I'm not at your orders

wanted

The warriors did not miss Filip's attentions towards Nori, or how they looked at each other and spoke more intimately. Walking across a vast prairie, Tormund watched them from his horse with curiosity: they were quite far apart and nothing could be heard of what they were saying:'you noticed, didn't you?' intervened Sandor in a low voice and his brother pretended not to understand:
'what are you saying?'
'about the two of them. You must have noticed that since the beginning of the expedition they are much closer.'
'mmm and so?' Sandor had a little knowing smile:
'I have a good feeling'
'you're not seriously thinking about that...' Tormund looked closely at the pair being discussed, slowly connecting the dots:
'they have always hated each other from what I remember' said Tormund
'that's what makes me sure they're life partners. ' Sandor did not say that he had found Filip in Nori's room, it would have been enough to look at them to convince himself of that idea:

'maybe once he finds his companion, Filip will be more relaxed. That means we could have less heavy training'.

'how lazy, only you make these arguments'.

Indeed, the mood on their return was calmer than on their departure and Filip seemed less tense. One of those evenings they spent celebrating their escaped death in the mountains and the daring escape from Awa, finding them amusing from that retrospective.

'Imagine Faramir's face when he finds out we escaped,' he said.
'I am not finished with him. I will do anything for the other packs to go against them, for none of our allies to be his allies anymore. I only want that bastard. If it wasn't for Herbert and Shina we'd still be in the cooler by now. ' Filip commented

'yeah' Nori warmed himself in front of the evening fire, less upset at remembering his mother:

'it was fun to see how Shina set Tormund straight' Connell added between bites of steak:
'I was just being nice'
'yeah, under the coat of a tough warrior hides a courteous knight, I knew it'
'who was the one who fell asleep from a neck sting?'
'hey, hey, you would have collapsed too!'

They laughed a lot that evening and when it was time to return to their tents, Filip was glad to be able to spend time alone with Nori. He had told them about what his mother had told him, and no matter how cynically Nori talked about it, Filip knew that he actually thought about it a lot, more than he wanted to give it away. They lay close together in the darkness of the tent and Filip enveloped him from behind, not wanting to melt away from him:

' I may have guessed where you got your rebellious ways from,' he said in a calm, flattering voice:
'pff, yeah?'
'mm-mm. '
'...Do you think I look like her?'
'when you get angry you have the same expression. That's why I knew who she was as soon as I saw her.'
'oh...I didn't notice. You are a good observer'
'and a good listener'
'why?' there was a small pause, then the alpha resumed:
'I heard what you said to your mother. About your partner' Nori felt his own pulse increase, remembering what he had impulsively said:

'did you?'
there was no reply, and Nori turned so that he could look at Filip:

'do you still think so?' asked Filip and Nori felt his face redden, but was thankful that the darkness did not give him away:
'weren't you the one who thought you always knew everything?'
'I already know.' Nori felt surprised but also heated at that truth:
'there is no doubt in my mind about that. I just want you to tell me' said the alpha, caressing Nori's face, who felt totally vulnerable:
'I'm afraid I'm wrong...Like my mother did'.
'Nori' he took his hand in his, resting it on his chest, letting the beta feel his pulse:
'listen to my wolf and tell me if your wolf feels the same' Nori breathed rapidly, overwhelmed by his own feelings:
'I want to be yours, Nori. Only yours. I can't be comfortable if I don't know you're by my side'
'Me neither... I want to be yours too. Just...' his eyes became shiny, and a tear fell quickly:
' I don't want you to ever let me go. I don't know if I could...'
'I'd rather die than let you go, littile wolf' Filip kissed him with feeling, holding him to himself for reassurance as their breaths mingled and their lips lulled softly: