Ravensblood Forest I was doing just fine before I met you.

She regretted asking about his relationship with Aria almost as soon as she did, and her rusty ears tilted back to accompany the submissive bow of her head. Noting the swarthy wolf's scowl and mistaking it for anger with her, Durnehviir's feathery tail swept low and she turned her face away. From her lips came a soft whine, almost inaudible, a poor excuse for an attempt at apology.

Constantine answered her simply, and she slowed her pace as he did. Her immediate thought was not to believe him, telling herself that he said this only because it was what she wished to hear, before she mentally kicked herself and dared to look at him again. Durnehviir parted her jaws to respond, but he went on to admit that there could have been the possibility for something more and promptly cracked them shut, a glisten of disappointment in her opalescent eyes.

The flicker of despair within her remained, even when her dark-furred leader swayed the topic of discussion from the competition to Durnehviir herself, and she found herself holding the sharp breath that she sucked in. It wasn't the first time someone had told her they wished to court her, but he was the first that she wished to allow. Doubt, however, clouded any delight she might've had for Constantine's admission; how was she to believe that she wasn't simply second best to the girl that got away?

"I..." She tried to say something, anything, but could not find the words. Wide-eyed, the russet beauty gawked dumbly at her companion and let silence hang awkwardly over them as she struggled to think of what to say. "Forgive me," Durnehviir finally managed, easing to a gentle halt in order to collect herself. "I am foolish." Durnehviir had spent her whole life trying to be strong and right there, in that moment, as her champagne gaze rose to meet the vibrant tangerine of the male who'd so easily drew her in, her walls came crashing down around her.

"I want that too," the crimson Frostfur admitted softly, her voice thick with emotion and tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "When I first saw you, I just... knew. That you'd be important to me somehow. I've spent every single day since trying to make sense of it, because I've never felt this way about anybody."