Most kids had that sense of family, entering into the world surrounded by more than just their parents, the first faces those new eyes would open to see. There were grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, cousins... From the moment those small lungs took their first gasping breaths of air, they were more often than not surrounded by unconditional love and devotion. It was seen in countless movies and television shows, all those happy and smiling faces looking on in awe as a mother held her newborn for the very first time after months of carrying that life within their bodies. It was something that all living things understood, the giving of new life to replenish the old and faded. The circle of life at its most balanced and finest, undisturbed and left to run its course the mortal world so dictated from the beginning of time. And yet, the were knew that it was not always so bright, filled with rainbows and sunshine where nothing bad ever happered and the nightmares remained locked away behind the gates to the realm of dreams. No, he was entirely aware of just how cruel it could be to those that lived in it, uncaring of who would come to know of its hardships. He knew that some lives were ended before they even began at all, and for what? Because a new mother was scared, having never wanted to feel the first time that tiny heart would beat. Then, there were those left behind and abandoned and though they were worthless, condemned to wonder what it was they'd done to deserve being left behind without so much as a backwards glance simply from the selfishness of the ones responsible for creating something just as real as themselves. There was murder and rape, incurable disease and destruction in nearly every corner of the world, lying in wait for the moment when wicked claws could reach out and take what they so craved with gluttonous fury. Families once whole and happy were shattered with loss by some tragedy no one had seen coming, left to try and make sense of everything or ask the universe why it had seen fit to steal away that which was so very precious more so than silver and gold. Loved ones were taken before their time, leaving behind hollowed hearts struggling to mend and eyed that never seemed to dry as those tears fell like an icy winter downpour as one's entire world came crashing down around. Just as life was capable of bringing great joy, it could also take it in no more than a single fleeting moment. Sometimes, reality simply wasn't fair. But then again, it was hardly meant to be.

It had only ever been his mother and father as the constant presence in his life - when they weren't busy with the demands of their job. There were no grandparents, aunts or uncles that had welcomed him into the world, not even knowing of any cousins that he might have out there in the world somewhere. Perhaps it was even surprising, considering his kind was known for running in large and formidable packs of up to thirty or more individuals. Hell, maybe people who looked upon there rebellious juvenile only beginning to drive his future six feet under might try and say that it was the sheer lack of family that played a part in how he'd gotten to where he was, stealing mostly out of pleasure and partially out of necessity as he drifted from place to place. They might think that had he been given more of a family structure, the boy could have been different, but that was a foolish and almost naïve way of thinking. Levi had a perfectly sound childhood without the presence of a large family unit. There was no form of neglect or abuse that ever came from his mother or father, the two of them having given the usual affection and attention to the child that they'd brought into the world together. Overall, if one did not attempt to take into consideration the fact that the threesome were not as human as they so often appeared, the man's youth had been just the same as a majority of children. Everything about his younger years had been normal... so much, that it was this very sense of mundane routine that ultimately would prove to take him down the path of an unruly being who never cared for authority - parental or otherwise. There was no tragedy that stole away his innocence, and both of his parents were alive and well, resuming the way their life had been before they became parents. It wouldn't even surprise Levi if they breathed a sigh of relief in secret when the were had finally grown tired of their endless attempts to correct him and he'd packed up some clothes and left. Was there resentment in his heart for the man who tried to be his alpha or the first - and so far, only - woman that had loved him with all of her soft heart? No. Some would expect that he did, that it had been some yelling match between Levi and his father or perhaps both of his parents had pushed him to take the high road. Sure, there had definitely been yelling on the part of his father as he demanded for Levi to get his life together, to stop acting like some common criminal because it was only going to land the young were in prison and there would come a point where his mother wouldn't be able to bail him out. What the man never did voice though was the embarrassment and disappointment he felt in the son that should have looked up to him more than anyone else, but Levi could see it in the fury that would burn within the eyes his own were a nearly perfect reflection of. But, for all the yelling and the looks of disapproval from the man who tried again and again to get Levi on the right path or the dismay that always wafted from his mother every time he would be escorted up to the front door by a man in uniform, having been caught in an act of vandalism or theft, there had never been loathing or anger in the were. Strange? Perhaps, but it was being what others never expected him to be that Levi had always reveled in. It was going against the "natural order" of things that he found to be one of the few things which kept him interested.

