Blacktail Deer Plateau You run like the river, you shine like the sun

The Alpha pair had been preoccupied with their respective responsibilities lately. Peregrine spent much of his time hunting, patrolling and catching up with his brothers, sister and other pack mates. Meanwhile, Hawkeye managed to uphold her duties and carry around a litter of puppies in her belly. Peregrine fancied her sides stuck out a little by now, yet he didn't want to point this out, lest she bite off his nose. Still, every time he saw the presumed baby bump, it sent a thrill through him like shooting stars in his bloodstream.

Today, he decided to dedicate the entire day to one thing only: her. "Hey, beautiful," he rumbled into her ear as she slept. He licked her face gently, hoping to rouse her. "The sun's going to rise in less than half an hour. I want to watch it with you. Wakey, wakey." Before she fully came around, Peregrine tipped his head and put an ear to her side, wondering if he could hear or feel any evidence of their puppies rolling around in there.

ooc: I just love your writing ahhhh

Hawkeye moaned with sleep still fogging her mind. "We don't even know if I am pregnant yet, you weirdo," she managed to force out with a groggy tone. It came off sharper than she meant, so she added: "although, I do feel some motherly instincts kicking in." She hoped that this potentially mended any feelings that had been hurt, if there were any.

She stretched out on her side, body trembling. Shaking her head as she stood, she wrapped herself around Peregrine's back end and then below his neck as if she were a kitten wanting attention. She did feel more needy as of late, and wondered what this meant.

Aw, shanks. :D

She came awake with crass words springing immediately from her tongue, yet they didn't bother him. They'd been mates for a while now and he was used to her personality; it was one of the things Peregrine loved about her. Even as he thought this, he realized he hadn't said those words to her yet. He bit his lower lip.

"Oh, you're pregnant. I always accomplish what I set my mind to," he replied, then paused and added, "Besides, I just heard them. They talked to me. But I'm not gonna tell you what they said 'cause you don't even believe in them!" Peregrine grinned teasingly.

He took a step back, giving Hawkeye space as she stood. When she began to press up against him like a kitten, he growled lowly in his throat and passed his tongue over whatever parts of her he could reach. "C'mere, MILF," he joked, hooking a foreleg up and around her neck and pulling her close so he could plant a kiss on her eye. "I love you, you know," he said very offhandedly, the doughy smile on his face indicating the genuine depth and sincerity behind his words.

She laughed at his joke about their pups whispering things to him and rolled her eyes. After he licked over her eye and she pushed him away teasingly, a goody smile appeared on his face while he told her he loved her. A blush encased her face, and her body felt awkward, like he had just told her that she was the most beautiful wolf on the planet and she was too embarrassed to take the compliment.

"I love you, too, but only if you tell me what your children said!" She nuzzled the side of his face and let out a deep breath of contentedness.

She seemed pleased but embarrassed by his words, though she returned them, which made Peregrine's heart glow. He leaned into her when Hawkeye nuzzled him, growling his pleasure as his tail whirled slowly in the air.

Dusky eyes twinkling, the Alpha leaned close to his mate's ear and whispered, "They said... C-CAW, C-CAW! TIKI TIKI!" His voice rose to a bellow and Peregrine pranced out of reach before his mate could swipe him for causing her to go even more deaf.

Eventually, he pressed close to her again and said, "Let's go catch that sunrise." Nipping her side playfully—it was definitely swollen—he glided from their den site, leading the Alpha female toward the ledge which overlooked the flatlands.

Hawkeye nodded and let Peregrine lead, but only for her own devilish purposes. She trailed behind him in order to nip his ass right near his tail. Then, she took off, knowing that with his swiftness he would soon catch up to her. Laughing boisterously did not help her breath intakes, and she had to stop, tears filling her eyes. "That's — what you get, Prancer!" Another flurry of giggles filled her.

A light rain began to fall and the world was becoming slowly lighter in color, though the sun hadn't peeked over the mountains yet. Though the area was still dull and thunder could be heard from far away, Hawkeye smiled. This was her favorite time of day.

