever."  He left it at that.  He was trying to be good, he really was, and 'why are you friends with him?' wasn't a question that was going to cut it.  She was because she was, and likely, she was a better wolf than he for it.  But i already knew that, he thought happily.

ooc: I will be vague about the argument Osprey is having with Charon here . According to the timeline it happens before this thread. 

Meeting Charon and their argument was still vivid in Osprey's memory - she hated to look back and think about all the reasons, why their friendship had ended badly. Therefore the mention that "she was welcome to visit whenever" was first met with a surprise and a glint of hope in her eyes, which died almost immeadiately, as she realized that Dante might not have the most up-to-date news. Maybe... she furrowed the brows not wanting to believe that he had held up this piece of news on purpose. She knew already that neither Charon, nor Dante liked each other very much - for reasons she could not understand - therefore she had kept quiet about falling through with the young alpha. 

"I might not be welcome anytime soon, I'm afraid. I effed up that relationship recently," she said with a bitter smile, looking away from Dante.

haha technically the argument and Dante's thread with Wifi happened pretty close! Timelines are hard but that's kinda funny :)

Dante had not thought the news urgent that Osprey could visit, and the subject had never come up.  It didn't occur to him that not telling immediately might have been the cause of her argument or he would have felt awful.  Instead, he frowned, still not exactly enthused about this revelation.  He might not like Charon, but Osprey had, and fights among friends was not something he'd wish on anyone.  

"Do you want to talk about it?"  He would listen happily if she did.  But if not he'd understand.  Sometimes things like this were better worked out personally first.  He did hope he wasn't a part of the cause though.  He'd never told Osprey about his and Charon's fight and the harsh words they had exchanged, nor that she had been the subject of it.

"It was silly - he acted like such a child," Osprey did not want to go over all of the details from that day, but having someone to share this with seemed like a very good option. She had thought about it a great deal and still the only solution to this was to talk this through with the guy. As much as Charon had changed over the months (and she could not say that the change had happened to the better), she still loved and cared for him. He had easily become an important part of her life that the very knowledge that she might not have him as her friend anymore, hurt badly.

"But you might be able to clear up some things," she looked her mate in the eyes briefly and then focused her gaze at some point on his muzzle. "He seems to have a great dislike for you - I remember that, when I first met him after my return, he talked some very odd things. I would even say that he is... jealous. So - what is it with both of you?"

He kept mum, and it seemed she was willing to share a bit of insight.  He didn't doubt what she said, but continued keeping such personal remarks to himself.  Just because Osprey had fallen out with her friend didn't give him free leave to bad mouth, he knew that much at least.  

It finally came up, and Dante felt a burning curiosity to know what exactly those 'odd things' were she mentioned, but didn't ask.  He figured he'd have to spill eventually, but had planned to wait until she brought it forward.  Like now.  They had promised honesty and he wasn't bothered by offering it.  He did wonder what she would think of him after though.

"We didn't exactly hit it off initially.  But I ran into him after you disappeared. We argued, and he got angry.  Told me it was my fault, that if I really cared, you wouldn't be gone."  He frowned at the rememberance.  The exact words were forgotten, but that was the gist as he recalled.  "So I sort of lost it, and we fought.  Really, I attacked him." He felt the first stirring of regret for that now - not because he was sorry he did it, but it seems that it was part of why she and he were having problems.  It certainly didn't improve his opinion of Charon any, though, hearing that he was allowing a vendetta against Dante affect his relationship with his mate.  Osprey was her own wolf and could choose her own friends.

"I'm sorry.  But I couldn't stand hearing that - not from him."  It had been a rough time, and he was glad it was behind them.  He wasn't proud exactly of how he'd reacted, but he didn't think it was undeserved either.

Now it rang a bell - Charon had said that they had fought, but she had assumed it hadn't been anything that serious. It put things in entirely different perspective now that Dante told her he had been to attack the guy first. She didn't like the fact that they had got at each other's throats, but she couldn't blame her mate either. Charon had changed beyond recognition and the last time he had annoyed her too. 

"You probably aren't thrilled that he is my friend," she began talking sounding apologetic for all the trouble Dante had had to go through with him. "He was not always like this. Such a nice kid - we had a lot of fun together playing dragon-hunting adventures," those times lightyears away now. "And I don't understand, where did everything go so wrong... he, in fact, invited me to join his pack, when I returned. I, probably, wounded his ego by refusing. And after this last time... I don't think I even want to be friends with him anymore. He said some very insulting things."

Yet she had a feeling that she had to fix this somehow at some point.

