Phoenix Maplewood Grace under pressure

A dazzling sun greeted the alpha as she emerged from the thickest part of the woods at their southernmost edge. It rimmed the distant mountains in brilliant gold and spilled down over the entire taiga, but it was a chill sort of light. A reminder that winter was coming, and sooner than she liked. But even with that knowledge weighing heavily on her, the yearling knew they would make it through just fine. A slew of new wolves had pledged themselves to the Phoenix Maplewood pack, and they were much stronger for it.

As she turned and cantered along the borders, still slow but much better than a few weeks ago, she couldn't help but think of Nochtli. Even with Juniper, Fire, Scarlett and her pups, Saena keenly felt the loss of the tracker. Nochtli's business was bigger than Phoenix Maplewood, though, and while the Redtail often held it against others when they left, this time she managed to keep an open mind. Should Nochtli ever return from her quest, she would find her home right where she'd left it.

Caught up in these thoughts, the alpha female stumbled over a loose rock and bumped roughly into a tree.

Helps if I tag you, lol! @Reek

Set before the killing of Kiara right?
Edit: @Saena Just tagging to make sure you don't forget about this thread!

The Maplewood was strong once more. There were many mouths to feed, but the ranks were full of fresh faces, ready to face the winter together. Despite the benefit of having the new members around, Reek was bitter-sweet about it. He knew few of the new arrivals. His inner circle was progressively shrinking. Pantaleimon had never come to visit. Nochtli was now gone. @Arion stuck around, but he remained aloof as always. There was always Citali, but Reek had always felt she had it in for him. He had Saena of course, but he was still in the doghouse.

He was surrounded by wolves, but he felt alone.

The coyote pups were his only respite. Sart in particular. With her, he could talk and play and feel like he had purpose. Reggie, on the other hand, was like talking to a brick wall, but sometimes that was good too. She could listen. He spent most of his time hunting for them; his priorities had changed.

But today, he took a much needed break. He lounged in the sun near the border and chewed on a clump of saccharine tree sap. The silence was soon interrupted by the crack of twigs beneath footfalls. He turned his head to see his make trip headlong into a tree.  There had been a tension between them, but he couldn't help but laugh at her clumsy misfortune. "You ok babe?" he called out from his resting place beneath a large maple tree.

Wow it's been almost a month since I replied to this. I'm so sorry. -_- I'll be better from here on out.

"Ow," she hissed at the trunk as she pushed herself away from it. A tilt of her muzzle brought her vision to her smarting shoulder; probably a bruise, but no blood. The bark of the maples wasn't so sharp for that, yet it still felt like she'd been cut to the bone. She didn't have long to inspect her oh-so-grievous wound, though, because a laugh and then a semi-concerned question drew her attention. The moody female warred with herself for a moment, almost allowed the dull throb in her shoulder to make her crabby enough to ignore him, then slowly padded in Reek's direction.

She hadn't forgiven him for the stupid coyote puppies. Probably never would. But she couldn't ignore him forever, and Citali's advice had been to confront him, so that's exactly what she planned to do, whether or not it made their relationship even worse.

"That tree hit me," she accused it, sitting down gingerly on her wounded arse a distance from him that suggested she was still upset, but at least she was talking to him. That was a bit better than a few weeks ago, when she would look at him with some mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes, but not open her mouth. "It's an asshole," she sulked, dragging out what she thought was an off-topic distraction for a little while longer. Confronting him was the top of her list, but she wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

Totally cool! Life gets busy!

He could almost touch the tension that had built between them.  The lack of communication in their relationship was steady building a wall, pilling bricks higher and higher with each passing day. She sat a distance away and Reek smiled dumbly at her, hoping that would spurn something. Soon, she spoke. The wall may have been too tall to knock down outright, but there were holes, and holes could be widened.  

"Want me to rough it up for you?" he asked jokingly. It was easy to pretend nothing was wrong instead of facing the problem head on. Citali had made it clear that communication was the only answer, but Reek was afraid.  He rose to his feet, smiled at his mate, and took his opportunity to talk some sense into the rogue maple.  

He slunk around the tree in tight circles and put on his most mockingly intimidating face he could must.  "Now tree," he began. "I don't want any trouble, but you're going to have to stay away from my woman. You hurt her again— lights out buddy! Got it? Good."   He turned his gaze back to Saena and shot her one of his usual shit-eating grins.  Figuring that the tree had gotten the message,  Reek stopped his circling and returned to the side of his mate.

