All the Rules have Changed

[Deleted]

The Mackenzie Valley female had still been struggling to accept the fact that she was pregnant. Of all things that could plague her existence why did it have to be this? A sigh slowly slipped from the shaman's mouth as she curled herself up more in the small den she had prepared for herself. 'Everyone dies alone,' she mused lightly to herself as she cast an emerald gaze down upon her own bloated frame. Every so often one of the pups would kick her and wiggle about as if they were ready to come out and play. It made the female absolutely sick to think about. She had never intended to have children, because they would be born into a fucked up situation just like she was. Sarin had always hoped that maybe she could provide a better opportunity if she ever became a mother, not like she would verbalize or acknowledge that she felt this way.

It had been how long now that she had fled into hiding? At least three or four days she imagined, the femme did not take kindly to being cared for - especially not in this situation. If others were going to do anything for her, they would do it because they wanted to. Not because she was fat, ugly and pregnant. Burying her face beneath her paws the femme forced the underlying emotions from her face, trying to shield the tears that desperately longed to run down her cheeks. This was not the outcome she had expected from joining Descai, but it was partially her own damn fault. She had been playing with fire and taking a risk every time, but now it had caught up to her. Now, it did not matter what she had planned or subconsciously hoped for. The situation was already before her and the stubborn bitch would deal with it the best she could.

Even though she had forced herself into isolation, she could not help but feeling completely alone for the first time in her life. It was not simply that no one was physically around, but the fact that none even cared enough to think of her. 'Maybe the Alpha will think of me, more for the whelps inside though,' her mind raced with the reality of the situation. She had hoped that by this point in her life that someone would at least care somewhat about her well being. Love was not something she ever wished to attain, nor even a friend; just to know that once in awhile she passed through another's mind. Her gaze rested itself upon her belly once more, 'maybe they will.' Shivers rippled up her spine as she buried her face again. This time she could not hold back the tears, thankfully none had been there to see such a moment of pain - weakness.

It was only hours later that the pain cascaded through her body; apparently the pups decided that now was when they wanted their freedom. The discomfort within her body was increasing exponentially as her breathing became labored. Muscles tensed, pushing the pups towards their new life away from mother. They had been the safest within her womb, but now there were infinite things that could end their precious lives. Sarin was uncertain if the Alpha had expected her to call for him or anyone else, but she would do no such thing. This was her agony, her tormented life changing into something that was nearly foreign to her. After what seemed an eternity it was over, the pups were born.

Tears did not fill her optics as they had earlier, instead a strange since of warmth surrounded the femme in a way that it never had. For once she felt comforted, but only for a moment before she set to work on cleaning up the squirming whelps. 'Four alive, two boys and two girls,' it was an even split of gender and all of them seemed quite healthy - of the live ones that is. Gently, she nuzzled the two stillborns away from her hoping not to plague this happy moment with death. Her crania found itself resting upon the ground even when her eyes never lifted from the small canines. They were completely dependent upon her for now, for once she was genuinely needed in order for them to survive. 'Don't flatter yourself, Shayde could always care for them should something happen to you,' a stab pierced her heart at the truth of the matter. Even to her own children she was not vital for their survival, there was always someone else who could raise them - probably better than herself.

Her body stabilized itself and she whimpered softly, fondly as her pups wiggled about slightly. In her forced relaxed state, the Mackenzie Valley canine almost did not care if any of the others found her. In fact, it would probably be better if they did not. Her mind was not in the best place ever, rather she was feeling quite introverted and overly protective. This was likely expected of a new mother, but she wished to not deal with drama that some of her pack mates may bring. Especially not now when she was vulnerable for the first time in eternities, even within different planes of reality the femme disbelieved herself to be weak. Until now, she could always care for herself and only herself; but but things had changed and there were others that she wanted to look after her. Her daughters and her sons.

[Vorilye]

The alpha male sauntered through Descai's territory, content to find the female who, not long ago, had come to him with a great secret. Not only was she pregnant, but a male outside of the territory had forced himself upon her. Vorilye could not, in his right mind, leave her unprotected, and yet she continued to isolate herself from the pack day after day. All the alpha male wanted to do was ensure that she was safe from the blasted male who had violated her. Sarin had been one of his most loyal servants, and he could not allow any more harm to come to her. He would do whatever it took to make certain that she did not feel threatened within the pack's borders. Unfortunately, she made the decision to leave the protection of Acerbus and Kamari and wander beyond to the loner lands. He had no jurisdiction over the loners, but what brought the most anger to the alpha male was what happened next.