When she nipped at his hindquarters, it caused Peregrine to crouch partially, his tail slinging between his legs. "Whoa now, that was a bit close to the family jewels there!" Despite his words, he shot his mate a fiendish grin, enjoying her bubbly, flirtatious mood this morning.

When a light drizzle began to fall, Peregrine blinked up at the sky. "Damn, I hope it's not too cloudy," he murmured to himself. The roll of thunder caused his ears to flick. "You hear that?" he called to Hawkeye, uncertain as to whether his partially deaf mate could hear the distant rumbling.

Soon enough, they arrived at the ledge and Peregrine waited for his mate to make herself comfortable before sitting beside her, his tongue swiping over the back of her neck and shoulders in a sort of affectionate massage which also cleaned her fur. Occasionally, he nuzzled her jawline or her cheek and, all the while, he whispered sweet nothings in her ear.

"Yes, but barely," the Alphess replied to her mate's question. Any further off, the sound of the thunder would have fallen silent upon her left ear, but she more felt the noise in her chest.

Hawkeye nearly purred at the touch of Peregrine. He made her feel so relaxed in a world where she never really did such a thing; the black wolf was always tensed up no matter the situation, except for now. She turned to lick Peregrine's nose and chin and waited for the sun to peek above the mountains, for the clouds did not cover that portion of the sky; it made for an amazing view of clear blue sky that cut under the grey blanket that shrouded the world above them.

This song is eerily perfect right now. ;)

Much to his delight, the horizon remained clear, letting the sun peek up and over the snowy mountaintops even as the sky directly overhead churned with the threat of a late winter storm. Peregrine took it all in with a deep, satisfied breath, admiring in particular the way the sunshine made the snow look like molten golden lava trickling down the mountains.

"This is perfection," he said to Hawkeye. He turned away from the sunrise to stare at her face. "You are perfection. I can't describe how happy I feel right now. You and I are together, leading a pack, welcoming a family soon..." He reached down and touched his nose to the side of her belly before straightening up again. "And all of it in paradise." His eyes then slowly shifted back to the view.

These sort of words made Hawkeye freeze awkwardly. She was not sure what she should say in return, or how to even react; Peregrine was obviously the romantic one in the relationship, and Hawkeye wondered whether he had had experience with this sort of thing before.

She nodded at his words of this being paradise. "This area is much better than Blackfoot Forest — the woods are daunting and there are foxes screeching all around. Definitely not right for a family." A long silence then stretched between them before Hawkeye expressed one of her fears. "I am not sure how I will handle pregnancy. I will not want to change my routine, though I probably will have to stay near the den when I'm a fatty." Of course, she meant when she was near bursting with pups. "My mother only had two litters, two years apart, and only had one pup per litter. I am not sure what that means when it comes to us, since you were born in a litter of four. I don't think I could handle four of you." Eyebrows raised and a look of "oh shit" appeared on Hawkeye face since it was just hitting her on how much of a handful pups would be.

Hawkeye spoke in turn, her words much more pragmatic than his. He laughed lightly at this, amused by her awkward demeanor, then gave her a nip to reassure her. When she confessed her fears about pregnancy, he listened to her quietly, his face somber to show he took her concerns seriously.

"My parents only had one more litter after mine and they were sort of older, so my mom was slowing down anyway. I don't remember her being confined for too long. It was maybe a week before she delivered. Anyway, you're a lot younger and fitter than she was. I bet you'll be on your feet 'til the very last moment, Hawkeye."

He gave her a playfully hurt look, then laughed and admitted, "Four would be a handful, no matter what they're like. But don't worry. There's only two in there," Peregrine said with complete confidence. He paused for a beat to gauge Hawkeye's reaction, then added, "Only two voices spoke to me, you see. That's how I know. It's so hard to tell at that age," he continued, trying not to laugh, "so I'm not sure about the sexes. They all sound like mice when they're still in utero, not to mention the sound distortion."

Geez, his parents must have popped out a shit load of wolves. I wonder how many brothers-and-sisters-in-law I have... "Peregrine, how many siblings do you have?" It dawned on Hawkeye that the worlds they came from were vastly different. She had viewed pregnancy several times when she was a pup, for all of the packs in the area guarded and doted on the pregnant mothers. It was a celebration for them all, new life being the reason. She was sure that other packs around here would not bring gifts of any sort, or even congratulate her in any way if she was to be pregnant and have a litter.

