He was restless, and for many reasons. He was in the double digits. Sure, he wasn't halfway dead or anything, but he was feeling his age, and more than that, his mortality, and he didn't like it one bit. Growing up, he'd always felt invincible. Like he could do anything, be anything. He wanted to dominate the world. Over time, his views changed and he decided he didn't want to be the face. No, he wanted to be the shadow behind the mask. But some plans never changed. Like having a family. Yes, he could be cliche sometimes. He wanted to see his lineage grow, to turn out other little vampires and cannibals on the world and watch them feast. But he had yet to realize that dream and he was aging. His muscles were still built and primed, ready for action. But for how much longer? When would they start to atrophy and decay like the rest of the world?

Bel was MIA this past winter. Cuirass had no blood children and it was eating him alive. He had Boneskull, but he had done his job. He had raised him from a pup to an adult and now Boneskull was out in the world, being great. Cause what else would he be after Cuirass' input? How many winters would he have to go through without producing heirs? He needed something to distract him, take his mind off things. So he focused all his rage on Spirane. They thought they were above it all, invincible on that rock throne. If he wasn't allowed to be invincible, then neither were they. So he started stealing. But it would go further than that. He wanted to make them fear for their very lives. He could see the pack was growing in new ways. The alpha herself had children this spring. She chose the big guy to be her second and they have a family now. He didn't even know if they were mates or if it was a partnership. Either way, it pissed him off that someone got children before he did.

But he didn't blame his alpha. Of course, she would want heirs, someone to leave the pack too, someone to take over for her some day. He was pissed at himself for not working harder to make his dream a reality. Besides his daily harassment of Spirane, he hadn't done much within the borders of Asteraia. What was there to do? His mate was lying low and the co-alphas seemed to have the patrol on lock down, when they weren't playing with their children. He glanced up from where he lay stretched out by his den. The air was cooler, the pressure telling of a storm. His ears pricked. Good, a storm was exactly what he needed. When he heard a howl, his ears flicked back for a moment. His alpha was calling. Slowly, he dragged himself to his feet and stretched out. She must want a report on Spirane. It didn't take him long to find her. Her black and red coat stood out in the fields and she was under the only tree of Asteraia.

His lips curled into a smirk as he trotted over. "What's up?"