Greatwater Lake I've lied for you, and I liked it too

As soon as @Nazli was settled and resting, Khaba immediately went to find where @Zharille had gone.

He wanted to see the truth of how she felt regarding his return. Perhaps she had set aside her feelings, given they had not been alone before. But he sensed something new would come.

the darkwood man had returned to her - yet he had not been alone. the girl he brought was his opposite: small, and round, and meek. and she had come from the place of dust. zharille did not know what to make of these things yet, and besides, her hormones were often at-odds with the rest of her.

she kept tabs on where the man took his girl, and where they made their beds. this was as much her right to know, as the matriarch, as it was tactical; she could perhaps wield this girl against khaba should he step out of line, or try to leave her again.

when she saw he was alone, she made herself known with a rumble, and approached him. he looked healthy, glossy, and otherwise undamaged; wherever he had gone, he had not been hurt. that much was a blessing. she probed at his furs for clues and could find many wolf-scents she did not know, and that made her rumbling chest shift to a deeper, more malevolent note.

she needed answers.

She came to him, searching. There were added scents upon his coat. Scents she would not know, but ones he could not explain.

They do not matter, he told her with a light croon.

Leaning closer, he hovered his chin across her backside, nibbling against her neck, and occasionally the ears. 

I am here to stay.

He wanted her to know this, for it was true. 

There was no longer an oath pulling him elsewhere. This.. her, it was what he wanted.

there would be no clarification here. only that he was inviting her to inspect as much as she might want, and that he was now physical with his doting, as if to make up for lost time; or to appease her in a way th at once worked, and it was working - she was at-ease with him there.

but she thought of the girl and looked away from him, not reciprocating any of his toothiness. zharille looked in the direction she knew the girl was being kept, and where she slept, and lashed her tail with obvious displeasure.

Pleased, but then not.

Khaba turned his head in frustration, eyes following her own. It was in the direction of the den he'd found for Nazli.

But they were not sharing a sleeping place! How could she be so upset? Was it jealousy?

Chuffing towards her, his body made a little bouncing motion; a beckoning. She would follow him. She would see that they had distance, him and the girl. Zharille would not need to hold any worry.

he tried to take her attention away, and she let him think the effort was successful. he bounced around her and led her eye, and drew her away from that place - protective of it, and of the girl. that was enough knowledge for zharille; she understood now that the girl did have some power, somehow. she might not share his bed, but there was something precious about her and zharille would find a way to utilize that.

for now, she accepted her place alongside the man. where was it he wanted to go? she could not move as swiftly as him now, and had to be careful. a fall would be disasterous for the children she carried; they seemed to agree, and shuffled inside of her, earning a pinched look and a pause.

zharille carried on following after the movements eased, and hummed a sound that indicated curiosity towards the darkwood man.

Hesitancy again, but later acceptance. 

She tried to follow after, yet slowed after a moment. Not as quick as before, and he had a guess why. 

Alas, it was no matter to him. This was a natural thing. Something she had wanted, in fact.

He would continue to lead her on towards his makeshift den. It could be improved on layer, but for now, it was as it was.

Slow, he walked, looming close so that she could use his own body as support if she needed to. He wanted her to see this. To know that he could have attention on both Zharille and Nazli. Neither would keep him from the other. They were both his responsibility now.

they came eventually to a dugout. it was larger than any den mouth she had ever seen, and that was a good thing - they were both large wolves, and zharille would need ample space for her giant children; that's what she felt, anyway. the more active they became (which typically happened in the evenings) the more and more she believed they would be giants, and strong ones.

she had not thought to build a den for herself yet. the impulse had not struck her; however, upon seeing what khaba had already built for himself, she felt covetous of it. although he'd helped her this far, she pulled away from him and moved close to the den, inspecting it, scraping at the dirt, probing her nose in to the dark recesses so that she was wedged in the entrance, up to her shoulders.

it passed her inspection - but more importantly, it smelled nothing like the girl, and now would carry zharille's mark. her paws left gouges in the floor as well as scent; when she extricated herself from the entry-way, she turned to look proudly upon khaba.

To the den mouth they arrived, slowly but surely.

As soon as they were upon it, Zharille moved from his side, waddling her way within to search it. She was looking for the girl, no doubt. But she would not find her.

Then, after seeing its emptiness, she brought her scent to loom here. 

Khaba figured, by this, he would not be the only to take the space of this den. Now, he could be glad he had made it so large. It would fit them both; her as well as her children too.

She returned from within soon after, looking upon him with what he saw to be pride. His chin lifted in response, facade still somewhat barren, despite a touch of warmth in his eyes.

he did not seemed pleased, but it didn't matter. zharille's happiness was all that should be required. she was the one to allow the girl to stay, and she was the one who carried the future within herself - the future that included khaba's own blood.

she reached for him, raking her teeth through the fur of his neck in a moment of tenderness - and possession. then she moved to snap her teeth close to his face, almost across his muzzle, as a reminder; but if that hit or not, zharille wasn't concerned.

her attention now was upon the den, not the man who built it. she sought the darkness of the interior, and delved in deep, turning around a few times before planting herself carefully on her belly, flat and sprawling.

Raking teeth, then snapping ones. She gave her reminder and warnings as she'd always done. Khaba did not flinch back, letting whatever marking be made upon himself.

Soon after, back in she went, curling herself towards the back wall. But he would not join her there. He would not ever, not until she wanted him to.

For the time being, he would simply place himself at the edge of the doorway. A silhouette guarding the den in which she had chosen to claim as her sleeping place.