As his head laid across her withers, he could feel the change in her stature. Shifts of raised fur sleeking back against her body, tension dissipating as her tail lowered, even the cadence of her breath. He felt it all, through one sense or another. His tongue washed out over his nose, appeased in these moments, and he shifted his head. His jaw remained anchored upon her withers, but he turned his nose into her ruff, letting the fur tickle at his nostrils and her scent further permeate his senses. He could see the way her ears dropped back, while his own perked forward as another whine came from her. His heartbeat quickened at the sound, for reasons he could not fathom. The stiffness of his tail, held straight out behind him and lifted slightly, began to wane, though it remained aloft.

She turned back toward him then, and he lifted his head from her back. He shifted, not withdrawing from her, but merely realigning himself so that he could meet her gaze. Reaver kept his head higher than hers, a feat not difficult given his stature. But it seemed that she did not mean to challenge his dominance. Instead, she reached for him, and he nearly recoiled from her, but something stayed his position. The bridge of his snout gave the barest hints of wrinkling once more, his lips quivering in their desire to unsheathe deadly daggers once more. Again, something kept the action from surfacing.

The contact of her nose to the corner of his lip made his jaws part, an instinctive reaction given when his whelps begged him for food. Her breath washed over his tongue and he tilted his head ever so slightly to better take it in. Forelegs were stiff, holding him above her as his head angled down slightly, and his tail began to wave slowly behind him. The moment she reached her tongue out to lick at his lips, there was a flash before his eyes, a memory called up that had been long forgotten. A masked shewolf bathed his face, dotingly licking at his jaws as his puppy self squirmed beneath her care. Erratic puppy kisses answered the loving display. Without thought, Reaver's tongue washed forward in answer to her lick, running quickly along the side of her muzzle. Emerald eyes blinked, not entirely aware of what he'd done.

For a moment he lingered there above her, wading through the memory that had flooded his mind. Once the moment passed, however, his jaws parted and sought to gently take the female's muzzle within his own. His fangs would press against her skin carefully, seeking to once more demonstrate his dominance, and to let his breath wash over her and mark her as his own.