No longer a stray

"Not yet," she conceded.

She leaned into the hand brushing he hair away with a soft smile.

"So, how're you going to try and get me to let my hair down first, Zeke-sensei?" She cocked her head to the side questioningly, little grin in her lips.

"I think I have already started, wouldn't you say?"
He answered looking down at her messed up hair and bare torso.
He kissed her chest affectionately and ran his hands down her sides, his nails dragging against his skin.

"First we have to decide what you actually want your life to be..."

Her eyes flickered down and her cheeks flushed slightly. "Ano..."

Her eyes flickered around looking for her bra and dresses.

She hadn't really had her mind on her state of undress before but now she could't get the thought out of her head.

The woman pulled away from the older Lycan, darting towards her bra and picking it up, cheeks flaming red.

She clasped it around her as she shuffled towards the pile of fabric that were her dresses.

Moe hated the moments when she felt insecure. She had been fine not two minutes before...

Her eyes didn't lift from the ground as she pulled on her underdress and fastened the ties.

Zeke moved to lean against the tree after Moe left his grasp, he smiled, watching her scurry around in a rush to gather her clothing.

Zeke moved up behind her as she fastened the ties on her under dress, his hands laying to rest on her hips as he pulled her against him again, laying a kiss on her neck gently.

He clutched her dress in his hands and slowly slipped it over her arms, moving around her to zip it up.

He smiled down at her and ran his hands through her hair.
"Why are you so embarrassed? You've been bare for over an hour."
He said, running his hands down her neck.

She kept her eyes downcast as he moved around her to zip up her dress, her cheeks flaming bright red.

"I-I wasn't thinking about it before," she muttered quietly, wrapping her arms around herself.

"B-but now..." Her tongue darted over her lower lip.

But now ...what? She was embarrassed because he had seen her skin? Because it was unladylike?

Because she was insecure. She didn't think she was beautiful and anyone seeing her must have thought the same as her.

It was bought up that she was showing herself and it clicked that he had seen her and was probably thinking about what little she had. She didn't have a large chest; she did have beautifully tanned skin; her hips weren't very wide.

Zeke sighed and shook his head, cupping her face in his hand so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes.

"Moe..."
He said softly, rubbing her cheek with his thumb.
"Don't hide from me, you have no reason to.
I love you and you are beautiful, forget what others have said, their words were nothing but lies.
You're perfect."

He spoke his words gently, looking at her with slightly sad eyes. He truly meant what he was saying and it pained him to see her thinking so little about herself.

Her hands clutched together under her chin, arms over her torso as if protecting herself.

"H-how can it be a lie..." she started, eyes sliding closed for a moment before she pulled away from the older Lycan, turning her back on him and heading towards her cloak, picking it up and holding it in a tight grip as she started through the forest back towards the mansion.

"How can it be a lie when even I can't see it?"

Where was her beauty? She looked like a child. She looked you and delicate.

It was cute, not beautiful.

And her clothing choice was her own. To help with the 'cute' image.

She knew she'd never be beautiful so she went for something else. Something easier to obtain for someone as childish looking as herself.

Cute.

Moe's words hit him like a brick wall.
How could she not see her own beauty when it was so obvious...

He paused for a moment watching her head back to the mansion.
Zeke growled under his breath and ran after her.

"Moe stop..."
He pleaded, reaching for her hand.

The girl stopped dead, head ducked, staring at the floor.

"...What?" she asked in a whisper.

If he was going to try and convince her she looked beautiful, she was just going to walk. She didn't want to hear it.

She'd had enough of being lied to and convinced she was this or that.

Zeke sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
There was nothing he could say to her that would make her less upset, he hated this.

She could not see it and had practically called him a liar by denying what he had said about her.

He let go of her hand, his arm dropping to his side.
"Nothing."
He replied gruffly and walked past her, heading back to the mansion.

She smiled softly.

He hadn't tried to convince her she was beautiful like so many others would.

Which meant he knew and respected what she felt.

That meant more to her than a few words claiming she was beautiful.

She swallowed thickly and began back towards the mansion again. Her fingers curled around his when she was next to him.

She still had her gaze on the floor, but the small smile was in place.

"Thank you."

He gripped her hand tightly and kept his eyes on the mansion.
He would never understand women, complex creatures, she had just thanked him for walking off.

He shrugged at her words and shook his head.
"What ever."

"I'm sorry," she muttered quietly.

"I'm not usually this emotional." Her tongue darted out over her lower lip and she glanced up at him awkwardly. "Y'see, I'm..."