"Oh, so two of them spoke to you, yes? I am sure that our darling little girl would tell her daddy that her brother is picking on her. Because we are having one of each." She nodded at this, making it seem like she knew this information matter-of-factly.

Hawkeye wanted to know about all his siblings. "Oh, man," he said, "let's see... there's Sveinx and Custard. This is going to sound bad but I also have two older sisters from that litter and I don't remember their names. One of them died and, well, they were a lot older than us and the other sister and Custard left before we were even born," Peregrine explained. "Then there's Dragoncello—who died before we were born—and Lawless, the notorious Tyrannus and Velox. Then Athena, Perseus, Echo, Atticus, Crete, Osprey, Dean, Ray and Koontz. The last three are younger." He blinked at her, wondering what she made of this plethora of in-laws. The two of them had never really addressed Koontz before, though he knew she'd lived on this very plateau once upon a time.

The Alpha female spoke just as matter-of-factly as he had, declaring that they were having a boy and a girl. "Tch, Osprey Junior's picking on him, not the other way around. If you're so sure, we should pick out a name for him," Peregrine added.

ooc: I feel bad talking crap about your old character >_> awkwaaaard

and I didn't want to name the poor boy "Owl" so I looked up the name for barn owls haha

"No wonder Crete was so pissed at me. I thought your brother's name was Tyrannosaurus. Oops." She shrugged, not really caring what Crete thought. Until he apologized, she would act like he didn't exist.

After thinking hard, Hawkeye's key-lime orbs lit up. "I say Tytonidae for the boy, and then we can call him 'Ty' for short."

A "what the fuck?!" burst from Hawkeye's mouth when suddenly remembering Koontz's name. "Koontz is my fucking sister-in-law?!"

And then it dawned on her that Pied and Koontz were related, and Peregrine and Pied were related. She should have fit the pieces together, but the last thing she had wanted to think about was Koontz.

"Your sister is a bitch, Peregrine." Hawkeye said with contempt and as if it were fact. "She owned this land before I claimed it as my own. I can't believe you're related to her. Ugh." The Alpha didn't care what Peregrine would reply with, it was disgusting that Koontz was his little sister. At least she could rub it in that bitch's face that she would be the mother to her nieces and nephews. A smirk appeared on her face. Maybe it wasn't that bad after all.

It's cool! Perry doesn't necessary feel the same, though. :P

When she mentioned Crete, Peregrine's lips parted. He'd been meaning to talk to her about his brother. Certain they'd had a misunderstanding, he wanted to set everything straight between them. Before he could even mention it, however, she threw out a name suggestion and then, less than a breath later, began ranting and raving about his younger sister rather unexpectedly.

"Jesus, Hawkeye," he replied, his ears sliding backward in displeasure. He didn't know what Koontz had done to earn her contempt but it irked him that she thought it was appropriate to badmouth her to him. "That's my little sister," he rejoined a bit woodenly. "I'd prefer you didn't talk about her that way to me, okay?" he added a bit more softly. "If you two had issues, they have nothing to do with me. But, for what it's worth, I'm sorry that's the case."

Feeling a little awkward now—and quite a bit like the perfect moment had been spoiled—Peregrine rolled his shoulders, trying to let his mate's crass words roll off his back. Working his jaw slowly, he tried to cut through the tension by saying, "I do like the name suggestion, though. Do you think it's cruel to give him such a wordy name? Will he even be able to pronounce it?" He laughed, albeit with a little bit of difficulty.

Hawkeye didn't care how she spoke about Koontz. If Peregrine had been there, he would've agreed with her, she knew it. She kept her mouth shut, though, because she did not want to upset her mate. She's still a bitch, Hawkeye thought to herself callously.

"Well, mother knows best, and that's why we'll call him 'Ty'." Hawkeye winked. "I do supposed 'Osprey Junior' is a lot more easy to pronounce, though." Hawkeye wished in this moment that she could feel her own stomach, but she guessed that that job would be left up to Peregrine.

