I suppose, in a way, it was an honor for me to show him this place that held such meaning to me and my family. But to me it is something else, something more. He is something more to me than any wolf has ever been before - even Leonidas. And I could try to deny it to myself all that I wanted, but it would not render it from being the truth. That longing to keep him near to me now and forever more did not die away even as I did my best to suppress it. All my life, I had only ever been able to count on the males present. Alcide, Sleekwing, Taliesin, even friends like Tesseract. Having been raised predominantly by my father, I found it far easier to trust the men in my life over the women; MoonGlow's lack of presence had left a lasting effect on me. But that willingness to lay my heart in the hands of males had seen me hurt on more than one occasion. Most dauntingly was the recollection of how Leonidas had crushed my heart. I had found peace with the cards that fate had dealt me in the form of Meryl, for we had formed a friendship that was special to my heart. Things seemed somehow different with Jericho than they had ever been with another in my life. And I wanted them to be different, to be unique and extraordinary.

My eyes slid closed, savoring the moment as his nose touched to my cheek, breathing in deeply and considering all that had happened in my life. As he withdrew my eyes opened to meet his once more, and he spoke in hushed tones into my ear. "It is," I answered, quietly. I searched his eyes while I racked my mind, unsure where to start. There was so much of me that he did not know, that I wanted so badly for him to know. I wanted him to know what the children whose lives he had been so present in had originated from. Some part of me feared that when he knew more of Leonidas that he would turn away from me. So I did the only thing I could think to do. I started from the beginning.

"My family is an old one in these lands; my grandparents, Boneclaw and Thunderbone, held one of the longest reigns in Moladion's history, when these mountains held a different shape and were known by a different name - Solevion. Their daughter - my mother - MoonGlow was the first alpha of Spirane. She and my father, Alcide...they were something else. They might not be remembered as two of the greatest alphas to ever reign, but they had something better. They were not only mates, they were imprints, and their love knew no bounds." There was a look of admiration in my eyes as I spoke of my parents, for even though my mother had been a scant existence in my youth, the way Alcide had spoken of her still let me hold a deep seeded respect for her. I could speak of my father with revere for hours, and recount the tales of how he and MoonGlow had met. But I hadn't brought Jericho here to tell him my parent's story. I'd brought him to tell him mine. "Though my parents had had a litter of three in Solevion of old, when they were reunited in Spirane, they brought me into the world. After my birth, my mother was not around much. But my father used to say that I was the product of destiny, that even the sky falling from the heavens could not keep him and my mother apart. And that was why I was destined for greatness, to be my mother's true heir in a way that my elder siblings were not." A sad smile adorned my face, for I knew the way that such a proclamation had ruined my relationship with my older brother Swallowbane.

"When I was young, I met a boy who sparked my interest. He did not treat me like a princess the way the other pups did. He challenged my young mind, because he was so different from the other pups. He always warned me, told me he was broken, that I shouldn't play with fire if I did not wish to be burned." My brows pulled together as my gaze dropped from Jericho's, knowing that if anything would push him away from me it would be the pieces of my history that included Leonidas. "I became addicted to it, to him; maybe it was the rush of potential danger or just his constant presence in my life, always stalking me from the shadows, but I felt bonded to him in a way I could not define." I inhaled deeply, lifting my mahogany eyes back up to those of orange. "But that did not stop Leonidas from abandoning me, from disappearing from my life." This, the first time I shared the father of my children's name with him, was pivotal. But for the moment our intertwined story would have to wait, just as I'd waited for him all those years.

He had left just before everything went so horribly wrong, when I had needed him the most. And I hated myself for needing him. The story shifted, and so did my gaze, looking out over Moladion as I remembered one of the most painful days of my lfe. I leaned into Jericho's form as my tones shifted from those of pained anger to those of sadness and regret. "Four years ago a wolf named Purge challenged my mother for her throne." Even to this day there was venom in my voice when I spoke the usurper's name. "I was only four, my training for fighting was so minimal - my parents thought we would have more time, that I would have at least another two years before the crown would pass to me. I should have been ready, I should have been able to take her place in that fight, but I wasn't. And Purge was cruel, fighting for far more than dominance. She savaged my mother and left her broken in ways that no healer could fix. Alcide had been the picture of health, but as her life faded from her he laid with her and let his life seep from him; even death would not stand between their love. I...I got to say goodbye, but I wasn't ready." A shudder ran down my spine at visions of their intertwined bodies, MoonGlow's blood saturating Alcide's pelt, recalling those final words my father had spoken as my eyes misted over. Ever so softly I spoke them aloud, "He told me, 'Only you will know when you are ready. But you are, you always have been."