A blush painted her cheeks. "I'mabornLycansoIstillhaveperiodsandI'msortofon," she squeaked.

She kind of hoped that that he hadn't understood that from the embarrassment. But she also hoped that he had, so he knew why she was being so... volatile with emotions.

Zeke froze instantly after hearing her words, his face going pale.
"oh....uh......right....."
He mentally smacked himself, of course, she still had the ability to get pregnant so of course she still...and it was a full moon soon, so of course she was feeling a little rough.

He coughed slightly and nodded, leaning over the plant a kiss on her forehead and stroked her cheek with his fingertips.
"It's okay, just give me little warning next time."

Her blush darkened.

Damn, he had understood.

She'd have to learn to talk quicker to save herself some embarrassment.

Moe leaned into the gentle touch of fingers on her burning cheeks with a small, slightly awkward smile. She nodded slightly.

Zeke chuckled softly and shook his head.
"You don't have to be embarrassed Sweetheart.
It's all apart of life."
He cooed, stroking her ear softly.

"I think we are old enough to be able to discuss these things openly."
He added with a soft smile, he knew it made her uncomfortable but as a couple they were very different to most other here and they had to be more careful around each other.

"I don't even talk about it with my own mother. It's a little embarrassing to be talking about it with someone who isn't blood relation."

Her eyes slid closed and a quiet purr sounded when his fingers brushed her ear.

Moe didn't talk about much with anyone. Moe was a person that didn't usually share her experiences with people. She didn't want to burden them.

He ran his hands through her hair and down her neck, if nothing else he was glad that she did not shy away from his touch.
"Moe...
I know I am not a blood relative, nor am I a female.
So chances are I would be little to no help when it came to this kind of thing, but if you do ever feel the need to talk to someone about it, I am always willing to listen."

"That's one thing I love about Lycan. You do have some knowledge of what I feel. Men aren't exempt from monthly problems."

She grinned up at him, eyes glinting. She felt a kind of sadistic glee, knowing that male Lycan's had to deal with some kind of moodiness and severe emotional roundabout once a month (twice occasionally).

Yes, she had to deal with it twice - occasionally three times - a month since she was born, but knowing that, unlike other species, she had men suffering along with her for most of it, she was happy to deal with it once a month alone.

"Oh yeah."
Zeke had almost forgotten about the full moon, most full moon nights he would simply lock himself in his room and blast heavy metal music until the mood swings and edginess dulled down.

He was a horrible person to be around when it was a full moon, he had even less control than normal and snapped at the smallest thing.

"Would probably be a good idea no to get near me on a full moon, I get nasty...."

She shook her head, grip tightening on his hand. "Grandaddy won't let you stay away from us."

No one - not even Coilean - would let him alone of the full moon.

"We run as a pack on the Full Moon. We always have."

Her lips twitched. "I get pretty pissy on the Full Moon, too." The Full moon was one of the few times that people would see her snappish and angry.

Zeke sighed heavily and ran his free hand through the longer part of his hair.

"That's the last thing I wanted to hear.
I have the feeling there will be a few fights on full moon nights if I have to stay with the pack.
I really don't handle the night well at all."

He bit his lip, really not looking forward to the next full moon.

"None of us do, Zeke. But we suffer through it together. We're a family," she said, gripping his hand tight. "Without a family to help you through it, it's so much worse. Trust me."

She grinned. "There'll be a lot of fights. I can't wait for them in all honesty. Fighting Uncle Aodh is always fun."

She giggled softly, looking up at Zeke. "Watching Grandaddy and Baba fight is always fun, too. Did you know, once Grandaddy put Baba in a coma for sixteen months because of a fight on a Full moon?"

"That's all well and good but I had been hoping to avoid your father, even more so on a full moon, the last thing we need is something adding to the fire to have us lashing at each others necks again.
The night I told him we were dating he looked like he was ready to rip my throat out."

He chuckled softly at the end of her story, imagining her fighting in her wolf form, or fighting at all, she really did have the lycan spirit in her.

"Haha that is something to look forward to then, you should start taking bets on who I end up fighting with first.
I'd like to see Alek in action that's for sure."

She shook her head with a grin. "Baba's always in a good mood on the Full Moon. Fighting with him would probably help the two of you bond." The Full Moon affected every wolf differently but usually it was some form of anger or horniness.

Coilean was just odd.

"I call your first fight." Moe wanted to fight Zeke. A proper fight.