The chocolate stallion could not help but to smile. So much had changed in the last few months that left him with a aching hole in his heart and yet here in this moment, with Rae nestled close to his broad chest, he felt a sense of peace. He had believed that Zjeena’s absence would forever leave a wound in him and the whole islands that would never be filled. He told himself that while life might go on, there would always be that ache that screamed for release that only the stoic ice mare could provide. Deep down he told himself that he would be lost without her to complete the little triangle of love that he and Monster and she had built. He told himself without Zjeena, he could never again be complete.

And then, Rae appeared.

That first night, he had sought to save her. Rougaru, the fierce wolf of the jungle saw the broken woman and thought only to reassure and comfort her. He saw her lost expression and desperate eyes and found in himself that growing desire to protect and guard. It was not until now that he began to realize that it was not Rae who had been broken, but himself. Warmth flooded through his veins as the large stallion arched his neck possessively over her own. Love softened the brilliant emerald hues of his gaze as he inhaled a deep breath of her warm scent. Zjeena would never be forgotten, but neither would she want him or Monster to halt time for the sake of her own journey. Zjeena would expect more of him, of that he is sure. Rae presses her lips against his shoulder, the tenderness of the touch left long after her lips leave his flesh. She leans against him as her gaze turns towards the filly who now sat up with wide eyes staring at the stranger that pulled her mother so close. The whispered words that leave Rae’s lips raise his brows in surprise. Dark ooids fixate upon her own as though he had full intentions of seeing straight to her soul. He would name her…. And she would name their next. The promise brings a smile to his lips and once more his heart swells with love and adoration for the girl who could not even remember her name. Rae. Like a ray of sunlight on a cold winter’s morning, warms the backs of the creatures caught in the cold clutches of frozen earth. Like the soft silver-blue beams of moonlight on the darkest of summer nights, Rae was his beacon of hope in a future that had for a time appeared so bleak in the absence of Zjeena. It was more than a mere promise for the future to him. It was a hope that life could be rebuilt.

Affectionately he presses himself against her, drawing her close in an embrace far more intimate than that of mere lovers. ”If that is your wish my dear sweet Rae…” he murmurs.

He might have completely forgotten the bright golden girl’s presence in that moment, might have forgotten of a world outside of the comforting scent of Rae’s body pressed so perfectly against his own, were it not for the flash of sunlight on her bright coat. Dark ears twitch amid the tangle of his wind-swept mane as emerald eyes draw away from his silvered beauty and to the daughter that she struggled to find emotions for. Children had always been a pleasure for him, a love that he always adored even if their bloodline was not his own. The wolf loved all his pups and in the golden eyes of this creature, the girl was no different. A warm smile tugs his whiskered lips upward as he watches the small filly approach with cautious eyes. She is not afraid, no, there is no fear in her eyes as she gazes up at him. However suspicion is clear and causes a deep rumble of amusement to echo within his breast. ”She is fearless.” he murmurs, glancing once more at Rae before turning his attention back to the filly. Perhaps it was the way the streaks of sunlight broke through the dense canopy above. Perhaps it was the early morning haze that still enveloped the jungle and all its inhabitants. Perhaps it was a bit of both. Either way, the name that came to his lips came with such smooth accuracy that he and the wolf both would believe the name befitting no other but the small golden girl before him. ”Faelyn” he murmurs, giving his head a definite nod. ”Faelyn for the fairy light that surrounds her and the unbreakable spirit of her beautiful mother…” he finishes, trailing his lips once more over the sleek hairs of Rae’s flea-bitten cheek.