"That asshole won't mess with you no more," he continued jokingly.

I'm finally caught up on Saena, I could cry. :D

Part of her wanted to stay mad at him forever. Truly, Saena could be a vengeful creature. She'd proven it time and time again, no matter how justified she felt in her actions. Most often, she was far from it. But there was another part of her, the part that loved Reek and relished their affair and how it had all turned out, that just couldn't. The tension was there but it was pockmarked, with pieces missing, like swiss cheese. Her husband seemed aware of it as well, for instead of letting her tense body language get to him, he went right into his silly default of joking around.

Saena tried to keep a straight face, but when he started smack talking the maple tree, she couldn't anymore. Her laugh came out like the light tinkling of a bell, cheery and airy, a sound she hadn't made in a while. Though she made an effort to stifle it, she couldn't help it. He was just so weird! "Thanks, hon," she giggled, "I don't know what I'd do without you!" However could she make it through a day without the valiant alpha male to save her from these mean trees?

But as he came alongside her, she lapsed into silence again. It was brief, though, for she turned her eyes on him, a mix of amusement and hurt swimming in their depths, and asked quietly, "why'd you bring those coyotes here?"

Hearing Saena laugh at his usual antics was music to Reek's ears.  It has been so long since he had a reprieve from the tension that placed itself between them.  He smiled and scooted in close to his mate with tiny little shuffles. The tension melted away and it felt like old times back in Redtail Rise, when their relationship was new and exciting. Reek laid he head against her side and exhaled seemingly everything that had been pent up.  "Get wrecked by trees probably," he responded teasingly. She would fare fine without him, of course. Life would go on, but that was something Reek never wanted her to know. Because he knew, if he lost her, he would break.

The silence that followed was nice. Not every moment had to be saturated by conversation.  Sometimes more could be said in the subtle details. A touch. A slow breath. But she soon turned and broke the silence that Reek had so far relished in.  His breath hitched in his throat and in a rare moment, he was afraid.

"You know," he started, "I never wanted to hurt you. I love you more than anything, and I'll admit, the coyote thing may have been a bit of a mistake."  It had been a total failure, Reggie was unreceptive... and Sart was— well, Sart.  "I said they were an investment... but, I didn't really clarify.  It was an investment for me."  His gaze fell to the ground before he continued with his explanation.  "There's something I need to explain—"

"Knowing Peregrine... what he did to you, to Junior.  I didn't want to make the same mistakes. In a couple months, we'll probably be parents. I just— I didn't... I wanted to know if I'd be a good father. I don't want my kids to grow up to hate me. I thought maybe... if I had a trial run or something, I don't know." It was crazy. Absolutely looney-toons. But, it had been his plan from the start. The coy pups utility lied in their capacity to teach him. "You probably think I'm nuts," he said, looking back to Saena with a shameful expression.

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.

She confirmed his worst suspicions; he was in fact, bug-nuts, but the tone of her response wasn't something he fully expected.  There was kindness where he had expected anger, a sweetness had taken the place of hurt.  Initially he was taken aback and his expression was one of near confusion. Despite loving his mate fully, he had not predicted to be able to share such a base level insecurity without resistance.  But soon, once the initial surprise wore off, Reek's confused expression gave way to a wide and dumb looking grin.  She still loved him, no matter what.

"I don't ever intend on leaving," he confessed. "Not now, and especially not then." A stable family was all he had ever wanted, and every time he came close to having it, a brick came soaring through the preverbal window. However, part of him understood how a wolf would follow Peregrine's path. All his life, he had run from responsibly, and having only recently taken it, Reek still felt like a fish out of water in such a position. This time, he didn't feel like running. Not from Saena or his future children. "You're kinda stuck with me," he added with a light chuckle.

Anyways, the coyotes needed to be addressed. "I don't think they're that different from you and me," he continued. Reggie certainly was, but Sart was quite similar and Reek had found himself quite attached. "I've gotten really attached to Sart, I'd really like it if you gave her a chance. Reggie though, she's a problem... I'm still going to make good on my promise to keep them safe though, because if I didn't, I'm just like Peregrine to them." Even though they were just coyotes and not even his own children, he still couldn't handle the thought.

"But, I think I'm done stealing kids for a while," he joked, but the thought behind it was serious. The whole fiasco had been a disaster. "I guess I'll just wait for ours." He smiled and pushed his face further into his mate's fur.

