Carousel;; Justyn

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Duke laughed darkly, eyeing Justyn as he walked away. Sometime Duke wished he and Rose were not so interlinked in life, it was as if their lifelines had been twined together so tightly. Yet if it weren't like that, neither of them would be here right now, so really he had to thank her.

"Well done for realising the true essence of Falling Moon," he laughed openly, still keeping his deep dark eyes on the other male. "There is no honour. Not here."

At Justyn's passing comment about Rose, Duke snorted but it was not in disbelief.
"Of course you should be. Rose can take someone's mind and twist it into anything, she can make you believe whatever she wants you to believe," he muttered. "She's perfect, but only because she knows how to be perfect with the wolves she's around."

He could see something in Justyn's eyes, and then suddenly it made sense. Duke's eyes narrowed further, if possible.
"She got to you, didn't she?" he realised slowly, voice low and still slightly amused. "She got into that brain of yours and twisted things around- and let me guess, you came out worse off?" He laughed openly now.

"You've got too much of your father in you, Justyn," Duke suddenly called, loud and clear, as the gap between them widened. "If you're going to start harping on ab out honour, I suggest you leave now. This pack is for wolves with no moral compass, and I suggest you get used to that before you try and fight me for anything."

[[Midnight]]

He snarled when Duke mentioned his father.
Caerwyn? Honor?
The stabs about everything else he could deal with, but Justyn didn't like it when someone talked about his father. In good ways or bad ways, really. And Duke had no idea what he was beginning to talk about.

"Don't tell me my father was worried about honor," Justyn hissed, his eyes dialting. He recovered the steps that he had lost, all traces of uncertainty gone. "He had no time to worry about honor. He was sick. He had to leave at the times when his family most needed him. He forgot about honor and left that up to the pack to carry that burden!"

He realized that it was a lost cause, trying to reason with Duke. About Caerwyn, about Dancing Stars... So he dropped that subject and moved on.

"Yes..." he started painfully, his lips curling upwards even higher. "Rose did get in my head. She's good at what she does. But I'm not worse off because of it, not in one tiny bit."
His eyes almost seemed to soften for a brief moment before flashing with courage. He'd never tell Duke that Rose said she had showed Justyn the real person she was. Or at least, she claimed she had, and Justyn believed her. And he would never take back the conversation that they had had, even if the truth was one-sided. It had helped Justyn open his eyes a little wider.
"You can't tell me that your daughter has no moral compass. She was once in love, and had a family she cared for more than life itself. She would have died for her pups if she could have."

Just like my mother had the chance to do, Justyn thought in the back of his mind. Rose and Midnight would have raised their pups the same way. With nurture and compassion.

"And what about you, Duke? You may not be afraid to take away someone else's life because it's in your power to do so... But you'd never lay a claw on Rose. Or Tallulah. That's enough morals for me.
"Falling Moon is where I belong. I have nothing else to go back to. I may not be as heartless as you, or maybe even Rose or the rest of this God-forsaken pack... But I feel like I belong here. I've fought brutally to get where I am today and I'm not about to roll up into a ball and quit. I've learned how to use anger to control others in order to get up to the top on the chain. Now the only thing that's stopping me from being the leader of this chain is you."

He had never wanted to be Alpha of Falling Moon. He never before had really intended on fighting Duke for the position. He still wasn't sure what he would ever do as Alpha if he moved up in the ranks, but maybe it'd be something to strive for, to fill his empty time.
But now that he was sure that he was going to have more and more trouble listening to Duke's orders and looking to him for leadership, Justyn was sure that he was going to snap one day. And if Duke killed him or Rose interrupted the fight, at least he would die showing that he wasn't afraid. And that was enough for Justyn's pride.

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Having planned this all along, Duke waited until Justyn had just finished his speech before he ran at him and threw himself right in front of the younger wolf, snarling deafeningly at him. There was no denying Duke's sheer mass, but he knew he probably wouldn't scare Justyn much, if at all. Still, it was an impressive display as he was within an inch of biting Justyn's nose off.

"You listen here, pup, if it weren't for me you wouldn't even be alive right now. This is my pack, my family and my valley you're dealing with here- I will not let you threaten that," He snarled. "So if you're intending to bulk yourself up so that you can try and get your jaws on my throat one day, then I suggest you get out now. There's no place for traitors in this pack, Justyn, not even in Falling Moons will I tolerate someone plotting my demise right under my nose."

He snorted in disgust, hoping hot droplets of his breath found their way into Justyn's eyes.
"Because frankly, I don't care what your pride tells you to do, planning to fight and kill me-" Duke nearly laughed at the idea "-is the stupidest idea you've ever had. I will not be so threatened by my own bastard of a Beta wolf, so if you're not intending to stay under my reign -get out. Now."

[[Midnight]]

In the big gambling game of life, pride, honor, hope... They get you nowhere. Or maybe, if you had something of your own to protect, it would. Justyn had nobody but himself.
The smartest thing he could have done was smiled at Duke and walked away before the shouting began. Why was Justyn so intent on holding onto his pride when there was nothing to be proud about? His father couldn't have been as hot-headed as he was or he would have been too stubborn to except the fact that he was a sick killer.

Getting spit in the face was disgusting, degrading. It pissed him off the most out of anything that had happened through this entire conversation, and his angry instincts came so very, very close to snapping off Duke's ears.
Fine. Duke wasn't in for the thrills. He was in for the business. And there was nothing that he could gain out of a fight with him right now.

Justyn gave the Alpha one last dirty and defiant stare, before turning around and walking away - one of the hardest things he had ever done.

"Don't piss on yourself. I'm not going to steal any throne," he said over his shoulder, his voice as nonchalant as he could manage. "I'm just here to survive."

The last sentence was said under his breath, as icy as the middle of winter.