Horizon Ridge If I fall for you, I'll never recover

When he replied in kind, Pied gently nipped at the side of his snout and teased, "I thought you fell for me long ago? The first time you saw me?" Her tail swept sideways in an arc and she bumped her muzzle beneath his affectionately.

Motioning for him to follow, the mottled yearling began to pad closer to the surf again, enjoying the icy spray of seawater. The bluish gray patches on her slim body nearly matched the steel blue shades of the water and the roiling breakers were as snowy white as the rest of her pelt. From almost any angle, the ocean made the perfect backdrop for the piebald she-wolf, complementing her; it was as if she and the sea were made for one another.

Slanting her pale muzzle over her shoulder, her yellow and indigo eyes found Kisu's and she grinned good-naturedly and said, "We should think of names for our future sons and daughters. Well, I already have a name in mind for a daughter, if you like it too." Despite cutting her ties with the gods when Bon Dye fell, Pied still recollected her dream of Atka, the simorgh.

The grey male smiled coyly at Pied's response, simply nodding in agreement. He had a feeling that she would continue to be right in their relationship, and nodding would become a sort-of signature of his; he smiled at this thought and wondered how they would grow together.

Kisu's breath was taken from him as he followed Pied to the shore and noticed that the dappled female matched the moving waves perfectly; blue-grey mimicking the rushing sea, and white being duplicated in the foamy crests of the surf.

And then she mentioned names. Names? He hadn't a clue. Maybe one named for his father, but he couldn't be sure; he found that it would be better to name pups after they were born to figure their personalities. Of course, his father had named himself and his twin brother perfectly without a clue of how they would turn out.

"What is the name you desire to give her?" It felt odd to Kisu to speak like they had already produced a female. He chose not to disclose to his mate that his family had only produced males for three generations.

Despite her severed ties with the white bear goddess, Pied did not hesitate to answer, "Saēna," when Kisu asked. Her tail twitched upward and she smiled as the name played across her lips. "It came to me in a dream," she explained. "Do you like it?" she questioned lightly, trying to brace herself in case her mate-to-be hated it.

Kisu smiled. "Well," he began, "if it came to you in a dream, then we must place the name upon her." The name sounded different, but interesting to him. He briefly wondered what it would be like to have a daughter, and a bad taste was left in his mouth when he thought of giving her to another male when she came of age.

She grinned when he said they should use the name, a little thrill of excitement sending a tingle down her backbone. "I can't wait," she confessed in a gust of breath. "It can happen any day now. I'll be two in February," she mentioned, referring to her cycle. Sexual maturity waxed just prior to a wolf's second birthday, she knew, so it could literally happen at any time now, considering her birthday was a little less than two months away.

"Do you think Akhlut will give us permission?" she wondered in the next beat. In spite of their enthusiastic planning and discussions, she hadn't forgotten that they would need to consult with the Alpha male before attempting to breed. If her heat came soon and Akhlut prohibited it, they could lose their chance for an entire year. This sudden thought made Pied's heart stop and then sink into her stomach. Her uplifted tail suddenly fell limp with dread.

Her eyes tightened and snapped onto Kisu's face. "I hope he will give us the chance. I feel like we would be good parents and that puppies would be good for the pack," she said between lips slightly pinched together in anxiety, "and its future." Suddenly, she tore her eyes from Kisu's face and cast them over the sea, which was choppy as if to mimic her abrupt inner turmoil.

At the mention of her almost being two, and primed for breeding, Kisu felt a stirring inside of him. He longed to have a family once more, and the sooner they could start, the better.

At the mention of Akhlut's permission, though, he felt like the wind had been knocked from his body. He had never had to ask permission to do anything in the past before; he had been the Alpha, he could do whatever he pleased and it wouldn't have been challenged. But now? Kisu felt his first regrets joining the ranks of another's pack. He was under a wolf who had no experience, whereas he himself had once been Alpha, and even a Beta (though it had only been a month in the latter).

"If he does not agree to it, then we will start our own pack." His voice was quiet but firm, annoyance (that another could determine what he did) tipping his voice. "I hope, for his pack's sake, that he does." Now, Kisu did not like to fight, but an overwhelming need to protect Pied and her desires was giving him drive. He may have been jumping the gun on the issue, but he wanted to be prepared for the worst. It was what he did now.

