truth is beautiful without doubt; but so are lies (ralph waldo emerson)
In truth it didn't matter how Sanguine's perception of Enderly had changed only that it did. It only mattered that she was cuddled up here next to him swiftly dashing away all the disappointed comments he had ever made about children and his vow to not have any more. Children were strange things. So young, stupid, and innocent and yet they had a way of making even the most independent of parents become malleable. Even the strongest of disbelievers would crack beneath the strain of a child's devotion - at least, the majority of the time. No one had ever looked to Enderly for everything. For safety, for sustenance, for company of a more natural kind, and yet with Sanguine between his paws with her skull pressed into his chest and eyes peering up at him there is a slight gripping of the heart. Ceal may have his soul in part but it seems Sanguine has taken a portion for herself.
Her eyes are sorrowful as she looks up at him before turning them down and clearly pondering the situation. There was nothing Enderly could say to comfort her from her mother's betrayal, and would he anyways? After what Naamah had done to them both? For a moment his ears pressed against his skull and his eyes narrowed; a low rumbling in his chest signified his displeasure at the words that Sanguine said, though his foreleg moves closer to her small body in a gesture of protection.
"Well, you are here now," he says simply because what else is there to say? Naamah didn't want Sanguine to hold her down and she had seemed sure apparently that one of the males would take the girl. And so he had. He would make sure that Sanguine grew to be a healthy adult and he would teach her many things, the ideas were endless.
The excitement that quite washes away her sorrow is met with a mischievous grin as he stares down at her. Yes, Sanguine would come with him and she wouldn't get too bored of life with all the different places and wolves they would meet. She would have to meet Ceal of course since the female was a constant on his mind, his bond always demanding he seek her out soon and if he did not then she would come.
"Whenever..." he begins but pauses, noting the yawn and smothering his with clenched teeth. A loud boom follows their yawning as the storm crashes and rages outside. So instead of traveling he stands up now and moves over to where she had been sleeping before on a bed of twigs and he lays down, watching her.
"Perhaps we should sleep for now and when the storm is gone we can explore."