"I wouldn't say that," he answered, thinking a moment.  "I don't understand it, no.  But it makes me happy that you have good friends.  He just happens to be one of them."  He wasn't required to like all of her friends, just as she was (hopefully) not required to like all of his.  So long as Dante avoided any further confrontations, perhaps they could learn to deal with the situation.  What made him unhappy in this was that Charon had upset her.  "People do change.  But it seems to me that Charon is quick to speak without thought."  Pretty much every conversation they had held ended with some sort of insult match.  "Maybe even now he regrets it." He could hardly believe the words as he gave them, but it was true. For all his faults, even when they fought, Dante could see how much Osprey had meant to the boy. There was not much chance he had meant to end a friendship so suddenly.

Either way, Dante would support her.  It wasn't his call to make, or to even weigh heavily in on.  But he was glad she was willing to talk about it.

Osprey was glad that Dante didn't seem to be joyous about the fact that she had argued with Charon. They did not like each other, but her mate stood above it and she liked him for that even more. "I promise that this is the only ass-kicking friends that I have," she said with a laugh and reached up to kiss him on the cheek, "the rest of them are decent and... likeable."

"I happened to meet our new beta few days ago," she changed the subject, willing to hear Dante's thoughts about the matter. "She is ambitious and pretty," and had left an impression of a nice person, but as he had pointed out earlier - people changed. Who knew, what depths lied behind that facade. "Should I worry?" she teased him.

Dante gave a soft laugh too, returning the kiss happily.  "I'll take your word for that.  And I promise I won't go ass-kicking any of them anytime soon."  He wasn't a completely lost cause, after all.  He was so glad she wasn't going to hold his actions against him - it could have been otherwise, and he wasn't sure what he would have done had that been the case.

Dropping that, Osprey went smoothly into the very other subject he'd been meaning to bring up.  Gratefully he shook his head, though he looked at her questioningly. "No, but... Are you ok with it? With she and I sharing the rank?"  His tone was serious, but he smiled as he asked.  He wanted her to know he wouldn't be upset if she said she wasn't.  It wouldn't be unreasonable to feel threatened.  He wasn't sure how he'd feel if the tables were turned.

"The rank? No," Osprey shook her head. She had never aspired to be on top of the hierarchy, enjoying the status of middle-ranked respected member of the pack. Less troubles, less responsibilities. Though - come to think about it - at this point of life she should have been more keen on being the "responsible adult". 

"As long as I don't have to share you," she smiled at him as she said this. Despite, what she had promised, when she had proposed mateship to Dante, more and more did she come to a realization that she did not enjoy the idea of him fancying someone else. And - yes - Aria's presence made her feel a little uncomfortable, but he did not have to know that.

He wouldn't have minded if she had been bothered, but he couldn't say he was sorry she accepted it.  He hadn't wanted the Beta position the first time he'd had it, but he doubted the transition from leadership to rank and file would be an easy one if he ever did step down.  He was too used to voicing his opinions freely and bowing to no one save Lasher and Blue Willow.  Having wolves he knew less well above him would be a hard pill to swallow.

"Never," he said, knowing it wasn't even in the realm of possiblility.  Aria was a sweet girl but she was no Osprey.  He was a one-wolf man, traditional to the core, and while he saw nothing wrong with the way Lasher lived, he knew he could not do the same.  "After all, I'm much too old to keep up with that crowd," he joked, knowing that Aria was much closer to the age of Lasher's children.  He did not know anything of the drama that had surrounded them, but he could guess they were worlds apart when it came to experience.

Never. Just one word, but, what a difference it made. If there had been any doubts lurking in the shadows, trying to creep their way inside Osprey's heart and taint her happiness, then now they were gone. Because she knew that Dante had meant it and that she trusted him fully about this. The very feeling that she was someone's special person was amazing and put a responsibility too. But she did not fear this kind of connection, she wanted it, she enjoyed it. 

She turned so to nuzzle the soft fur on his lower neck and nape, inhaling the sweet and comforting scent and then sighing. "Sometimes you are too good to be true," Osprey said. "But that is, why I... love you so much." In a way she was similar to him, never throwing meaningful words around carelessly, but choosing them, when the moment was right. She had never said this to him out loud, nor would she do that often later, but she wanted him to know that the feelings were there and that they ran deep.

He turned his head into her nuzzle, enjoying the feeling immensely.  But the words were even better.  He'd thought it for a while, but the time hadn't quite been right yet.  And perhaps now they lost some of their meaning, as again she'd had to be the first to say it.  Yet following felt natural, and he new that there couldn't be a more perfect time.  They didn't mean any less to him and that was what mattered.  "I love you too," he said with feeling, smiling as he moved a little closer.

Too good to be true - he could argue with that.  But he felt the same about her so he knew any argument would be pointless.