~*~
The idea of going back to his residence means seeing the graven image of his beloved still standing lifeless in his room. The emotional heartache will only leave him distraught, so he stayed and lived in the tent, yeah the same tent he had set up for Aries, on their first date. It remained filled with memories of Aries. She was mischievous, happy, laughing all of the time while they were together here. He needed that— a constant revision of this day.
~*~
Four months have passed, and the pain, the woe of separation, troubled him around the clock. Every day he was miserable without her.
It was almost like he'd put his life on pause. He didn't shave. He ate once, maybe twice a week. He only swam nearly every single day in the ocean. He never missed watching the sun go down and come up. He also found the constellation of Aries in the sky, sometimes virtually connecting the stars, by drawing lines in the air with his fingers.
His human form was getting exhausted from the lack of rest and loss of nutritional food. He took short naps but hardly any full night's sleep.
Leon had become inconspicuous. He didn't talk to Leo all this time, as if he had taken a vow of silence.
Leo spent hours sitting in the sand, thinking of how his greed of passions had left a wake of destruction and ruin of their relationship. Leo knows this was not an excuse, but he was hurt. Losing Aries to another person made him feel insecure.
He was not angry with Aries, just sad about the whole ordeal. She didn't have to say she was sorry, but Leo had issues and was working to improve them, and once he does, he would clasp her so close that evil should not touch her.
He wanted to mend things soon, but he felt much ashamed of his own fault, and so he'd been cooped up here in this tent, and grounded himself.
~*~
On a balmy night, Leo had fallen asleep, but he felt someone's presence nearby. He shifted a little, and his eyes slowly fluttered to open. He looked up slowly with nervous eyes and saw a pair of piercing blue eyes staring down at him. He jolted up, "Aries!" He went to catch her and pull her in his arms, but his hands kept passing through her translucent body.
"What's going on? Why can't I touch you?" He tried once again.
"Because I'm her spirit." She explained.
"Spirit?" Leo ran his hand through his hair. "I've officially gone insane now," he murmured to himself.
"I can't believe you still kept this tent, Leo." She said, looking around the tent. Just as he was pinching himself to make sure it was all real, and trying to summon up the fact he was looking at Aries—her spirit.
Unless. FUCK!
"Aries, why am I looking at your spirit?" His fear suddenly rose. He ran towards her, and once again, Leo lifted his arms to hold her, but all he could feel was the cold air.
"Aries?" He looked at her quizzically and frustrated.
"You need a clean shave and a haircut—"
"Don't dodge the question?" Leo cut her off in mid-sentence. Her eyes coated with pain, she looked down at the ground. His chest tightens as his mind wanders over the unfortunate possibility.
"I just wanted to see you before I..."
"NO!" Leo staggered back, he wanted to yell, scream, but his voice came out a squeak in panic.
"Alpha." Jedrek interrupted.
Jedrek, his beta, had been lingering around, staying close by, keeping a tight watch on his Alpha from afar. Even though Leo had put the onus of protecting the pack-land on Jedrek, he remained by his side but did not disturb Leo in these four months. Now suddenly Jedrek is calling for Leo's attention, that means—it's crucial.
Leo glared at the opening of the fabric entrances. "Not now, Jedrek." He said in a cold tone. When Leo's eyes returned to look at the spirit—she was already gone.
"A-Alpha, something has happened, it's Luna—" Before Jedrek could even get to finish his sentences. Leon ran past him out of the tent. Jedrek didn't wait long, he shifted and tagged along.
"Nothing will happen to her. She can't... I won't let it happen."
"What do you mean?" Leon asked.
"She's giving up?"
"NO. What are you going to do, Leo?"
"I'm going to propose to her."
"Wait. What?"
"You heard me," Leo laughed. "Once all of these ends. We will live a long and happy life, with lots of Love and Sex."
"Lots of sex," Leon interjected.
"Yeah, lots and lots of sex," Leo chuckled. "We're coming, Aries."
~*~
When Leon arrived, he was being greeted by the huge crowd gathered outside of the house; he could barely register what was going on? People felt his presence, and they gave way for their Alpha Leon to pass through.
No one could go inside his bedroom, of course, except for his mate, Aries.
In terms of territory, wolves often behave aggressively toward intruders. They will fiercely defend their territory from other species as well as other wolves.
In a rare situation like this, they often cooperate and allow access. Yet, his family was standing outside of his bedroom.
"Leon!" Nora called, and everyone's heads shot at them. Nora hastily ran towards her young pup and hugged him. She'd missed him so deeply. Nora had watched him in much tension and emotionally stressed. She has been worried about him ever since he'd come back from that island. Xander hugged him, as he too had missed his whelp absences. His family and all his close friends had dismally missed Leo.
~*~
The glow, radiant surrounding Aries' sedentary, drew Leon's attention. He narrowed his eyes to scrutinize to look carefully. After observing, he found an incision on her arm.
"What happened?"
