i am not your autumn moon

It was interesting how different Hawkeye was in times like these, when she was alone, from how she was at the pack meeting. The stoic, imperious, and dominant Alpha female from the meeting sat here now, wavering on the edge of tears over the thought of people not liking her. Either she was a master of manipulation and he was being seriously played — a thought that did cross his mind — or Hawkeye was far more sensitive than she let on.

For a brief instant, he met her gaze. There was no challenge in it, though, but only tenderness as he said softly, "I could never hate you." For a moment, he had to fight the urge to touch her, to nuzzle her, to reassure her. She was his brother's mate now.

Like so many times before, he wished Crete could speak. He wished he could know what was on his brother's mind. "And yes," he continued after a moment, his eyes moving away from hers again. "This has everything to do with what Tyrannus did to us."