Whitebark Stream pacing

Grezig paced and paced, aware that such frantic movement was, perhaps, not good for her unborn children, but right now she cared not. Kavik had vanished. Kavik had left her. She'd finally gotten him all to herself, he'd given her children, and then he had disappeared. How dare he? How dare he? If he came back, she'd rip his throat out with her teeth and feast on his blood! How dare he abandon her, their children! She had loved him, had mourned the loss of him when she'd left the Plateau, had thought of him so often in her time away from him. And he, Kavik, a man who held strong to his convictions about family and loyalty, had left her. Left her while she was pregnant with his children. Well. 

Were he ever to return here, she would certainly not allow him to see their children. Her children. This would be the second litter she would raise without any help from the father. So be it. She did not need men in her life. She could do it all, on her own, men be damned. She continued pacing back and forth in front of her den, her fangs bared and the hair along her neck and spine bristling.

It had been the pack meeting that caused the realization that Kora hadn't been introducing herself to as many packmates as she found acceptable. Finding a pacing packmate was already concerning enough, but stumbling upon one so close to her due date was even more worrying to the lady. The woman announced her presence with a simple chuff, attempting to make sure the lady wasn't so lost in her thoughts that Kora would startle her. Stopping about a yard away Kora let worry crease her brow as concern knit her features. "Kia ora, Sorry to bother you but you seem troubled. We haven't met yet but if you need somebody to vent to I'm quite willing to listen." 

Kora had always been a listener as much as she was a socializer, possibly even more. The woman found joy in giving an outlet to people who needed it as they usually always felt better afterward and that gave the lady a sense of purpose. Her tail shifted ever so slightly as she twisted her ears to the front, her willingness to listen presently shown. If the other told her to get lost Kora would take no offense and walk away, no questions asked.

The sound of a voice startled her, and she turned quickly and snapped her jaws in the direction of the voice, baring her teeth at whoever had interrupted her pacing. After a moment, realization dawned in her eyes and she glanced at the woman sheepishly. “Forgive me,” she said, curtly. “I am…” She glanced at the white-furred woman again, looking her up and down and deciding whether to take her advice and vent to someone. There was a time in which doing so would have disgusted her, back when most of her speech was monosyllabic. But that had been a long time ago.

“I am pregnant,” she eventually stated, “as you can see. The man who impregnated me, someone I have been in love with for a long time, left me here.” She began to pace again. “He is gone. He has left the pack territory without telling me, or anyone, most likely. He has abandoned me, and his children. And I will not forgive him for that.”

Kora jumped back slightly as the jaws that clashed in front of her but paid no mind to it and simply waved it off with a cream paw as the woman apologized. The ivory woman could tell the other hesitated in explaining her troubles and Kora did not doubt her actions. The lady understood that telling somebody you just met about your problems seems awkward or even embarrassing and held nothing against the woman for her actions. Eventually, the tan lady began telling Kora of her situation as a frown started to seep through her normally joyful expression. Droplets of pity and anger found home in Kora's heart as she realized what the other was experiencing. 

"And he deserves no such thing. One who can't stay for not only his mate but his children as well have no place in your life." she stated as she tried to reassure the woman. "But understand that if he doesn't have the guts to stick around, the pups will be much better without him correct? I believe that your future children have as much a place here as you do, anything you need I am willing to assist with. As I am positive so is the rest of the pack. You deserve much better, and so do your pups." Her spew of words matter-of-factly as she offered her assistance to the stressed woman. Kora had no respect for somebody who could leave without so much as a word, that respect left along with him.