Rising Sun Valley the power of voodoo (discovery)

Pied was on the verge of imploring Jinx even more vehemently when the Kesuk's response made her stop short. It was one of the most natural laws. Her mind flew to the young Fox and she understood, even if she didn't like it. A look of resignation passed over her face when no compelling reply came to her lips. The Alpha was the law and, unless Jinx was willing to uproot for the sake of her litter—which she clearly wasn't, particularly considering her past—then there wasn't much to be done.

Then Jinx said something which made Pied's eyes narrow, though her face went slack a moment later. If Jinx wanted to tell herself that Fox was sacrificing her pups for some great religious act, then so be it. Maybe it was her way of finding reason in the senseless slaying of her progeny. For the moment, it didn't occur to her that Jinx actually planned to destroy the pups herself before Fox could rightfully get to them.

"How could you be so careless?" Pied asked sharply. Regardless of Jinx's lack of attachment to her pups or concern for their fate, those little beings inside her hadn't asked for any of this. "Why did you mate, knowing this would likely happen, knowing the consequences? You brought lives into this world just to be killed? I can't argue that it's within Fox's rights but..." Her nostrils flared and she let out a long breath. "And unless I'm seeing things, you're pretty far along... meaning you conceived while still part of the ridge." She shook her head.

"Oh, Jinx," she mused, as if to herself, "every time I start to think I could actually respect you, maybe even like you..." You go and do something ludicrously despicable, she finished mentally, realizing she didn't want to pick a fight, even with little lives at stake.

"I'm expecting too," she shared almost defensively, "but I'm not as far along as you. I..." She'd meant to say something but whatever it was, she almost immediately forgot it when a thought struck her out of nowhere. "Jinx, is there any way you could smuggle your pups to me when they're born? I'll tell everyone I found them. I can take care of them. There's no need for them to die."