It had been a long day, and frankly, the pack meeting and his conversation with Irina took a lot out of him. After the much-needed talk with the dragon lass, he felt slightly more at ease, forgetting about Margaery for the time being. He was tired, and needed to sleep, so, he wandered back to his den and laid down with Echo, falling asleep rather quickly. Crowe slept for a few hours before being awoken by a breeze blowing into their den, and it was oddly cold. This caused the brute to slowly open his eyes, only to notice his soulmate was not there as their strand extended out of the den. Crowe slowly got up, stretching his joints before walking out. This was when the alpha realized he never had that individual conversation with Margaery, and as much as he wanted to find his mate, the pitch beast knew he needed to find the rose-backed lass and make sure she was settling in alright.

Crowe did not have much time to pick up on her scent while at the meeting, as it was heavily masked by the blood that stained her brown fur and given that he smelled less of that iron in the air, the alpha figured she had a moment to clean herself up. Good for her. She needed to settle down and relax. Even though her self-care was a good thing, it made it much harder for the shadow brute to find her. After a bit of searching, all the while ignoring that his soulmate connection was leading to Narcissus’s den, Crowe found her den. ”Margaery?” He called, hoping she was in her den and awake, because if she was sleeping, the alpha would feel guilty for waking her up. ”I realized I never checked in on you earlier. How are you settling in?” His bass voice was laced with guilt and concern for the lass as he sat down outside of her den. Crowe wouldn’t push it, of course, but he hoped she’d invite him in, and perhaps ask for more – that surely had to be a long shot though, given all the trauma she had undergone in such a short time.

When she appeared, whether she came out of the den or stayed at the inner entrance, Crowe could not help the words that rolled off his tongue next. ”I thought you were stunning before you cleaned up, but it doesn’t surprise me that your beauty withstands all, dear Margaery.” A toothy smile slid onto his maw, enamored by her, but this was wiped off once he realized what he said, a flush rising to his cheeks that none would see in the darkness of his fur and the sky. ”I’m sorry if that was too forward.” He spoke quietly as he turned his head to the side, refraining from making eye contact. Crowe figured that this was not the alpha thing to do – that is, flirt with newcomers to the pack that went through a lot of trauma. He could only hope the comment was well received with no ill feelings – he did not want to scare her away from one of the few places that she could retreat to.

Actions and thoughts and "Words."