The alpha cleared his throat, reaching to gently pet Ylva's long dark hair. "I will not lie to you," he said softly, looking down his chest to her. "I've been with a number of my female wolves. An unmated alpha is bound to get a decent amount of interest regardless of whether he deserves it or not. Though I do not welcome new wolves quite as I've welcomed you." He halted there, reluctant to admit he had never knotted a female before Ylva, unsure if the admission would strengthen or weaken her pull to him. Could something so superficial truly affect how she saw him? It seemed a ridiculous notion, but Valko had never experienced anything like this before with another wolf. It was impossible to know just how to tread forward from here. They were not mated... but they were not casual, either. They dwelt in some unspoken realm in between the two extremes, and Valko was left without a light for navigation through such foreign lands.<br/><br/>Ylva's mind seemed elsewhere, agitated where her body was settled in a pleasurable post-coital fog. Mostly, he could smell himself on her, but beneath the familiar aroma of his sweat and seed there was a lingering stench of worry. It displeased him, eliciting a hard furrow of his brow as Ylva spoke, though his fingers trailed down the curves of her body with an affectionate air, sweet and gentle. "Ylva, I do not envy you the horrors you were faced to endure, only to be disposed of at my doorstep. I do not condone the way Antony has treated you. He is no true alpha." His hands settled on her thighs, feeling the muscle beneath the smooth skin. Warmth bled from her, comforting, soothing, and were it not for the severity of their conversation Valko would have been content to settle beneath her for a long, long while.<br/><br/>"I'm not going to pretend to understand what you're feeling. To suffer a betrayal so cutting... I sometimes I think what I would do if one of my wolves were to attempt to mutiny, and the idea burns like lit coals in the pit of my gut. Despite this... you are a member of my pack now. I must protect you, and worry for your well being." The alpha paused, unsure how to proceed. Ylva had presented him with many firsts this evening as a young alpha, and it seemed there would be no end to that simply because they were tied together at their most sensitive parts.<br/><br/>"Antony is a coward. He will have himself surrounded with wolves who are sympathetic to his cause. Fodder for bigger alphas who may wish to punish him for his arrogance. Walking into that alone would be ill-advised, at best. You are strong, but even you cannot take on a dozen or more wolves and expect to survive. You'd be slaughtered and they would parade your corpse around as an example of what happens when Antony is crossed. I have no desire to see your body used as tool to make Antony appear stronger."<br/><br/>A sigh left his lips, fingers taking to roaming again. Valko urged to feel her everywhere, to touch and know every inch of her body, to commit it to memory. He drew an invisible line down her back, gently kneading the muscles beneath her shoulder blades. "Just stay with me," he whispered, smiling. "You can be happy here."