Blackfeather Woods tides that I tried to swim against

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seff blurted words that vuk hadn't thought she'd ever hear, but the boy had laid them before her quickly, and now watched her for a response. for a long moment, the patchwork wolfess stared at her son, her mind whirling with all the words she must now piece together into an explanation -- why seff bore the eyes and father of the nameless wolf, and not terich. vuk was unprepared, but she had no choice; she loved seff deeply and there was a great deal of hope within her that he would understand.
"t-terich is n-not y-your f-father, n-not b-by b-blood," she began simply, watching his handsome young face for any hint of anger or hurt. "w-when i was y-younger, i l-lived in a p-pack a-along a r-ridge. t-there w-was a m-man there w-who d-did not s-speak, and i f-fell in l-love w-with h-him. y-you l-look l-like h-him."
"i w-was n-not allowed to h-have ch-children, b-but he f-found m-me all the s-same," vuk went on vaguely, not wanting to delve into the mechanics of sexual intercourse right upon the heels of this difficult conversation. "w-when i f-found i was p-pregnant, the l-leader t-told m-me i m-must l-leave or h-have my children k-killed when they w-were b-born." the pain of it was surprisingly raw, still, after all this time. "s-so i r-ran away. i w-wandered. t-terich f-found m-me and i d-decided to g-go back, and b-beg f-for mercy. b-but the p-pack had f-fallen. and i t-think the wolf ... i t-think he d-died."
vuk drew a shuddering breath, exhausted by the telling, by the emotions and the effort it took to shape the words. "i h-had y-you t-there, in the d-dirt. t-there was a f-famine  -- anyway, t-terich decided he w-would b-be m-my mate, and h-help me to r-raise you, and w-when y-you w-were born, h-he p-protected you and i until w-we r-reached r-reek's p-pack." and there it was. vuk was silent, searching seff's eyes with her own, and begging deep within herself that he would not ask if he had been born alone. she did not think she could bear that telling.[/tr][/td][/table]