Stone Circle Consolation Prize

Mind if we forward date this a little bit? :)

He caught sight of Greyback from his place between the aspen trees, and his lesser self urged him to leave. Though many things had changed in him, Merrit still carried that old wolf inside, the one whose eyes remained jaded, and whose heart remained cynical and obstinate to soften even a fraction for those he already deemed unworthy, those he had already hardened himself against.

And Greyback had never been privvy to his gentler affections; he had always been a wolf Merrit had chosen to live embittered against. The patriarch had done nothing to harm his family, of course. And of course, the prince was well aware of this. But Merrit knew how his mother's suitors had treated her in the past. And if history repeated, then Greyback would simply prove himself another shadow who would come and take what he wanted from his mother before he left without a word. Merrit knew his judgement wasn't fair, but both Ezekiel and Stark's misconduct became the basis by which Merrit judged Greyback now, and even though the prince had changed, he still found he wanted nothing to do with him.

Yet Merrit chose to intercept the Patriarch instead of turning course and stalking away and, shifting from his vantage between the trees, he alerted the man to his presence with a low note. Greyback carried a notable exhaustion, and a visible lack of personal care, and Merrit failed to quell the sting of satisfaction he felt rise at the sight of him in such a disheveled state. Even still the prince was careful to trap those feeling inside, and carried himself with a characteristic nature: the stoic propriety which befit a rising sovereign, since, well, that was what he was. Ezra had long left them without a word to return, and Clary and Steph had done the same. And while he had once known where Keen had wandered to, she was now but a whisper on the wind. In every right, he was heir to what his mother had established here. And it was about time he started acting like one.

"You look like you've been trampled by a herd of frenzied rabbits," though he tried, his voice ran void of much expression, and his face remained impassive, save for the subtle quirk of his brow and the shadow of a smile that looked more like a wince. Not that he noticed; in Merrit's mind, he was was amicable and warm, and since he didn't have the benefit of seeing himself from Greyback's perspective, he couldn't mend the fact that he looked anything but radiant. He wasn't sure where he even stood with Greyback, but he imagined he would find that out soon enough.