I Declare I Don't Care No More

In contrast to Kisu's tightly controlled pacing, Akhlut's stride was a stroll, confident and smooth, infused with the grace of youth and underscored with a only a hint of tension, like a snake prepared to strike. It was a preparation, a sense of underlying wariness, that he was not consciously aware of and yet it was there. It was the product of mingled instinct and half-realized urges that only a female in heat could unleash upon the male brain. It put a swagger in his step.

Yet he was making every attempt to avoid Pied, uncertain if he would be able to restrain himself if he saw her and smelled her in close proximity. His right as Alpha and his loneliness as Akhlut made him susceptible, vulnerable, desirous. Rationally he felt that Pied deserved better than that. She was not a girl fit for trysting without commitment. She was a woman who deserved romancing and passion.

The apparent object of Pied's passion was, as it happened, stalking around the Ridge, clearly ready to burst if he didn't blow off steam. Holding himself a bit warily, slightly away from the older male, Akhlut chuffed once, a wordless and neutral greeting. His fur stood just faintly on end as he wondered if Kiss would take his apparent ire out on him, or remember his place as subordinate, an instinct that should override his hormones in this moment.