"Good," Saena rumbled good-naturedly, "because if you did I'd kick your ass to the moon." The last thing Saena wanted for their children was to go through life without a parent or two. She'd been there, and she knew it sucked. It would be irresponsible for her to bring lives into the world only to screw them with the same situation she'd grown up in. Pied's departure hadn't been by choice, but the others—Hawkeye, then Kisu, and then even Peregrine—had all had a choice, and their joint children hadn't factored in. Saena would live her life for her children, though. Most of her decisions would be made with them in mind, or so she told herself.

"I think Sart is the weird one," Saena said, assuming that Sart must be the one who wasn't dour and self-interested. The alpha female hadn't actually met her (and never would, as it turned out). "That other one, she seems just like her kind." Saena's intolerance was still very much alive. She felt no shame for it; to her, coyotes were a lesser breed whose only right to existence was their ability to slink around unseen. Wolves would've surely eradicated them if not for that advantage. But when Reek pressed his face into her fur and told her he had no plans to steal anymore children, she let the topic go. The coyotes were here now, and they would stay until they gave her a reason to doubt them.

Regipre would do that soon enough. Sart would slip away unnoticed. Neither disappearance would ever weigh on her conscience.

"How many would you like to have?" she asked, as if it was a choice they had. It definitely wasn't, but Saena had her preference, and was keen on hearing Reek's as well.

While Reek didn't take the threat of being shot to the moon seriously, he knew the sentiment behind it was completely honest.  There would be hell to pay if he were to mirror the mistakes of Saena's estranged father. He was irresponsible, flighty, self-serving; but when it came to his family Reek gave up these traits, these labels, and was willing to be the stable rock of a husband and dad that they needed and deserved. She had nothing to fear from him, as the only thing that could tear him from her loving grasp was the cold grip of death itself.

Reek listened in silence as Saena continued on to coyotes once more.  Content to listen, Reek pressed in close and enjoyed to moment.  Their confrontation had been less than explosive and the fear that gripped at Reek had all but passed. Her points were valid. Maybe Sart was weird.  But, weird or not, Reek had forged a familial bond with the pup, much like one with their own child.

Reek finally spoke once a question was posed. "I dunno," he replied.  He had never really dwelled much on the details. Reek figured the number was something he couldn't control and relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.  No matter what, he would love them all, 2 or 20.  "I'd prefer a small litter... being a dad is hard." If he had gained anything from bringing the coyotes to the maplewood, it was perspective.

Reek finally spoke, and she was surprised to know that he too was in favour of a smaller litter. Once more she found herself considering her discussion with Wildfire about the pups. It was difficult to imagine Reek being in favour of Saena eating any extra puppies she might give birth to, but maybe she could still manage it in secret...

No, that was crazy. Even Saena knew that. She pressed the thought out of her mind and told her husband, "Good. A small litter would be good to start". She shifted, trying to imagine how their future would look and finding she was unable to. Her own family had been a pretty poor example of the way parenting should be, and Saena had left the plateau before getting much exposure to Blue Willow's style. She wished she'd taken her time a bit more, put her ambitions aside temporarily to learn... but then she wouldn't be here now.

"I'd like a boy and a girl", she admitted quietly. Just like her and Pura, minus the mother dying in childbirth bit. She didn't want any of that.

If Reek had any insight on Saena's thought process on their number of future children, he would have been appalled. The thought of culling of his pups upon birth hadn't once crossed his mind, nor would it ever. He wished his children would have the exact opposite of the childhood that he had been subjected to. He wanted them safe. He wanted them loved. Thankfully, Saena's deviant thoughts remained buried within; and hopefully, there they would remain to never rear their ugly head.  

Knowing they were on the same page, Reek felt another wave of relief. Despite being unable to control the number of their litter, a part of him felt as if their collective agreement would have some cosmic effect.  It was foolish, especially for one who held no such beliefs in the supernatural, but it didn't stop him from hoping.  

A boy and a girl. He smiled dumbly at the thought. "I like it," he happily hummed. "What are you thinking name wise? I have a few ideas, but I wanted to ask you first." A name was something of great importance, Reek knew that first hand having never been given one. They needed to be perfect.