He partially expected her to get mad at him for not allowing her to speak her mind to the one wolf who should be her absolute confidante. Peregrine wouldn't begrudge her her feelings, particularly because he had no idea what had gone on between Hawkeye and Koontz. He just couldn't listen to it, personally; it was quite a conflict of interest for him.

It seemed she understood this and Peregrine gave a little sigh of relief. "Tyton... shit, even I can't pronounce it," he said, pouncing on the change of subject. "Ty it is then. Ty and O.J. You two hear that?" Peregrine said, poking gently at his mate's silky black flank and then smiling up at her.

"You are being dramatic with the name! It's Ty-ton-i-dae. It's not so hard!" Hawkeye defended the name, for she instantly loved it. She had a thing for using full names, like "Peregrine" and "Robur Aqua" (even though his was sort of a mouthful as well).

"Those are nice nicknames, though. They will enjoy them, I know it." Hawkeye wished so hard that she could feel them move, that she swore she felt something. But maybe it was all in her head.

"Hey, just because I can't pronounce it doesn't mean it's a bad name or that I don't like it," Peregrine said in a cajoling voice. "As a matter of fact, I think it's badass. He could even go by Tyton if he really wanted, you know, like titan?" It made him think of his conversation with Osprey a few weeks back, when she'd urged him to name one of the pups after their old pack mate Tristan, also known as Three Tooth Pete. Well, wouldn't she be thrilled to hear this news?

"Ty and O.J., you're going to have the badassingest parents in the world," he said to Hawkeye's belly. He saw little droplets of water clinging to her black fur and he licked them away. "You're gonna have some awesome uncles and a pretty cool aunt too," he added and sat up, so that his face was level with Hawkeye's.

"Speaking of which," Peregrine said, addressing his mate now and speaking carefully while holding her gaze, "Crete mentioned the two of you had a disagreement. He wouldn't admit it but I really think it probably comes down to the fact that you're not used to his style of communication more than anything else. Crete's a great guy and I'm really, really sorry the two of you have gotten off on the wrong foot. I'd really like to make it better. Is there anything I can do, babe?" he queried beseechingly.

"Mmm, I like 'Titan'. That would be a great nickname. You know, I still have yet to meet your sister, though I am sure that if she is related to you, she's great." The ebony wolf was a little saddened when realizing that no one from her family would be around to see her litter. Even if he went crazy in the end, Dexter still had been her older brother and she missed his company; he wasn't himself when he had gone mad, and she didn't blame her brother for what happened to her hearing, though it was a little harder to accept that he'd most likely killed off (or more likely sacrificed) a pup from the pack.

Her face fell at the mention of Crete. This morning had been going so well, too. "It had nothing to do with his style of communication. He questioned my leadership, and not with actions I stand behind. Until he apologizes, which I am sure will never happen, he's on my shit list. I understand he's your brother, but if Ariston had done what Crete did, you'd have his neck." Irritation and impatience tipped her voice, and she knew that Peregrine would never pick sides between her and his brother.

When Hawkeye mentioned your sister, Peregrine's mind immediately when to Koontz, so his mate's words momentarily threw him for a loop. Then he realized she must be talking about Osprey. The inconsistency of her words—she certainly didn't think Koontz was great, even though she was his relative—made him smile lopsidedly at her.

"Oss is amazing. You'll like her a lot, I think." He wanted to ask about her family but they remained on the subject of Crete. When she spoke her mind on the matter, his ears slid backward. Her mention of Ariston confused him and Peregrine gave her a baldly perplexed look.

"Wait, what does Ariston have to do with anything?" he asked, then shook his head, deciding it didn't matter. "I wasn't there for this altercation," he reminded her, "but you must understand something about Crete—and Atticus too, for that matter. They're badly scarred by what happened with Tyrannus. It was very difficult to talk to them about my promotion right after it happened. In fact, I'm not sure where me and Atti stand," he admitted softly. "To an outsider, it would've seemed like they were badly disrespecting me—and it has been difficult to take for sure—but I know where they're coming from..."

