He watches her. Watches the thoughts as they flash unspoken across her mind, shinning so brilliantly in her beautiful brilliant red eyes and yet he finds himself unable to speak. She is confused, of that he has no doubt. It is the same emotion that dances within his own heart and mind. He never expected to feel such a way towards another, especially one that he had only just met. Yes it was true that Zarah was working her way into his heart... but that was from spending long hours and many days together, slowly getting to know one another. However, Leilani was a whole nother complete mystery. It was true like any male, Navarre could not help but to appreciate a pretty feminine face... but with her, there was something more, something deeper.

She shifts her weight and immediately his attention is once more trained upon her, his thoughts abandoned. She shifts her weight, brushing aside the layer of snow with her tawny colored paws. Since first his eyes met hers, he had thought nothing else. The cold, the elements, the other around them, it all faded into the background... an after thought. Only now that the discomfort is clear does he realize what is wrong here in this moment. Had he the ability to change the elements, for her he would. How strange.

But then she smiles. It is unlike anything he has ever seen before. A smile reserved for him alone. It was a moment that would be forever etched into his soul. She speaks of her homeland, of the family she had left behind and he cannot help to be fascinated by it. The daughter of a chief? Yes, yes he can see that. She had that aura about her, the way in which she held herself just so. Yes, he could see it. What surprised him though was that she had left to avoid it. But as she explains it, he cannot help but to nod in agreement. Yes, this he could understand... having a life planned out for you did not leave a lot of room for imagination or veering away from the path. Sure everyone had a past, a world that could only be explained in words. But her words, her story... it painted a pretty clear picture in his mind. He can almost see her now, a young beautiful masked girl staring up with adoration and respect at her parents as they stole a moment away for a lover's embrace. Likewise he can see the fear and anxiety that crosses those vivid eyes as she paints the picture of what a "bonded mate" can cause. He had seen it too. In more ways than one he even feared it now... feared how Zarah would react knowing that he had found his imprint, or how Leilani would feel meeting his near constant companion all these months. Twin sonars flex at the fear that stung his own heart but for now he let it push aside. "I can see how that would cause you to wonder..." he beings, letting his words trail off for a moment as he continues to study her eyes with his own piercing yellow gold gaze. "And to baulk at the idea of our meeting." A soft grin tugs at the corners of his lips as he continues again, "I never really believed in it myself. As a pup, love and devotion was a foreign concept to me." he continues, "By the time I was old enough to stumble from the den, my parents were back focused upon their duties in the pack leaving myself and my sibling to be raised by the caregivers of the pack." he muttered, a hint of resentment lingering upon his tones. While he had loved his parents, still did, but that sense of closeness and the bond that was clear in Leilani's eyes was foreign to him. The only one he had every truly been close to had been his paternal grandfather.

"My grandmother died long before I came about. From what I managed to glean from my grandfather, she had gotten sick and simply was never able to recover. She had been his imprint, his everything and when she died, he simply stopped. A part of him died I think." he said now, bending his head to let his hind foot scratch at an invisible itch behind his ear. He gives his head a shake now before letting his calm gaze return to her. "He basically raised me. Taught me everything from picking out different animal tracks to learning to fight and defend myself..." he continues, a tender smile upon his lips as he reminisced upon fading memories of the old silver black wolf. "But love, devotion... imprinting... he was a sore subject for him and I remember only once listening to his tales of how treasured a gift it was. I had seen so much affection and pain in his eyes that day that I did not dare to ask more or bring it up again... I simply left it at that and did my best to make him proud in everything else I did. I didn't focus on the pack but instead on my grandfather and providing for him as he aged... when the time came and the spirits called him home, I could not find it in my heart to stay. I was never really a part of the pack or my parent's lives so I left."

He finishes, shaking himself and giving a lighthearted chuckle. "Sorry for rambling. Talking with you seems to come easy." he murmurs. Truthfully, he hadn't really thought much about it. Simply being around her felt perfect... home. Without a second thought he had opened himself up to her in ways that he never expected possible. It was astonishing really now that he thought about it. Even with Zarah, he kept himself, his story, it all remained locked away. He only revealed as much as was necessary and instead diverted her attention to questions about her own history and knowledge of the pack lands. But with Leilani... it was different. And he was truthfully beginning to like it as strange as it seemed.