Regret was almost a foreign concept to him. There was nothing that he would have gone back in time to fix. He was content with the way things were for him now, even when it meant just barely getting by with a little cash in his pockets, most of it earned through what he could take from others and pawn off. Needless to say, the were had gotten rather good at thieving. He wasn't like the guys dressed in all black slinking around the shadows, waiting for some woman to walk by so they he could demand her purse at gunpoint. Nah, such technique was practically guaranteed to fail miserably, not to mention that wielding a firearm would take things to a different level of criminal charges. That wasn't Levi's style. As a kid, it had started with pickpocketing and snatching things discreetly enough that no one would notice. There were times were he got caught and scolded for trying to take was wasn't his, and the boy would feign shame as he was told time and time again that such a life would never pay. But for every time he was caught, there were only moments of contemplation on what he might have done that got him caught and how it was that he could get away with it the next time. And he would, even if it meant a couple cop car rides home. As the were became ever better at what made his heart thunder within his chest and pushed that wild rush of adrenaline through his system, how prized only became more and more valuable which of course meant that the countless pawn shops would pay that much more and Levi would walk out satisfied with the cash that filled his pockets. He would work little part-time jobs to earn some honest money when the pilfering and opportunities to commit larceny were few and far in between, but it was not nearly as pleasurable for the man as it was to take whatever it was that he so desired from others. It would always be the challenge, the risk and sense of danger that would forever draw the dog's intrigue as he sought to test those defined lines between right and wrong. And, when he wasn't stealing material possessions he could turn into his own profits, he was thieving something much less superficial yet just as delicious. He was just as good at stealing the sheets of a beautiful woman won by devilish charms and his debonair smile, finding a very similar rush and a much deeper pleasure in being the heartthief that could quite easily make him what some might refer to as a double-threat.

However, there was first for everything, and the she-wolf he stumbles upon today was certainly just that. He hasn't had the opportunity to pursue another were, and so just the idea alone was enough to have those dark eyes gleaming and they became fixated upon her stunning and flawless appearance. Of course, his large ears had hardly missed the low growl resonating within her throat before he'd stepped from the undergrowth to reveal his own exoticly marked pelt, but he was far from unsettled by it. She is baring her teeth at him the moment those emerald hues settle upon her unexpected company for the afternoon, and the dog found everything about her rather riveting from her fur to the silent fury he could only catch a fleeting glimpse of through her primitive posturin to answer his bold advancing. All the while, his own hackles are hardly lifted along the length of his back as his own multicolored tail flicks in a couple idle wags to answer her own stiff one as forepaws step into the gentle trickling flow of the stream, pink tongue still lolled over his own canines in a doggish grin."No need to stop on my account, I'm just enjoying a little... sight-seeing", he remarks then as he allows for smoldering eyes to trail along the she-wolf in the same male satisfaction he would have had they been two humans in a bar before they reconnect to her emerald depths."And I gotta admit, I'm liking what I see so far", he adds then, knowing well that she would understand exactly what it was his words intended. It was usually at this point when most females determined to disengage the were would have told him to fuck off, but instead, the she-wolf decides to engage the dog, this time making the remark on his own unusual bred that was known for roaming the African plains instead of slinking through the trees of a populated city. He was far from interested in talking about himself though, much more curious about the lovely creature in front of him as she opens the figurative door only just slightly and yet it was all the invitation that he needed."If you'd like, I can certainly give you a closer look", he replies almost devilishly now, eyes glinting at his invitation to her. Already the dog was intrigued by the she-wolf, partly surprised that she would muse him though it wasn't entirely uncommon for some females to waver beneath those charms he was capable of even now. He is drawn by this new challenge she gives him, and that was where her mistake is made. It was like an open hand with food and not expecting the dog to close that distance to snatch it."The name's Levi, by the way. Care to indulge me with yours, sweetness?", he says then, giving another wave of his tail as he tilts his head ever so slightly, almost expectantly even, though he hardly knows exactly what was to come next.