Wheeling Gull Isle saying she is lost, and choking on hello

for @Aiolos and @Mou - backdated to when Phox came?

She heard the howl go up, but thought nothing of it. It wasn't a voice she recognized, after all, and if it was someone come to join their ranks, then all the better. They had a lot of mouths to feed, no thanks to Maegi. She was doing her best—but it was clear she was in over her head with this quartet.

@Prevost! Ow! she snapped as the girl gnawed on her ear, shaking her head like a dog with a bone. Maegi twisted hers in turn, trying to loose the little fiend from her head. Prevost stepped back eventually, dark fur leaf-dappled in the sunlight.

She rolled her eyes upward, letting herself flop dramatically onto her side. @Peregrine took this as an invitation to pounce on her ribs, and his red-legged sister soon followed suit. Under constant siege. . . Ah, the joys of motherhood.

It was outside the den where anyone would find her, basking in the shade, swarmed by children.

while the others climbed all over mother for entertainment, vesper exulted in the freedom she associated with being outside of the den. there were so many smells, so many things to see— but maegi kept a short leash on them all, and the dark child respected the limits that mother had set. even so, she kept to the edges of the boundary, distancing herself from the chaos of her littermates.

she had lost track of @Blueberry, who might be trailing behind her, or perhaps kept quietly to mother's side. as protective as vesper felt of the pale child, there were times when preferred to keep her own company instead. besides, blueberry was catching up to them— perhaps now even nearing vesper in size— and the eldest no longer felt the overwhelming need to teach her. blueberry could take care of herself, now.

vesper stuck her head into a nearby bush, tracking a smell there, her whole body wagging with excitement.

Yupp! We can say this is shortly after cause Aiolos would have gone to Maegi with the news.

It would be of no surprise that Aiolos came looking for Maegi directly after Phox arrival. Mou had taken it upon himself to lead the man somewhere he could settle in though Aiolos felt Mou too would join them at the den site there after.

Hello Vesper. He addressed the brown and black little girl who's head was shoved in a bush when he had arrived at the densite. Now that the pups were a little older, Aiolos would need to be mindful of what he said around them though there was a good chance they were still too young to really get it yet.

Maegi, He greeted the scarred woman with a dip of his muzzle, whom he now took to sharing his position as lead with. I have some news... By his tone and expression one might imagine the news was not great either.

A rustling, and she turned to see Vesper nosing into a bush, eternally curious. Before she could coax the girl away from any thorns or brambles, Aiolos was on scene, giving her daughter a greeting before speaking to her in a tone that raised the hair along her spine.

What? she said, lifting herself into a more upright position and sending the pups tumbling, giggling, to the earth. What is it?

Not a moment of peace. Not in her life. Maegi just hoped this crisis was a manageable one.

His head falls a bit, to align with his spine and his ears press against his skull as a nervousness sets in Maegi as she asks him, and again. Aiolos lowers himself in respect for the woman. After Hua's drop in position, Aiolos and Maegi's talks went from just getting to know one another and onto Aiolos reporting to her, confiding in her. It felt right to him, to have a strong and capable woman to report to, to get her views and opinions. Now, though she was a silent partner right now, Maegi lead with him. She was Mother of Yuelong now and had become a very important woman for both he and Yuelong.

Phox has returned. He says, looking to the pups out of the corner or his gaze but remaining focused on Maegi. He has not found what he did confirm, was his mate. Which answered Maegi's previous questions when he first visited. Phox was Naimh's mate, these pups father.

Moving in closely, he speaks low, though with names and wolves they did not know, his words would be more or less 'adult talk' to the pups. In knowing this is the last place she was scented and seen, he wished to stay here, to join us and in hoped she may return here again. He states he is a skilled hunter, that he wishes for no other mate and will not sire more children. He says, Niamh is his world, as our their children. He takes a breath, allowing Maegi to collect her thoughts. I dont obviously know the man nor knew Naimh and what had happened between them...It would have been suspicious to turn him away, however and at least now we have him in our sights. Yuelong is just us really, now and if someone is going to help us feed these growing pups, might as well be blood. Aiolos, personally, was the odd man out in this little family, but he was trying to figure out what was best to mend the gaps.

The first bit of news wasn't surprising; she assumed the man would come back at some point. But then Aiolos continued, and her blood ran cold. She stared at him as though she saw a ghost, her face gaunt and devoid of all blood. At "skilled hunter" she was on her paws, and as the man wrapped up, she was circling, rounding up the litter, cajoling them inside. Even @Vesper, with her head in the bush.

In the den. All of you. Now. Her tone held no room for opposition. Once all of them were properly corralled—Jaes willing—Maegi turned back to Aiolos, planting herself firmly in front of the den, a bulwark against threats of all kind.