Peregrine sighed, pursing his lips a moment and then saying, "Essentially, we're being subject to their understandable fears and insecurities about dictatorial Alphas. It's nothing we actually did. It's just hard for them to shake it, so it manifests in stuff like this. Crete will come to realize you're not some tyrant because, well, you're not. I think he took your words at the meeting in the worst negative way but I don't think you meant to make it sound like you wouldn't accept feedback from your members..." Peregrine realized he was treading in dangerous territory, so he let his voice fade away as he looked at her face, a beseeching expression on his imploring her to understand that he only wanted for his mate and family members to be able to get along.

A few moments before, she had melted from the lopsided smile that her mate had given her; now, a fire lit in her green eyes. "I brought up Ariston, because he critiqued something I did a few days ago, and I was fine with that; Crete, on the other hand, simply criticized the way I ran the pack. I mentioned that I wandered alone for a few days, and I am sure he took it as I left the plateau or even ignored others. That isn't the case. I was always there if needed. Your brother needs to listen more and watch the way he acts. He didn't show concern, simply anger.

"As for what happened with your brother Tyrannus — I am not him, and if anyone thinks I am, they can leave because I honestly won't tolerate those kind of thoughts about me. I am not here to prove myself to others, I am here to watch over my wolves and protect them. If Crete has a problem seeing that, it's his problem and not my own. Go ahead and choose his side, though, Peregrine. I'm done with it at this point." Hawkeye was overly frustrated. This whole situation was unfair, and she felt as if the Redleaf-DiSarinno family was ganging up on her. She especially didn't like the way Crete thought of her without even knowing her — that was the worst of it all.

Hawkeye explained why she brought up Ariston and Peregrine acknowledged its relevance with a quiet but genuine, "Oh, I see." He then fell quiet as his mate clearly vented her frustration on him. Although it stung him to hear her say those words—just as it had agitated him when Crete essentially said the same from the other side—Peregrine was able to exercise much more patience and restraint with Hawkeye than most others, particularly because he was certain her temper was a bit shorter due to the pregnancy.

"Babe, that hurts," he said patiently. "I'm not going to choose sides. All I'm trying to do is mediate because I love you both and want you to get along; that's all." He sounded a little frustrated but when he thought of what she'd said in regards to Tyrannus, he added empathetically, "And, believe me, I know how shitty it feels for them to hold Tyrannus's sins against us." And, of course, Hawkeye was free to deal with the matter however she saw fit; for Peregrine, it was a bit more complicated.

Although he was afraid she might turn away from him, Peregrine reached out in an attempt to nuzzle her. "I'm sorry," he said, which wasn't a phrase he used often. However, he couldn't stand being at odds with his mate. "Let's get back to focusing on spending this beautiful morning together," he suggested lightly, hoping she wouldn't tell him off. "We can spend it however you want but, if you're down, I'd love to spend the whole day with you."

Hawkeye hadn't even thought of Atticus and Crete holding their brother Tyrannus' reign over Peregrine's head. Now that she thought on it, she realized that he was probably more affected by all of this since he had a blood relation to them. Atticus should have known better, though. The midnight wolf figured that maybe he was just bitter that Hawkeye had chosen him as a mate, and so soon after... what had happened.

"I'm sorry for getting mad at you. I was only thinking of what I was going through and not that you were going through the same thing. I love you, Peregrine." She pushed her face into his shoulder and held her breath a moment. Hawkeye hesitated to move, never wanting to pull away.

"I will leave the day's activities up to you. I'm sure you have something planned, Prancer." A smile turned the edges of her mouth up, but her mind was still focused on her two brothers-in-law.

"It's okay," Peregrine assured her in a soft, deep voice. "I know," he added when she told him she loved him. "I don't think I could ever get tired of hearing you say that. I love you too, babe." He growled a happy note when her face buried itself in his shoulder.

"Mm, how about we go down to the hot spring for a dip?" he suggested, likely surprising her as this meant they would be leaving the territory—something which he rarely did. But this was a special occasion and the spring wasn't far off at all. "We can take a nice, warm soak together, then I can brush your coat with a pine cone," he murmured with a smile on his lips. "Then I'll give you the best massage of your life. How does that plan sound?"