Bearclaw Valley Like a rushing waterfall

long post is long

Raziel was contemplating the idea of abandoning Bearclaw Valley and returning to his home pack for a while now. Let Scarlett see that Kove was her wrong choice for her husband, he thought, let her realize that the Inuit will never be a faithful wolf, he will never be worthy of her. I personally would like to see her face when she finds out that Bearclaw Valley is leaderless and will disband because her goddamn husband is absent and no one in the Valley is fit to lead. It's about god fucking damn time that she, and all of them realize that I'm the one that's supporting the pack, that I'm the one that's been helping Scarlett when she was pregnant and then when she had pups. I'm should be her goddamn mate, I should be the one who's seed fathered her children. Obviously that isn't going to happen anytime soon, but I should at least get acknowledged as the one who's being the fatherly figure to the children. Kove's left her high and dry when she needed him most. First when she was pregnant, and second when the pups were born. I'm the one that's been here all along, and I'm not going to hide in the shadows and keep playing this part when or if Kove comes back. It's high time I get what I deserved. 

He still hadn't confirmed the decision of leaving. After all, he actually enjoyed being leader here and he knew if he went back to Noctem Vagus, he would never be an Alpha again for his half brother had most likely taken that job already. He didn't plan on stopping by any other pack on his journey to the Empire (if he was leaving) so that meant he wasn't going to ascend the ranks of other packs and become the leader anytime soon. If he went back to Aequor Ignis, he wouldn't have the throne as Azrael, his brother was already leader there. No doubt Azrael would give Raziel the throne if he wanted it, but the death angel didn't want that. Azrael had earned his place and he deserved it.

That meant, if he truly left, then he would be a subordinate forever. At best, he would be a second in command, but nothing more. And truth to be told, Raz wasn't sure if he could do that for the rest of his life.

Raziel decided that he would make the decision in the morning and retreated to his den to sleep, hoping the storm would pass by the time he awoke. This wasn't going to be a normal storm alright, he sensed that something was wrong. The sky was an unusual colour that afternoon, it had been so humid and the clouds were dark and heavy. Then there had been the feeling he had; that something was terribly, terribly off but he couldn't place his paw on it. It was all so confusing, and if there was one thing the Roman hated, it was being confused, being in the dark, not knowing what was happening, not knowing what to do. And that was how he felt today.

Raziel slept fitfully and at a particularly loud rumble of thunder, the Roman was pulled roughly from the sweet realm of dreams. He stared groggily around for a moment as he jerked upwards into a standing position, before registering the feeling of water on his paws. It soaked through his thick fur, sticking them to his skin. He glanced around with wide teal eyes, noticing that a shallow layer of water filled his den and that more was steadily coming. He thanked the gods that his herb den was a good distance away from the river so they wouldn't get soaked, but cursed himself for stupidly deciding to sleep in the forest by Scarlett and the pups's den. 

Scarlett and her pups's den. Scarlett and her pups's den!

Their den was sure to be filled with water by now, they were so close to the river that was now overflowing and flooding all the areas near it. The puppies were in danger unless evacuated to a safe area in the pack, and now that Kove was probably not in the den and Scarlett was alone with the children, it was obvious that if they didn't get any help, they were destined to die. This was absolutely brilliant! He would take this time to sneakily leave the valley and leave them all. That would show them all to take him for granted. Scarlett, especially, would finally realize that she would be nothing when he was gone. He was the one who was there always after all, he brought her meals, played with her children. Oh, she was sure to be lost when he was gone. Sure, that thought was selfish but who gave a flying fuck? He had been selfless for too long, sometimes, you just had to think of yourself too. And Raz was doing exactly that.

Yes, this was perfect. Then he froze, the image of the pups when he first saw them swimming through his mind, then Sesi's look when he played with her just this afternoon and his heart jumped to his throat as he realised what danger they were in. They are not your children, leave them be and fucking leave already, snarled a voice in his brain but he realised that he couldn't leave them. While they might not be related to him by blood, he loved them in a fatherly manner, and knew that while they were not born from his seed, he was still their father as Kove was always fucking gone. And a father did not abandon his children no matter what.

Quickly, Raziel made his way to where the den was, already halfway there when Scarlett's panicked howl rang sharply through the air. He quickened his pace, practically flying as he ran as fast as he could to get there. Finally, he spotted them and halted right in front of the, fierce teal eyes which were narrowed against the rain analyzed the situation quickly. "Can you see now, Scarlett?" he snarled. "You should've broken up with your good for fucking nothing husband when he left for so long. Can you see that I'm the one that's always been there for you now? I don't want to argue with you right now, so I won't, but the moment we reach a safe area. You and I are going to talk, because this shit won't fly."

Then he turned to the kids and picked up Desna in his jaws, gently grasping her by her scruff before picking up his pace once more, indicating with a flick of his tail that they were to follow him. He had picked up Desna and not Nanook or Alexander because they were more capable of walking in his opinion. Desna was too fat to him and therefore it would slow her down. If he had known what Scarlett was thinking when she picked the pups up and transported them out of the den, he would've disagreed. In his opinion, Nanook would be the one to panic the least. Polar bears did not panic after all, and bossy wolves did. "You're all very brave, you know? This will be a story to tell your children when you grow up, how you survived a flood in a storm when you were just a month old......" he continued speaking quiet assurances to the kids as they walked, hoping to give them something to concentrate on other than the fear that was probably threatening to consume them.