As with most things in the beginning, it had felt foreign being without his pride. While the life of a rogue offered freedoms from an established pecking order or hierarchy where all answered to an alpha, Roman's pride had been more than a pack. It had been his family. Led by his fierce, often short-tempered father and nurturing mother, there had never been a question of who the alphas should be. Marrok and Callia were the perfect balance to one another, Roman's mother known and well-loved for her seemingly endless patience and warmth towards many while his father had always earned himself the wary and careful sideways glances of strangers no matter where they went, the nearly permanent scowl or brooding expression giving the seasoned and battle-worn male a less than friendly or welcoming air that he was content to keep about him always. Roman and his siblings knew better, though. Past the old lion's grumpiness, there was a fearless and protective creature that would readily give his one and only life for his mate and children. Marrok was not nearly as cold as he appeared, often willing to offer help where it might be needed. It was just idle chitchat the alpha seemed to have little patience for. Then, there was Callia. She was the woman on the street that was kind to those who were mindful of others, and even when she was to witness relentless taunting or bullying, she would step in quietly and through that stern yet motherly nature of hers, she would often be able to silence most any qualm that might happen in her presence. He had always wondered if such a quality simply came with having raised six cubs more than capable of showing their wild and rambunctious juvenile nature as most younglings would or if it truly was a genuine gift the wise woman possessed, but regardless of how or why, it had always been his mother to soothe Marrok when he was at his most discontented and restore to him his senses that always seemed to become lost in his anger. While it went without saying that the pride did all they could to keep their true selves hidden from the eyes of those they walked among to elude trouble, no matter where they went, Callia always seemed to be the one troubled souls sought comfort in, there being little doubt within Roman's mind that his mother could have easily been a saint in another life.

There was no denying that on his most melancholy days, the lion would find himself missing the companionship that came with his siblings. His older brother Tristan, the eldest of the Lionel children, had always been there for Roman when he was first beginning to feel the urges of the beast within him. Born a were just as his siblings had been, it was easy for the young lion male to ignore the more instinctual and primitive pulls of the animal that rested within his veins. Well, until he grew from his cub-like tendencies and into a juvenile that was only just beginning to discover the true urges that had been lying dormant without the surge of hormones to spur them forward. The juvenile had been restless, reckless even, something that he had hoped he might grow out of. When Roman found himself searching for an outlet, for something to satisfy the beast that he was, it had been Tristan that encouraged Roman to spar with him one day. There had been fearsome roars and growls, claws that were not always sheathed, and teeth bared as the lion males would charge towards one another in a flurry of dust and tawny golden fur. To any outside watching, one might think they were attempting to harm the other, and yet it could not be further from what had been happening. At first, Roman had been unsure, not wanting to hurt his older brother, but Tristan assured him that everything would be okay. And they had. In fact, it had naturally been Roman who'd lost that first sparring, his youthful vigor wild and without any sort of control or understanding at just how to fight properly, hence many of the scars that littered his golden pelt to this day. It had been his first lesson, but in losing to his brother who was far more controlled, strategic, and powerful â€" expectedly so â€" it showed Roman the way to quieting the lion within himself when those days would come that his recklessness beckoned that inevitable shift. He had learned how to satisfy the beast, what it was that would help to content the primal side to him. And yet, it hadn't seemed enough to still those spontaneous and often poorly thought-out ventures the young lion would find himself in.

Nicolette taught him gentleness, how to be compassionate and careful when the twins, Dea and Drake had been born. It was his older sister that instilled in the lion a fondness for children, an understanding that while they were born and bred to be fierce and powerful beasts able to hunt and kill almost anything and everything which would come to cross their path, even though they were created to be dangerous and feared, that hardly meant that they needed to be such savage beings. Just as in a pride of lions would, everyone had helped raise the new generation they would welcome into the world. There was discipline and love, a sense of nurturing while instilling in the cubs what they were and the challenges they would bound to face. While Callia had shown Roman what it was to be patient and respect the delicate balance of the world in which they lived, it was Nicolette that was the very embodiment of love. It wasn't just about being strong and hunting, it was about using that power to protect those who could not defend themselves. He can remember how she had been with him when he'd been only a child, there to comfort him whenever he might stumble and fall, scraping up his hands and knees with tears streaming from golden-hazel eyes as he tried to understand why those bloodied wounds would hurt. When Callia was not around, it was Nicolette that would come to his side and console him, cleaning his cuts and putting ice on his bruises, telling him how brave he was being even when it hurt so much. Remembering his older sister, Roman's heart would so often swell with love at these memories when she had been there to hold his hand as he was first learning to walk, amusing him by allowing the cub to chase her tufted tail when Tristan was too busy with their father to play with young Roman. She looked after him in such a way that he often wonders if she might ever decide to start her own family as Tristan was, having recently found his own mate and began his own family... Any male that captured Nicolette's heart would truly be fortunate, and Roman hopes that one day, she would have what it was that their older brother had.

Even now, as the lion feasted upon his kill, he could think of how the twins would be squabbling for the flank of the deer, Drake and Dea always seeming to be in some sort of disagreement when it came time to eat as a pride. Trinity would be likely have been crouched there, waiting for them to start wrestling to see who won rights to the desired hindquarters, before darting in and snatching it before either of the twins even realized that it was missing. How proud she would look, trotting off a safe distance to hide in the underbrush, enjoying her share of the kill in piece, the twins stopping only to realize that they'd been careless, each settling for another part of the deer after a swift scolding from their short-tempered father who would have likely snapped at them for acting like cubs. It was a comforting thought, and yet it is disrupted as the lion's sensitive black-tipped ears catch the faintest rustling of another moving through the brush, followed by a soft sound of another coughing, perhaps ushering forth more like a soft growl. Lifting his proud head, muzzle stained crimson, golden-hazel eyes settle upon the canine a distance away from where he crouched over the half-eaten deer. Ears are pressed forward amidst his massive golden mane, almost entirely hidden and yet they are not hindered in the list as he watches the female coyote give a small wag of her tail. The lion gives a single twitch of his own tail, pushing himself into a sit upon powerful haunches as he runs his tongue across bloodied lips. Her voice, soft and feminine, reaches the lion male as he regards her curiously, no hostility flickering there across his features as he blinks softly."Greetings. I am Roman", he answers in deep and rumbling baritones as he continues to watch her. She seemed kind enough, respectful in the space that she kept between them, the beast in the were accepting this gesture that so allows for that curiosity to find him then. He is puzzled for a moment at her question, though quick to remind himself that the chances of others like himself were few and far between."Forgive my silence. I suppose I am unused to such a question. But, to answer, I am a lion", he answers, dipping his massive head to the coyote out of the courtesy he had been taught by his father. It is then that he looks to the deer before shifting his gaze back to her."You are welcome to join me, if you'd like", he says then, the lion used to sharing a kill with his family. It was a gesture of respect, almost like a peace offering on the most primal of levels, though in the same moment he would hardly fault her for leaping at such an offer.

Roman royce

EVERY SECOND COUNTS BECAUSE THERE'S NO SECOND TRY