Gyrfalcon's Keep Amor vincit omnia, et nos cedamus amori

backdated to the same night as the hunter's moon

She trembled, she fidgetted; she could play most of it off as mere excitement at the night - the stories, reuniting with so many of her family, with the thrill of the hunt and the stories given. She knew better. Before the night had waned she had sidled up to Grayday and reached up to him, nipping at his shoulder. "Now," She had mumbled softly, guiding him from the shores with the promises of the Corten's minding the children. Catori was paranoid but she knew they could trust them. What she couldn't trust right then was how she felt and how everything seemed to be ramped up. She should have skipped the evening but then she couldn't - she just couldn't. 

She breathed out against his skin once she'd come to a stop right in the place they'd first met. Catori Corten gave a low growl and she reached for her husband, chest heaving in a most unbecoming way. But then, who cared? Gray wouldn't see it - not as clearly as when they'd met - and yet she knew the sight would be enough for him anyways. "Grayday," She'd crooned to him, just beyond his reach. "Enough practice - I want to carry our babies." A lofty demand but one she felt that @Grayday would do just fine in obliging her. 

The night had been fun and Grayday was somewhat sorry to leave the merry gang behind, but the siren-call of his wife was too strong to ignore, and he knew that Easy and Lavender were in good hands among their siblings and extended family. Besides, he was eager to hurry Catori away from the other men, blood or not. Being unable to see their faces, he assumed they had all looked on her with lust; he knew he would have, had be been able.

He followed after her, nose ever-reaching for the enthralling scent that emanated from the core of his wife. Blindly, he bumped into her when she stopped and turned, and Grayday followed with searching teeth, coming through her feverish fur. It did not occur to ask her if she was sure, or to wonder if this time, things would be different. Without a thread of uncertainty, he drew himself atop his mate and took the skin of her neck between his teeth, hips already working against hers. It was impossible to achieve anything at his frenzied pace; deliberately, he slowed his thrusts, and his legs burned with the effort.

"Love you," he mumbled against her spine, finally sinking into her welcoming heat.

whoops excuse my crap posts while I get back into the swing of things

 

His teeth met her skin and she made a low rumble of approval, already arching beneath him. It was intense as always but the frenzy she didn't expect tore her her up inside. Catori knew the threat of heats but never the divinity of its consummation and was glad to share it with Grayday. His affection brought a crooning response from her too, appreciative of the time he took to bother to remind her at least. Not that she needed it. Still, it was nice to have. 

She adjusted her stance to make it more comfortable for them both. She felt safe, secured there, and everything seemed to have come full circle. This was where they had met, it seemed the most appropriate that their children be conceived on the same river bank. "Love you,"  Catori managed to find her voice to answer him better but she dididn move to distract him from his task. 

Skipping along through this because my muse only wants fluff rn

The leader could sense his mate's eagerness and required no more prompting to carry on. And, as was always the case where he and heats were involved, the male was destined not to last for very long. Perhaps a bit longer than he had in his youth, but still not quite as long as he would have liked.

"That snuck up on me," he admitted between pants, shifting his weight to one paw so that he would not crush his mate. There was a tiny edge of embarrassment to his voice, but he was not too concerned. They had all night, and the upside to heats was that, although they always stole away his stamina, they did tend to shorted his recovery time by half.

He butted Catori's shoulder with his nose, feelings of love and affection washing over him in powerful waves. He was glad that he was already sure of his love for her, because if he hadn't been, he knew he would always wonder if another heat had spellbound him once more. "I wonder what they'll look like," he said, speaking the next thing that occured to him. He knew by now that he would never see his children again, but was comforted by the knowledge that he would have Catori there to describe them to him in detail.

 


Catori wasn't forced to wait long thankfully, her husband supplying her with exactly what her body was demanding. By the time that Grayday had shifted his weight Catori had laughed, tail twitching a bit even off to the side. "I have that effect on you - but don't  worry. You'll make it up to me later." Catori mused, indulging a bit with a few arches and shifts of her back to press against him. She was greedy for the contact, even if briefly satisfied, still she just wanted more.

His question made her pause for a moment, wishing that she had some magic spell to return his vision to him. Even now with his sacrificed eye she thought him too young to have it taken away. The world was unfair though, and she wondered if Sunny and Dauntless carried the same genetics - would their boys, too? "I would be surprised if they weren't a healthy mix - stone washed greys and maybe some pale creams.... I bet they're going to be beautiful. Even our boys.  " Catori mused. She had put a decent amount of day dreaming into it after all - and they were coming to be in the final hours of the hunter's moon. 

Catori knew they would be perfect. "How many do you think we'll have?" Catori worried some, being her first litter but not her first heat, just how things might play out. Gray was a proven father - all five of his children seemed healthy. She didn't know what losses might have been suffered though. 

Grayday rumbled his agreement, rubbing his cheek against Catori's shoulder. All his children were beautiful, but Cat - she was something else. He couldn't even imagine what their kids would look like, and it burned him that he would never be able to see... but Cat's words were a balm on that wound, and a reminder that he was not without ways to experience the world, his children, his wife...

"We'll have as many as we're meant to," he said with certainty; he'd come to accept that all things were predetermined by their Creators. Probably, their children had already been named and designed by the combined efforts of their respective gods. Thus far, the gods had given him only beautiful children, only healthy children. His litters had been full and complete, even if the first had been somewhat small. "The gods have been good to us," he shared, feeling a little silly speaking on the matter. "I feel... as if we're doing something right. Like everything will be alright."

He hid his face against her fur. "Not that I'm complacent. I'm on the lookout for any trouble," he assured. "I just wanted you to know that I feel good about this."

 


Grayday had such confidence that things would work out just the way that they were meant to. It was reassuring, for certain, for Catori but she also had her own little hopes and wishes. "If we don't have as many as I want, I guess we'll just have to make more." She teased warmly, tail wagging against Grayday's flank. She wasn't sure just how many children she wanted - and honestly, she needed to survive their first litter before thinking of the second or third. 

"We're doing what we're meant to," Catori understood that and felt the same way. There was no question in her mind. She understood the natural order of things and everything that Catori felt was that this was right. She knew Grayday had suffered in his life but maybe that was so this would be so rewarding to him. Catori knew she could have shared her heats with someone else or enjoyed others outside of her heats but she had not. She was meant to share herself with Grayday. 

"Well, you found trouble when you found me." Catori mused. "But I understand what you mean, honey. I feel the same way." She assured him with a smile even though he wouldn't see it. 

"Ah," said Grayday with a silly grin, "but that's because I was on the lookout then, too!"

He shoved his muzzle into the warm fur of her neck, enjoying the moment of closenes with his mate. Never before had he felt so... so safe with a woman. It was almost a foreign concept, that a wife should be as reassuring to him as he was to her. But with Catori, he finally felt as though he stood on even ground with someone. She was his to protect, but she was his shieldmaiden as well.

"I love you, Cat," he said baldly, feeling as though he couldn't say those words enough. He'd never get enough of her.