Pied's head snapped around, her eyes shrewd as she digested Kisu's declaration. Although she shied away from the idea of leadership, she sensed that it was not inherently implied for herself anyway; hypothetically, he could be Alpha of this splinter pack and she could hold whatever rank she liked. Her pale head bobbed, though she made no verbal reply. Akhlut had asked her to dedicate herself to him firstly, her mate secondly. Yet, deep down, Pied knew she would do almost anything for her chance at motherhood.

"I pledged my loyalty to Akhlut," Pied said slowly. "Motherhood means a lot—maybe even everything—to me." She paused. "Let's do whatever it takes to prove ourselves and win him over." Pied looked at him, her gaze telling him that, if they gave it their best shot and he still declined their wishes, then she would seriously consider Kisu's ultimatum.

"I think it will work out," Pied said, forcing her heart to unclench from its iron clasp of dread. Perhaps confidence and positivity would affect the outcome. "Akhlut will realize how wonderful we are and, of course, he'll be happy to welcome our progeny into his ranks," she said rather jokingly, though there was a kernel of truth in her words, and subtle determination too.

Kisu felt a small yet painful twinge in his heart when Pied mentioned that she would do anything for motherhood, but did not mention him. He was possibly looking too far into things, so he shrugged it off for now, but a dull feeling still sat on his heart.

He nodded in agreement with Pied. "Yes, I think that Akhlut will agree to it. It would benefit the pack more than cause harm." He moved forward to nuzzle his soon-to-be mate's face. He knew her seriousness of having a daughter, and that she would do whatever it took to have one.

"Cause harm," Pied echoed him, her voice inquisitive. She tried to imagine the ways in which pups could harm the pack. She supposed that it did mean more mouths to feed. It also meant that she would not be able to contribute as much during the last few weeks of pregnancy through the first few weeks' of the pups' lives. "I never really thought about that part of it much. I guess that's why Alphas are careful with breeding privileges," she mused, certain that her own litter would be worth these so-called risks.

"Anyway," she lilted in the next moment, her voice light and airy, "we won't have so many pups that it weighs too much on the pack's resources. At least, I wouldn't think so? My grandmother had litters of three or four. My own mother gave birth to three. That seems pretty reasonable, doesn't it? How many do you want to have? Am I asking too many questions?" she added with a mischievous grin when she realized that she was babbling at her betrothed.

He nodded, thinking that she knew the reasons why it could have a negative effect on the pack. "When I was Alpha, no one else was allowed to breed. We were a traditional pack. They were all males anyway, and there were no allied packs that were near us at the time."

The grey male chuckled at the ramblings of his mate-to-be. "I am fine with whatever number we have, as long as they are healthy. I am an efficient hunter, and will provide for you, and for the pups when they are to be weened. It is not hard if we work together." He nuzzled Pied, trying to comfort her worries.

Wrapping it up! You can post again or have it archived. :)

"You were an Alpha?" Pied teased, not because it was unbelievable—even though she thought Kisu softhearted and charming, she could see the tough layer in there too—but because it was another thing she hadn't really known about her lover until now. Perhaps it was strange to not know her would-be mate better, yet Pied knew they would spend the rest of their lives getting to know each other.

"I couldn't do it without you," she reminded him, returning his nuzzle. "I wouldn't want to do it without you or with anyone else. We're going to be a great team and wonderful parents, Kisu. I can't wait."

Of course, they would have to wait—not only for Akhlut's seal of approval but for Pied's own body to make ready to carry their young. Although the thought made her impatient, Pied knew they needed the time to prepare anyway. Getting ready for all of it was a big part of the fun anyhow; she would have so much fun finding the perfect den, creating a cozy home of it, making sure everything was ready down to the tiniest detail...

"C'mon, beautiful, let's perfect our tandem walk," she quipped after a beat, scurrying suddenly toward the waterline and starting a trot across the damp sands, hoping Kisu would fall into place and the two of them would find their perfect stride together.