Redtail Rise in the middle of shadows

long post is long. i got carried away. don't feel obliged to match the length. :)

Arion indeed acted childish when he turned his back on Reek, but then, when had he ever acted like a full grown adult? He didn't even truly consider himself a 'grown-up', they were all so weird to him, like they became another species entirely when they turned a year old. They claimed to be too old to play, but truth to be told, you didn't ascend to adulthood just because you lived for one year. It didn't make sense to him at all. He didn't get the idea of needing to be mature when you got older, seriously, who cares? He did what he liked to do whenever he wanted to do and no one, no one would stop him. Living on the world for a year didn't change that. So what if he acted childish? He never claimed to be wise, or to be a 'grown-up', he didn't see why he couldn't act childish. It just didn't make sense to the warrior.

A subordinate he indeed was, but only in the eyes of Reek and Saena and other wolves like them. They never understood did they? All of them leaders. Arion might submit to them, but he did that only when he wanted to and to appease their desires to be acknowledged as one of the top. But to Arion, he was his own man through and through, he was not of a low rank or a high one, he supported them when it benefited him and he left when it benefited him. He would be a meek little lamb when he wanted to be and act the part of a subordinate, but when he didn't like it, he asserted himself. Arion was sure an odd wolf, because he seemed to have suppress his natural wolf instincts and had different ideas on hierarchy than typical wolves.

Still a subordinate. The Greek would've laughed himself to death if he knew what Reek was thinking. But thankfully, for Arion's sake, he did not have the power of mind reading.

The chocolate Greek's ears splayed to either side of his skull when Reek finally began to retaliate. Now he didn't know whether or not to shut the ragged male out entirely or appease his own curiosity and listen. Finally, like always, his curiosity won out and so Arion listened to what the other male had to say, though he listened with closed eyes; he did not have the confidence to stare at Reek when he spoke and not attack him aggressively.

He resisted the urge to turn around and scowl when Reek said that just because he hadn't been around to hang out with Arion this past week didn't apparently give Arion the right to speak to him that way. The right? The right?! Did the homely wolf know nothing? First of all, the stallion didn't need to have the right to do anything in first place. Secondly, in this case, he had every right to talk to Reek in that manner. Every. Fucking Right. Stupid idiot.

Arion didn't see the glare the ragged male shot him as his eyes were closed, though even if he was staring at Reek, he still wouldn't really care if he caught the glare. After all, the newly crowned Alpha had no right to do so. Still, he kept listened but the more he heard, the more he felt the berserk fiery anger burning beneath his breast. No, this wasn't him. He was not one to go all berserk because of emotions, and he wasn't going to do so now. Calm down. Calm down. Reek's just one motherfucking idiot like all the rest. You miscalculated and thought he was like you, but you were wrong. It doesn't matter now, you always miscalculate at least one thing. It isn't his fault, you thought he was like you but in reality he isn't. He's just one of the 9 out of 10 normal and utterly boring people, like every other wolf you've met.

"You done?" Arion murmured softly when he felt that Reek was done with his rant. "I would thank you for the welcome if it had been necessary," he said evenly, calmly, having regained his stoicness once more. "Technically your wife left for a some time but came back, then you dumped her-" he said recalling his conversation with Wynter the other day. "-why did you do that though?" The chocolate Greek opened an eye and glanced up cooly at the ragged male, though intentionally avoiding his gaze as a gesture of respect, or subtly mocking faux respect in this case. But Reek wouldn't know the difference. "You found someone else didn't ya? Someone better to replace Wynter." The Greek didn't really know it for a fact but he could guess since the ragged male didn't seem to be the type of wolf that dumped someone just because they were gone for sometime. Or perhaps he had miscalculated the guy once again. He had overestimated Reek and was let down, this was a hard, sharp lesson that a wolf always had to be underestimated first until further assessed.

"You wouldn't mind if I hooked up with Wynter then, would you?" Arion commented innocently in an offhand manner, still only gazing at Reek with one eye, the other one still closed. He didn't know why he said that, because he didn't really know the golden female; it just came out of his maw. It didn't really matter anyways, he and Wynter would never get together because the female was thinking of leaving the Rise. And, when had he ever loved someone anyways? He didn't even think himself capable of that kind of love for god's sake. Anyways.....

Congratulations Thanatos Arion Acheron-Jayfeather! You didn't go all berserk again!