His next question stumped her. Saena hadn't so much as considered a name for their eventual offspring, so far away did they seem. The winter would need to pass uneventfully before they would even be able to breed, and then they would need to hope it was successful. She pursed her lips, peering as inconspicuously as possible at the trees in front of her before finally declairing, "Maple and Wood".

She let that hang for only a moment before her lips spread into a grin and she snorted. "No, I'm just kidding. I haven't thought that far ahead yet". Her tone inflected sheepishly at the end. Reek already had ideas, and here was Saena still blissfully unaware of how fast the winter would pass them by and how soon they would actually be expanding their family. If she'd had a tail, she'd have thumped it against the ground and looked away with a hint of embarrassment for having no ideas thus far.

He couldn't help but chuckle slightly after Saena's strange selection. It was only natural that she hadn't put much thought into the whole ordeal, and the naming of nonexistent children wasn't high on the list of priorities for the alpha pair of the maplewood. It felt as if an eternity would pass before winter finally came, but with each passing day Reek could feel the dread/excitement building inside him. For now, the tug was weak and intermittent, but soon it would consume him.

If there was one thing Reek knew, time passed quickly and seasons faded faster than one would normally expect. He had spent nine months within the Teekon Wilds, and those nine months still felt like they had passed in the blink of an eye. Knowing this, Reek gave more thought to the future than he had previously. It was like looking back at a previous incarnation, his body remained unchanged apart from a few scrapes and scars, but his soul (if he even had a soul) had changed so much in his time in the Wilds.

"I was thinking—" he shot his mate a warm smile, "—maybe Milo for a boy... or uh, Charlotte for a girl. It's nothing concrete, I just like the way they sound." Reek had no knack for metaphor. The names meant nothing, of course. There was no underlying significance, but he did like the way they rolled off the tongue.

The last thing Saena expected was for Reek to have actual names in mind, but her mate surprised her with not one, but two possibilities. "I really like Milo", she admitted, though she was more haltingly accepting of Charlotte. Something about it sounded strange to her ear. No doubt she would grow to accept it, maybe even like it, in time. She didn't want to deprive him of the ability to name the children, after all, especially because she herself had almost no ideas.

But one rose to the tip of her tongue and before she knew it, she told him, "I like... Indra". It was a strange name, exotic like her own, and yet less so in a way. Where it came from, even Saena didn't know. It wasn't a name she'd ever thought of before. No others were forthcoming. If she'd been more spiritual, she might've taken that as some kind of sign, but really it was just something that leaped out of her brain unbidden. Maybe more would come when the time was nearer to them actually having children, but for now it was the only contribution she had.

still stranded in the middle of nowhere with only my phone, but I miss posting!

One out of two... that wasn't bad. Of course, Reek held no attachment to the names he had proposed, so letting one of them go came as no issue.  However, a happy grin spread across his face as when Saena admitted that she liked his initial suggestion.  Milo was an awesome name for a possible son... one that Reek was already quite proud of.

Of course, Saena had a suggestion of her own. The name that floated from her tongue sounded so foreign, so fluid. It was one he had yet to hear. "Indra..." he repeated in hushed whisper as he tried the name on himself. Something about it just rolled from the tongue effortlessly. The sound, mysterious and mystic. "I love it babe," he crooned, pushing even closer to her side. While nothing yet was set in stone, it still nice to picture a rough draft of what would eventually be.

She was glad that he liked her choice of name. If she felt bad about commenting on only one of his, she didn't show it. There was a high chance that they would change their minds about the names they chose when the pups were actually born.

Saena pressed her head briefly against her mate's shoulder, then rose and taunted him with a coy grin: "Tag!" She prodded him with the tip of a paw before spinning on her heels and retreating into the woods, enticing him to join her in a game of chase. It wasn't much, but would do wonders for their relationship, which was so tense lately she could almost feel it in the air. A little lightheartedness would do them good.

I'll go ahead and fade this out! Once your exam schedule slows down, I'd love to have a new thread sometime!

She rose to her feet causing Reek to make a little shuffle to keep his body upright in her absence.  An invitation to play was just what he needed. The tension within had been far too much to hold in forever; it was time for a proper release.  He rose to all fours and flashed his mate a genuine grin before rousing himself to give chase.

In the grand scheme of things considering the coyote fiasco, Reek knew changes would have to be made. His priorities realigned back to the norm, back to his wife. He would need to be a better husband and communicate more freely, but as he took off into the Maplewood in chase of his wife, he knew he was taking the first step.