Silence consumed the air between us as I blinked away the tears, remembering how Alcide had told me how strong I was even when I did not believe it. His strength was what carried me through every day, for I knew he was with me always. I leaned back slightly and lifted my gaze to Jericho's once more, wondering what I would see reflected back at me. Shame, that he had become so close to one who could not even avenge the deaths of her parents? When he had torn apart Orra's killers the moment he knew who he was? I knew in my heart that would not be the case, but I feared the possibility nevertheless. Clearing my throat, I continued. "My elder sister, Orca, took me away into the valley to continue my training without the prying eyes of the usurper and her followers watching my every move. That was the first time that Leonidas returned, and when I tried to take my anger out on him for leaving me, he morphed it into a lesson, his ferocity teaching me things about my fighting style that I had not yet discovered." I still wondered from time to time if I had not learned how to channel my rage from him if I would have been able to overcome Skully. "A year passed before I returned to reclaim what was mine by birthright. Purge did not even have the gall to face me herself, sending a he-she-beast to face me instead. But I took what I had learned in the past year and used it to defeat her. When I emerged within the mountains as a victor, Leonidas disappeared again."

The end was within sight, my story beginning to come to a close as I got closer to the present. "It took time to rebuild all that Purge had destroyed; her presence in Moladion was a plague. Side by side with Isola and Kane, we chased her from the boundaries of these lands. She has not been seen since." There was a certain note of pride in my voice as I spoke of such things, though part of me always regretted not exacting my revenge upon her for stealing the lives of my parents before their time was due. I could end things there, I could let him form his judgment of me upon what I had told him, but there was more. There was one final thing he needed to know, that I wanted him to know.

"The autumn after you and I met, Leonidas tried to return to the mountains of Spirane. I was so angry with him that I chased him out, told him I never wanted to see him again. That winter I was walking along the Aplos, much like the day when we met, but when I lifted my gaze to the other side of the river, it was Leonidas that looked back at me. He tried to cross the frozen surface to me, but it did not hold. The ice broke beneath him and he was cast into the river. He didn't even fight to keep his upper body on the ice." It had always angered me, the way he'd not even tried to save his own life, so ready to just die before my eyes and commit that final injury to my heart. My brows pulled together in frustration at the memory, that moment of hesitation before I'd put myself at risk by going out onto the ice. "I almost let him go, let him die. But I couldn't. I dragged him out of the water and to the shore; I forced him to live...and maybe that was wrong of me. By saving him, I only lost him again; but he left me with my young dragons." The nickname I had given to my children was something that I kept to myself, the reasoning behind it anyways. It was the smallest of connections to their father, though now Jericho knew more of him than his children did. Leonidas had many nicknames for me through the years we'd known one another - Firefly, Dragonfly, and that last day on the ice he'd called me his Dragon.

I released a long breath, glancing down at my paws and then back up again at Jericho, only then realizing how much I had said, how long I had been talking. Perhaps I had put too much importance on my history, the two fold story I'd wished to share with him. Had I bored him? Was he disgusted with me? I realized as I stared into his eyes, waiting for some kind of reaction, just how much value I put into his thoughts. I'd made him my bloodrider because I trusted his opinion and valued his protection, but as I allowed him a moment to absorb all that I'd told him, I knew that it was more than that. That he was more than an advisor and protector to me. He meant more to me than Leonidas ever had, a wolf who had once told me he'd change himself to become the thing that Kings are made of. I'd wanted Leonidas to change, to be what I needed him to be. But with Jericho, there was not a single thing I would see him change in himself. He was perfect, just as he was. But had I ruined whatever opinion of me that had made him look upon me with such devotion as he had when he stepped out onto this stone ledge to sit with me? I leaned back slightly, mahogany eyes searching those of orange, and hoping I had not somehow ruined the thing that was just out of my grasp.