Oh how disappointed Mother would be, he thought as he continue to gaze at his imprint in awe. He knew his mother well enough to know this. Ishtar would have somehow found fault in the young female. She was not white, but the former queen would criticize the pale creams that highlighted Gaia’s frame. Furthermore, she was much shorter than most of the demons. This alone would have been enough for his mother to sneer, but Zaqar could see value in such things. There were certain landscapes, for example, in which he and the Demons would always be conspicuous. Not to mention that the heavy muscle typical of his pack mates could be hindering in battle or hunting. The point is, Zaqar could find no flaw in Gaia, and it perfectly satisfied him that his imprint might have dissatisfied his mother.

A smile. Warmth spread throughout his body and down to his toes at the knowledge that he brought the expression to her lips. He would have returned it, but it is hard to return such a thing when it has been painted on your own muzzle for an entire encounter. It was an unusual thing for him as well, though that was due more to his serious nature than fear or unhappiness.

Speaking of fear, hers was evident, and even more so when she iterated her reason for running. Hurt? His ears flipped back in annoyance as he considered who might have hurt her. Plenty in Moladion were physically and mentally capable of such a thing, but he could only hope it had not been any of the Iromar wolves. Zaqar slowly stretched his nose out to her in a gesture of reassurance.

”As long as you are with me, you need not worry about being hurt.”

Just before the wind shifted, he caught the scent of Iromar and his violet eyes widened in surprise. Gaia beat him to the question, however, of whether they both lived in the swamp. Her following giggle was somewhat out of place, but Zaqar found it rather endearing, as he was sure to find everything she would do from now on.

”Yes, I was born in Iromar to the former alphess, and was raised a Demon. Hopefully you have not heard poor things about us…how long have you lived there?”

He was most intrigued as to why, if she had been living in Iromar for any significant length of time, he had not been in some way drawn to Gaia.