He said it. He said the thing.

For a moment, Lidiya revelled in the feeling that coursed through her at his words. She wasn't that shocked - somewhere, inwardly, she'd somewhat known. It was more... comfort. Longing.

Love. Was that what she'd been feeling whenever she looked at Kodak? It was different to what she'd felt to her family, and her younger brother. This was... more tentative, but deeper. This was the exact feeling that she'd been supressing for days, only this time... she didn't really supress it anymore. She let it flow freely.

She knew she loved Kodak. That was how it stood. She loved Kodak, unconditionally. She only had to say it.

"I-" Too used to hiding her true feelings - first once her mother died, then once Cooper began going against her, Lidiya struggled to actually say what she thought for once. Looking down, unwilling to meet Kodak's eyes just yet, she tried again. "I... Kodak, I love you too." Likely the most gooey sentence she'd ever spoken in her entire life. Her tail twitched slightly, still entwined with Kodak's as she finally glanced up at Kodak's golden eyes. "And yes." Her voice had softened to the point that it was barely audible over the waterfall in front of them. "I will be your mate. Just as you will be mine."

Heart beating rapidly, she nuzzled the underside of his jaw. It was soft, warm, and she... somehow felt comfortable. Simply being here with Kodak, and no-one else.

That being said, they were now mates. They were both here, alone. Together. Her body yearned for one more thing, one that she'd been ignoring ever since her heat began. I just need more time, she'd told Kodak. I'm not ready yet.

Instinctively, she knew she was now. She felt... complete. Whole. She trusted Kodak fully - enough that she'd vented onto his shoulder mere moments ago, and now they were mates, to even...

[I checked with Desti, they said that this post was fine]

---

Nikolai's thoughts on where the two of them were were definitely quite far off from the reality, and so much for his grand plan of dragging his feet!

Briefly, he considered being petulant. After all, this guy did have all day. And want it or not, he needed Nikolai to lead him to Alpha Kodu. But then the other side of him also told him that antagonizing the guy... was probably not the way to go.

"I'm not taking my own sweet time, thank you very much," he grumbled quietly. "Am I not allowed to walk normally?" Even as he said that, he upped the pace slightly.

Sliightly. Just enough for there to be a noticeable difference, but not enough to be his normal scout speed. Maybe this guy - Hoku - would be happy with this speed. If he'd be happy wih anything Nikolai did, which right now was sitting at a big fat no.

So he walked "normally". Also considered as a bit of a slow trot for himself, but hey, they didn't need to know that either. In fact, Hoku didn't need to know a lot of things, starting with this.

Nikolai was... still fuming, if he was being honest. What he was hoping for was a few things;

- Kodak and Lidiya weren't at camp.
- Kodu could respectfully tell these idiots to go away.
- They'd leave and stop pestering Nikolai like he was his hostage.

Because like it or not, he was their hostage. He leaned more on the "not liking that" side, though, because he didn't like being a hostage.

But he had faith in Kodu to defuse the situation, to get him out of under their thumb. Maybe a little too much faith. Still, he had faith and loyalty in his Alpha.

They broke out into the clearing, and Nikolai repressed a slight smile as he made his way to where he assumed Alpha Kodu would be. He even unconsciously started trotting faster now, looking forward to this.

There was no way they could keep him hostage in a camp full of his own pack. There was no way.

"Alpha Kodu!" Nikolai bowed briefly as he approached. And for once, he was able to strangle his deluge of words as he actually managed to summarize and speak cleanly.

"These wolves... they're looking for Kodak and Lidiya." He hesitated, then continued in a lower tone as the wolves in particular approached. "They... forced me to bring them here." Against my will. "They threaten war." Nikolai still had complete faith in Kodu nonetheless.

That really was all that needed to be said, right?