"I didn't start the war,” Erik said, addressing his young son and daughter. “I was born into its bloody embrace like my father and brothers before me. From the moment I could shift, I was trained to fight for my pack, and for our land. In fact, I still remember the first lesson in combat I ever had. I was so excited and proud to be given the chance to fight for my people; I couldn't keep myself from smiling. The back of my father's hand knocked the grin clear off my face.”

His daughter gasped softly. “Why would he do such a thing?”

“Because only a fool laughs in the face of Death,” Erik replied, quoting his father and mentor. “In war, survival is more about /choice/ than fate. The will to live hinges on how deep into the darkness you’re willing to tread. Death comes for us all, but there are places that even he is not willing to go…”

Erik looked over at his son, grateful the war was finally over. His heir would grow to be a great warrior, a powerful Alpha, and a respected leader. But if the gods were good, the boy would never have to sully his hands with the blood of the innocent.

“I was 16 when I made my first kill,” Erik continued, “not much older than you, son. My father was so proud that he gave me the honor of sitting at the head of the table that night. We drank and feasted, and on that day I became a man in more ways than one."

"Is that when you met Papa?" his son asked, wiggly his eyebrows suggestively. “I bet he couldn’t resist you!”

Erik laughed, shaking his head. "It would be another 22 years before I laid eyes upon your Papa. He was a scrap of a thing back then. So small and delicate, I could have snapped him in half with my bare hands. But,” Erik added, the corner of his mouth lifting in a half smile, “he was fierce and proud and as beautiful as a full moon on a clear night."

"Was it love at first sight?" his daughter asked dreamily.

Erik’s expression grew solemn. "No, little one. Love is rarely given in such haste. For your Papa and I, it… it came slowly.”

"But Papa says you claimed him the night you met,” she said with a frown. “If not for love, then why?"

"He made me an offer,” Erik explained. “His life in exchange for the lives of his family.”

“I… don’t understand,” his daughter replied in confusion, exchanging looks with her brother. You just… took him?”

“Aye, I did,” Erik said, sighing heavily as he recalled the day he’d met his beloved. “The way a warrior claims the spoils of war..."