Phoenix Maplewood Grace under pressure

She could never have guessed his reasons. Saena wasn't all that perceptive, so the suggestion that Reek might be afraid of his future responsibility to his future kids seemed ludicrous. Had someone suggested it—strangely, nobody had made the connection—she might've thought they were bonkers, truly. In fact, when Reek revealed his insecurity about being a father and wanting his children to like him, unlike Saena's feelings toward her own father, she momentarily thought he was bonkers. It took every ounce of willpower not to smirk or snort or otherwise betray her amusement. At its core, his fear was sweet and his attempt to trial run before the real thing was even moreso. Laughing in his face was hardly the mature thing to do.

Still, "you're nuts," just had to be said. She let it linger on the air for a moment, and then she couldn't help but to smile and chuckle. What a goof. "Don't leave them and they'll never have a reason to hate you, Reek. Peregrine's a shitty dad, a shitty wolf. His cares don't extend beyond himself, ever. You're not him. You won't abandon them." Not like he had a choice in the matter. If Reek tried, she'd go to the ends of the earth to make sure he rued the day. He was stuck here now whether he liked it or not, and that would only be finalized when she gave birth to his future children.

"But seriously," she said, shaking her head, "coyotes aren't a good test subject. They're like, hatched from eggs or something, and they don't have parents to care about, and they're usually alone and stuff. They aren't wolves, they don't care about family." Boy was she wrong on all accounts. "Wolves are different than that, and they'd be your kids, you can't possibly screw it up with them... unless you leave them." To reiterate that he wasn't going to. Good? Good.

"You'd have to, like... steal someone else's kid for a real test run, you know." Not that she was suggesting doing that. It'd be a terrible idea. They didn't really have room for more dependents and anyway, stealing kids was probably a good way to start a war. Not something any of them needed. Though if he so happened to find a wolf cub, his trial run would go over much better.