Sarin was pregnant, and Vorilye had no clue whether the pups were his or whether they were the lone male's. He could not turn her away and end the pups shortly after their birth, or possibly before, because he did not know. But this brought even more fear to the alpha. There were already four pups in the pack, and now Sarin's would add to the mouths that needed to be fed. She would no longer be able to act as the standing beta until Shayde's and his pups were weaned, which mean, once again, the responsibility fell solely to him to ensure the pack's safety. There would need to be a hunt organized soon, because there was no way that the beta or the shaman would be able to hunt. They had to be provided for; the alpha male refused to let any harm come to his possible offspring.

And so Vorilye was out searching for the shaman, hoping that he could locate her from the recent mess of scent trails throughout Kamari. It was strange that this was where she would choose to remain. "Sarin?" he called out, wondering if his voice would reach the female in whatever nest she chose this time. There was so much less traffic in Kamari that he could understand her need to get away from the bulk of the pack, but that also meant that she was more vulnerable. With a sigh, he lowered his golden muzzle to the ground once more, hoping to ferret out the female. She was starting to frustrate him with her constant games of hide and seek. This was going to get old really fast, and he would not tolerate it, if the pups were his, if she were to keep them away from the protection of Descai's ranks. All her insecurities be damned, Vorilye wanted his offspring to have the best chance at life.

Finally, Vorilye located a recent scent trail, and the black and gold alpha darted rapidly in the direction it led. He could almost feel her presence nearby, but he still could not see her. At last, the male found his target. The quiet, yet still audible, squeaks of newborn pups were what gave her away. A soft smile spread across the male's lips as he approached his shaman and her four little pups. It was amazing how life worked. And to think, I missed out on this with Ryker and his siblings, he thought with disdain. He was making up for it now, though. He would do everything he could to make his son happy at this point.

Once again, there was no doubt that the pups were his. That was, apart from one, scrawny looking male that did not resemble him or Sarin in any way. Surely this must be the lone mutt's pup. The alpha male never had asked his servant the name of her attacker, or if she even knew it. Something about this pup seemed off, though. Maybe he had encountered the little brute's father at some point? The pup was not much use to him alive, and unless Sarin could come up with a legitimate justification for him to not off the mongrel, the pup would not live much longer.

"Do you know the scraggly one's father? What was his name?" he asked gruffly, expecting a response promptly. This, he needed to know.

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Count | 732 words
Muse | Good.
Tags | @sarin
Notes | I love the tagging feature, I love the visual feature, and this is making me happy.

[Deleted]

Since joining Descai, Róvanfaer had mostly kept to himself preferring to observe the workings of the pack rather than fully participate. That being said, the male wolf still carried his own weight instead of letting others pick up his slack. Something told Rovan that the Descai Alpha wouldn’t stand for that anyhow. He’d be out of the pack before he could say wait. Sniffing the air, the brown and cream wolf licked his muzzle as he crossed the boundary from Acerbus and into Kamari. He had never gotten to explore this territory before. It belonged to another pack when Rovan was growing up. Who that had been, Rovan couldn’t remember. Exodus preferred to keep his pack to his land. There had been little exchanges between Salen and other lands. A small part of Rovan faulted Exodus for that leadership attitude. Were he an Alpha, Rovan would try his best to keep tabs on the other packs and their Alphas. Who knew when you would have to call on one your neighbors? Róvanfaer stopped giving a large yawn. His paws stretched out before him claws digging into the dirt. Pulling his body forward, Rovan stretched out the muscles in his back legs. As he did so his back popped. The wolf gave a satisfied smile before trotting forward shaking out the dead hairs from his coat. Today was a day to explore and discover. At some point, he would try for a hunt. He didn’t intend on returning to the dens of Descai without some meat. The familiar beating of feathers overhead caught Rovan’s attention. Turning his green optics to the sky, he watched as a small murder of crows flew overhead. The way they squawked and fought with one another made Rovan wonder if there was a carcass nearby. Having nothing to do the wolf trotted following behind the crows. I wonder what died and what killed it? he mused enjoying the relatively sunny day. Kamari was so vastly different from Acerbus as Rovan was slowly finding out. The place was nice, but it wasn’t home. There was little cover in the mostly grassy land. At last the wolf stumbled across the carcass of a dead deer. The body looked to be a day or two old and didn’t seem to be torn apart. In fact, there didn’t appear to be any external injuries at all. Róvanfaer walked closer to the body growling and chasing the crows off as he inspected it. Everything checked out ok. A bold black bird cawed loudly darting down to peck at the wolf’s head. Rovan snarled and snapped his jaws at the beast. Of course he missed. Growling, he tore into the meat letting the blood wash over his tongue. There didn’t seem to be any change in the taste. The deer had not died of poison. Eying the muzzle of the deer Rovan took in the white hairs that littered the deer’s mouth. Time. Time had killed this fellow. “Thank you for your sustenance, deer,” Róvanfaer whispered tearing into the carcass again. Once he had his fill, the brute wandered away to leave the rest to the crows. As he walked away the wind blew in his direction. Upon the air was a familiar scent. Tilting his head to the side, Rovan wandered toward the scent until he found matching tracks. “The Alpha is here… I wonder why.” Curious, Rovan followed the tracks until he came to an interesting kind of place. It reminded him of the Kiaou Mines, but it was a little different. At the entrance, Rovan sat back and tasted the scents at the opening. One was indeed the Alpha. The other was a female he had yet to really meet in Descai. Ugh oh, was Rovan intruding on some intimate moment? While in the pack, he had learned that the Alpha had pups with his beta, but the two didn’t seem to be mates. The black male was perfectly capable of having love affairs with whomever he pleased in the pack. Gulping, Rovan hoped he could turn away without being noticed by either of them. He didn’t want to get caught for “snooping”.

