This last winter had been his breaking point. He couldn't stand it anymore. He knew what he wanted and it was maddening that he didn't have it yet. No one had ever done this to him before, got him so tore up in the head that he couldn't think straight, couldn't function. He couldn't even think about the hunt in a time like this and that was usually never a problem for him. But Belhara had become the siren in his mind and the power behind his drive. Just knowing she chose to stay here was enough to force his loyalty even though he had never been loyal to anyone save family in the past. Yet he knew he could never leave Iromar, not so long as she called it home. But she still had her own den and though he had checked it many times over for scents of another male, it seemed so far that she had been faithful. What more could he do to prove to her that they were meant to be together? He was never good with the whole emotions thing. He didn't care about anyone save himself and few others. His sister, Kattari, would always be a weakness of sorts because they were blood. Belhara herself had become a weakness for him a long time ago and it only seemed to be strengthening.

He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take another winter without her by his side. He couldn't stand not knowing that she was his without contest. He had meant to claim her a long time ago but alas she was a challenge. She was so independent and she got under his skin like no other. She wanted to make her own decisions and she wanted a life for herself, with or without him in it. That was blasphemy in itself. He wouldn't take no as an answer. She had to see that she couldn't turn him down any longer. Even if he had to be something so foolish as romantic for a change, he would not give up this time until she gave him that answer he had been craving for so long. He could feel the storm brewing overhead and he remembered how she felt about them. She loved storms. It was the perfect backdrop. He found a magnolia tree and limbed up in the branches, using his weight to shake some flowers from the branches until the ground below was littered with white petals. Then he jumped down and arranged the prey perfectly. There were wolf parts for him and deer parts for her. He didn't know if they'd ever really touched on the fact that he was a cannibal. Surely she knew by now. If not, what better night to tell her?

The sky was darkening overhead with clouds and he knew he didn't have long. He made his way toward her den, sending up a howl even as the first raindops started to come down. He took a deep breath, knowing she would be there to hear him. "Bel, you drive me absolutely insane. When you're around me, I can't think straight and I feel like a fool. When you're not with me, I feel incomplete and dizzy with loss. I know I come off as cocky and cold, but you make me feel things I never thought I was capable of feeling. I can't do this anymore, this long distance see you when I see you kind of thing. I can't stand knowing that you exist and yet you're not mine. I feel as if I might die every time I wake up and you're not there beside me. Call me overdramatic but this is what you do to me. I've never felt weaker. Come, make me strong again. The storm beckons." He called out to her, not caring who else heard his sappy little speech. The rain had picked up as he talked, soaking him to the skin but he didn't care. He heard the first rumbles of thunder and knew lightening was on its way but none of that mattered. He watched the entrance of the den, wanting only to see her magical silhouette to greet him.