She sucked in a breath. Let it go. So he is here, she said, flatly. The only emotion she was capable of feeling was panic, and she was trying her level best to tamp it down. She had to be strong. For Mou, for the babies. She had never had the liberty to not be strong (and yet how many times had she failed. . .?).

We. . .will handle it, Maegi continued. She shook her head ruefully, a burst of air that could have been laughter escaping her nose. We have no choice. But he does not come close to this place. Not—not yet.

Perhaps not ever. But time would tell.

Frozen. Feared. Aiolos had explained himself fully and she had lifted, rounding up the pups despite any and all protest and to get them into the densite. Aiolos fought the frown. Maegi was a protective and cautious mother but for now at least, Phox hadn't a clue that the pups in the pack were his pups.

Settled at the opening like a Sentinel, she looks back to Aiolos, stating the obvious of Phox though Aiolos nods silently anyway. Then another silent nod as Maegi says they would handle it, that they had no choice but to do so, but how? Aiolos left that decision to the mother who would direct him as such when needed. Until then Aiolos would keep the lie tightly wrapped and hope it does not come unraveled.

He should no better then to get close to a mother with new pups, especially as a new member. He spoke and then, another thought. Mou said they were brothers... though it seems Phox does not realize this.

Maegi couldn't remember if Mou had ever told her about his siblings. Probably not. Her husband was so tight-lipped about his blood family; hell, she'd found much of it out through sources other than him. But this added another wrinkle, because while Phox may be the father of the older trio, Mou was their uncle—and she had loved Miraak like a father.

Mou hasn't seen his family in a long time, Maegi explained. They. . .had a falling out. To put it mildly. And his family and mine were—are?—enemies. There was a war, when I was a child. She tried to explain as succinctly as possible; to give Aiolos the entire story would be both tedious and potentially dangerous.

After all, neither Mou nor Maegi had been angels in their lives, nor the packs they had been born into.

She took another steadying breath. That's why we came here. To be safe from any trouble that might come our way. And yet— She grimaced, but it came closer to a smile as she looked at Aiolos. Trouble has found us once again, I suppose.

So what now? He doesn't have to know now, Maegi said. But I think we'll need to tell him. Some day. I would like to know. Wouldn't you, if it were your children?

Maegi confirmed the lack of connection Mou had with his brother as he had said to Meerkat upon vet visit. It seemed, since childhood, Mou had been separated from the majority of his family with a war that went against Maegi's own. How the pair came to be, Aiolos didnt know and would not for he would not ask. A true pair of star crossed lovers they were.

The red Greek nods, silent awhile and gives a small, sheepish smile of his own about trouble coming their way. In this case it wasnt even trouble that had been of their own making. Naimh had brought it upon them and while she had not meant to die, Mou and Maegi's good nature put them on the wrong end of a family that had in some manner or another been enemies of them their whole lives.

I think if we dont tell him and he somehow finds out down the road by other means it will be worse for the lot of us. He spoke and then, But when we do hell him what happen, if he is as true as his words, he will want what it best for his pups and be accepting that Niamh wanted to have them here, away from the Caldera.

Yes, she murmured in agreement, folding her tail 'round and close to her paws. It was if she was trying to make herself smaller, to sink into the earth and with Jaes's grace, bring Mou and the children down with her. If they could just escape, find safety. . .

I wouldn't trust Redhawks with a bit of prey, Maegi admitted. She'd seen them kill Miraak, after all. And the wounds they'd inflicted upon Cicero had killed him, too. They'd taken from her, even if they had given her perhaps the greatest blessing of all—her mate and their children. This. . . I want to get to know him first. See if he's anything like the rest of them.

But Niamh had changed. The three of them had found accord before her death. And if the fierce golden woman could be redeemed in Maegi's eyes, then maybe anyone could. Well. Almost anyone.

Last one for me I think.

His little Leadess spoke her fears, her worries. How the Redhawks could not be trusted and Mou before this day had similar views, that they were warmongers. Aiolos thoughts lingered to The Saints and the type of wolves that chose to walk with them. He wondered if the two groups were made up of the same stuff.

Another nod, Aiolos eyes met the keen attention of her own. Then we wait. He confirms aloud. Time will tell... But how much time the little group had, Aiolos did not know nor did he yet know if adding Phox to the mix would help or hinder their ranks.

Now that the manner was settled, Aiolos looks past Maegi and towards the opening of the whelping den. Moving forward to it slowly, he lowers his head, tail sweeping back and forth quickly now. Might as well take some time playing with the pups while he was here!

Wait. That was all they could do. But she hated waiting. It was that sensation of the other shoe dropping; when would it fall? She'd rather get it over with than lay low, but they had no choice.

She smiled as he turned toward the children, looking to play. Say hi to Aiolos, Maegi called to them, still more or less remaining obediently inside the den.

HI, YOLOS! came the responding cacophony.

After a moment, she, too, joined in the fun. At least it kept her mind off things, somewhat, but the dread never went away entirely.

That damned other shoe.