[Deleted]

Audits quivered, only detecting the approach of another when she faintly heard a sound resonating in the air outside of her pleasant hideaway. This was the last thing she had wanted, but the female assumed this would happen. After all, it could only be so long before the Alpha would make his way after her. The Mackenzie Valley female felt her hair beginning to stand on end as the other canine grew near, even as his scent entered her nostrils. The overwhelming urge to protect these pups was consuming her entirety; she had went through hell with herself in order to keep them alive. Green optics stared at the entrance, watching the massive silhouette draw closer to her safe haven, closer to the wiggling pups huddled close to her. His silence was unsettling to her; yet, she managed to silently observe him while he closely studied the pups. Three of them certainly belonged to him, it was the fourth that she was afraid for.

This tragedy had been brought on by her own actions, there was nothing that she could do now. That small little male could be stolen from her and she could have no say in it. Certainly she could threaten the lives of the other pups, but then he would simply send her away and have Shayde raise her babies. The shaman would have none of that. Life could continue on regardless of these small ones, it had pushed her forward even when she was all alone. Perhaps the femme still was, there was no telling what would become of her and the small male now. The Alpha had proved that he felt no remorse for using her before, this could have been all a part of his plan. Her optimism was wavering slowly, an eerie sense of impeding doom beginning to wash over her figurine. His words felt like razors slicing into her ears, for once a twinge of violent fear cascaded across her. 'There is no reason to be afraid, you must be strong,' shoving the momentary weakness aside the femme collected her thoughts in preparation to speak.

"His name is Kiddo," her tone was blank, speaking the answer as if it came from a robot. It still seemed slightly crazy to believe that her life had transformed into this, to believe she was now a mother. For her entire life she had avoided such a thought, only thinking of herself and ways to gain the adoration of others. Now these four little whelps needed raised and caring for, something she had never wanted to do. More so because she knew it would end up this way, she would not have a family. It would be a father who may or may not be there and confused, lost children. The thought brought a twinge of disappointment into her chest, eyes finally breaking away from the Alpha. She had pups from a brute who remained nameless to her. She gave him children and she had not even received a name. Her emotions spiraled harshly within her body, making the poor femme feel nearly dizzy from the rapid transformation coming into her life.

Paranoia flooded her body before she even realized it. There was someone lurking, watching them. She was so nestled away that the foreigner's scent could not totally be distinguished from that of Descai. 'They could be a pack mate,' her mind attempted to rationalize itself; yet, the thought of danger instantly heightened her awareness. A few strands of ebony fur began to stand on end once more and the femme nuzzled the pups closer to her. They would not be injured so soon after their birth. Ears pressed themselves forward to hear any sounds from the stranger as well as any words the brute may speak. "We are not alone," her voice was low, almost threatening towards whatever lurked beyond them. These pups were likely all that she had now, it would not surprise her if the Alpha removed her from her ranking permanently. She had only been with the pack for several months, she was likely still expendable to him. It pained her to believe such a thought; however, it was likely true. The same as the fact that the young male from the stranger would likely be killed. These were the cards that she had been dealt, the same as always.


OoC| Sorry for the delay, hopefully this isn't too god awful.