Moonspear How long have I been on the hunt for you?

Yes, let's feed his ego, he thought. Feed it until it bursts. Which all and all may not have been a bad idea if he didn't know what trouble it brought. It was one thing to grease a squeaky wheel or to give credit where it was due, but there was a line. And for all his worth, he was quick to learn where that line lied with certain individuals. But he had never been able to get a read on Charon, instead likening him to his grandfather. Stroke their egos all one could or wanted and in the end, it would be for naught when they were caught in the crosshairs. It may have been that he simply read him wrong, but Dirge was not so sure this was the case. Later days would bring him to ruminate this again and again and he was thankful that Hydra became distracted with the tips and tricks.

”I did,” he told her, ”every wolf may enjoy a conquest, but I wanted more than just to conquer.” It would not have been that difficult in his estimation to simply go out and find the willing. All one needed to do was look. His own he would keep to himself, his appraisals no doubt to be conducted from afar, but there were few that could perhaps match what he saw in Hydra. Potential, being one of those things, but it was far more than he could possibly stand to gain from their arrangement.

Simply put: he enjoyed her company.

”And besides, I enjoy a good challenge. You've spent more than a season keeping me at arm's length. You've tried to feed my ego, even, for all you thought it worth.” Her touches and words may have hinted towards something else, but he would make her wait, this time. She could speak volumes of how worthy he might have been and he may have never known the truth that he had simply outlasted any other she had set her gaze upon.