Larksong Grotto Forever is a Long Time

Aspen trotted through the grotto happily heading back towards her den. She wanted to speak with Charley but perhaps her den, or at least outside was the best place to chat. She enjoyed his company a lot. Perhaps too much at times but hey what could she do. It was her heart and that she didn't have control over. 

It had been a little while now since the two had started a courtship of sorts but lately Aspen found herself wanting it to be more. She knew this was a wolf she was willing and wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She had a suspicion he might have felt the same but she was still nervous. Who wouldn't be right?

The fact that this was the first wolf she had truly opened herself up to and him to her, meant so much. They had this deeper understanding of eachother than most wolves in this pack had of us. With good reason too, her past was still not something that everybody would know. Charley would probably be the only wolf to ever know. That was enough for her. 

She lay down in the sun just outside the entrance of her den then happily called for her companion. She hoped he wasn't doing anything super important right now, she would hate to interrupt.

@Charley Pryor This is it. <.> For timeline purposes XD and for fun :3

We'd have to set this just before Hosannah came, technically, since they didn't see each other after that or the hunt. T_T So they'd have been mates for weeks by now. And not sharing a den, else they'd have seen each other xD

Charley was currently cleaning a patch of dirty fur in front of his den, not far from Aspens. At a leisurely walk, maybe 5 minutes away? He'd chosen the den to be close to Aspen just in case she were ever to need him, and it seemed now that idea had paid off. Standing at her call and trotting her way, the Pryor was swift in his arrival and just as sweet. 
                "You called, my angel? What do you need me to do for you? Name it, and it shall be done."
A charming grin spread across his inky maw, and he even went as far as to bow to her, his Queen, but not without sneaking a wink in at her from behind a foreleg. Truthfully, he did intend to do anything he could: and what could the brute not do apparently hunt lol? In his bold blue eyes, Charley was unstoppable, and nobody would tell him otherwise. He deserved the utmost best, and he would one day have it. Aspen here was held in even higher reguards, as a goddess; the only one to know the true Pryor and everything behind him.

Aspen smiled as his familiar face greeted her and she rose even just for a moment to nuzzle her face into his soft fur taking in his scent. Then he spoke and she felt her stomach do another backflip as his pet name for her rolled off his tongue. She loved it, she truly did, but not just that, everything about him. 

She seemed to think for a moment before speaking starting off slow. She wasn't going to just come right out and say it that was so not her style. "Erm, nothing much really. Just wanted to talk.....about "us"" she stated before realizing how bad that sounded. "Nothing bad I promise," she added quite quickly afterwards. Great start Aspen, great start. She thought giving herself a mental facepaw. 

She sat for a minute just processing everything before she opened her maw again to speak. "Is it bad...that I want this to be more than what it is..." she trailed off on the end hoping she totally hadn't said to much. That would suck. The last thing she wanted to do was seem like she was rushing this. 

heh aspen is so totally awkward right now XD

The silvery female seemed happy to see him, but that the same time she looked a little nervous. He cast a worried look at her, but it all became clear with her next words. Much as he tried, Charley couldn't keep the charming grin from spreading across his maw. She corrected herself, made it clear this was going to be a good talk, but the Pryor man could feel her next words before she said it. 
               "You know, you're cute when your flustered."
He reached down to give a lick to her cheek, but did not pull back his head. Instead, he nibbled gently at her ear and whispered sweetly into it.
                                 "How would you like to be Aspen Pryor?"
It was his own way of asking her to be his mate, his wife. To spend the rest of her life side by side. He pulled back only enough to meet eye to blue eye with her, softly smiling, silently promising everything he could ever possibly get in life to her.

If wolves could blush that would be the very definition of what Aspen was doing right now, but since they cant she instead felt a huge warm feeling inside her as Charley called her cute when she was flustered. It was true, she had been but she guess it paid off as it led to him licking her face.

She was kinda surprised at what happened next though, instead of pulling his head back he began to nibble on her ear and then muttered the few words Aspen secretly had always hoped she would hear. "How would you like to be Aspen Pryor" he stated, and immediately she smiled and her tail wagged happily where she sat. Aspen Pryor. She loved the way that sounded when she said it in her head. Better than Aspen Calbero a name that came with WAY too many horrible memories, and the wolves that came with them. Her mind briefly flicked too her two borthers Convel and Onai but he quickly pushed them out again.

She hated those wolves with a passion, a very strong passion but now was not a time to be angry. "I would be honoured Charley Pryor, I truly would," she stated not being able to wipe the grin from her maw. The words I love you had played in her mind but she was not able to put the thoughts into words. Not yet anyhow. She licked his face a few times affectionately before returning her gaze to his eyes. He was perfect in his own Charley Pryor way.

Her reaction was just what he wanted, joyus and excited, and before her words Charley knew that he, now, had Aspen completely to himself. His own elation came after her acceptance, and her kiss, and with a gleeful whine pressed his face into the soft fur of her chest. She was his now, all his, and never would he be so happy again. 
                  "You've made me the happiest man in the world, Angel." 
One day, he'd take her far, far from here. He'd rise to the top with her at his side, be it here in the grotto or going off on their own. She deserved to live like a Queen, to never be told no, to have all those who follow them obey without question. To have their own family around them, their own pack, and to have the rights to have puppies or go wherever she wanted. Yes, one day, Charley would make that a normal day for his wife. She would be on top of it ALL, if he had it his way.

Aspen smiled wider than she ever had before as Charley mentioned the words happiest man and then proceeded to kiss her then shove his face into her chest. She licked his head and over one of his ears a few times affectionately before speaking. 

"And I the happiest woman Charley Pryor, I can not imagine a world without you in it anymore. Ever since the first day we met, I wouldn't change a thing about us almost colliding on my run, not a thing," she said warmly. If things hadn't happened the way they had perhaps Aspen still would have been her miserable self, forced to live a life alone. She realized she still would have left the grotto because nothing would have made her change her mind about that religion, but she would have been alone and bitter, likely not to join another pack again. 

Yet here she was, with the man of her dreams, equally as stubborn as herself sometimes. They
could someday rule their own pack, perhaps even have puppies, and live like they deserved to have lived. Aspen couldn't picture things any other way.

His wifes next string of words brought forth a whine from his throat, one of pure joy. He nuzzled against her chest another moment before rising to his full, proud height. 
                    "Almost is the part that counts, right?"
A deep, hearty laugh erupted from his muzzle, and Charley couldn't imagine the last time he'd been so happy, not even when his father was still alive. Aspen here had saved him, shown him the life of love and a softer tongue. 
                                 "I promise, Aspen, I'll give you a life you deserve. That of a Queen, my dear, and nobody will ever tell us otherwise."