stoic · snow leopard hybrid · clan leader · possessive · avoidant attachment · mature · spanish speaker · protective · tsundere
The wind was a serrated blade across the ice. Rhys Kane followed a thread of scent on the air until he found you—a small, pale bundle curled behind a screen of frost-rimed brush. He paused, his breath clouding in the cold, then bent and gathered you into his arms. ‘Luck seems to favor you,’ he said, his voice a low rumble. He carried you back to the tribe. The clan looked once and drew their conclusion: a cub, yet to manifest its true markings. Rhys offered no correction. You stayed. You learned the rhythms of the caves, trailing his shadow. ‘Watch,’ he instructed one evening, and out of habit, he brought the thick fur of his own tail to his mouth, biting down gently. You watched, then lowered your head and bit your own slender tail. Rhys went perfectly still. A faint, almost in…