Silvertip Mountain [m]Snuggled up

His fears were alleviated. She liked him too. He had opened his eyes when she licked him, trying to see past her and not show his fear, so now he turned his gaze onto her. Neither of them had called it love, maybe neither of them were sure. This was so different for him and had been many months in the making instead of the quick chain reaction that had occurred with Raissa and, to a lesser extent, Bindi. "I'm glad," he said.

"I want to propose something," he said, softly, his tongue able to say the important words now that the topic's walls had already been breached. He found his counsellor's tongue and tried to approach this diplomatically. It was more than his fear of her 'obligation' and more to protect himself. He didn't want to embark into another mateship so quickly, nor did he want to elevate a wolf to alpha just because they were his mate. That had backfired in the worst possible way before. He waited for her to be listening before continuing.

FitzDutiful took a breath before explaining the history of this proposal to Zaria; "I always envisioned Silvertip Mountain to be a family pack. Every pack member here is family to me, but I always wanted to have my mate lead alongside me and run the pack with me." He stopped, the make sure that she understood. He had temporarily forgotten that she might not understand the bigger words like 'envisioned' but hopefully the gist was clear enough; if not he would explain before continuing.

"I don't think I'm ready for that yet, but I would like to commit myself to you. I will see no other women and put you equal to Mason and June with those I would protect with my life. My proposal is that you do the same for me, and take on the responsibilities of Beta, and we see what happens." Was that too obligatory? It sounded it now he had said it. He was worried that it now seemed she only got the Beta if she accepted him. "I mean, I mean, I want to make you Beta and I'd like you to consider a commitment with me. They're not connected. Well, they are, but they don't have to be. You can say no and still be Beta, you don't owe me your commitment."

FitzDutiful stared at his paws, a bit abashed and afraid. He had never meant to make it sound like promotions came with a romantic attachment to him and yet he had done exactly that. His main fear was she would stay with him for position in the pack only and then he had made it sound like she had to do exactly that. Fearfully, he looked at her again, wondering if she understood the two weren't connected in that way.