Phoenix Maplewood California One/The Youth and Beauty Brigade

For anyone!

Despite Reek's elevated spirits, a deeply unsetteling feeling had settled in furthermost reaches of his gut. With this fledgling pack forming in the Emberwood, war had settled on their horizon. The threat this pack posed was far too great to ignore; if the wolves of the Maplewood simply let them be, they would ultimately starve, thus sealing their own fate with their inaction. Reek's stomach lurched at the thought. His family - his pups - would all be causalties of apathy. This simply could not be allowed to happen.

If it required war to ensure the longevity of his pack, so be it. Some things were worth fighting for, but the risk of war still soured Reek's stomach. He pushed forward and tried to sweep these thoughts under the rug as he made his way to a nearby cache. Settling in with a sigh, Reek began to unearth his lunch. Perhaps a full stomach would help quell this growing nausea.

A lot was happening, and all of it was bad. Phoenix Maplewood was preparing to remove the threat from the Emberwood, and their Beta was missing. While Saena had made it very clear she would not heed Ukko's advice until he proved he was not a threat to her and her mate, she had sincerely hoped he would rise to the challenge, prove her wrong. Prove both of them wrong, for Reek's intention was to drive the guy to his very brink. Foolish or not, Ukko was still a likable wolf and an asset to the pack.

But it had been nearly a week since the pack had met to discuss the growing threat in the Emberwood, and there had been no sign of Ukko since. Even his scent was fading. The Alpha female spared a little time each day to track his scent around the maplewood, but she had only found evidence that he had left the territory somewhat recently. She had yet to find evidence that he had returned. There were really two possibilities. One—Ukko had run out on them, unable to handle the pressure of his position. Two—he had gone out and gotten injured, like her, and was detained. She had no clues as to which it was. She hoped it was the latter and that her suspicions were unfounded, but didn't doubt the former if only because he had been withdrawn for a while now and because her opinion of him was already soured.

As she ambled through the woods, returning from another search, she was drawn to the scent of meat dug up, and there she found her mate. She approached him with a sigh, but made no move toward his lunch; one look at the shredded carcass quelled her appetite as a swell of nausea, no doubt a result of all the recent stress, roiled through her gut. She watched him momentarily, red ears flickering, before asking, "seen Ukko recently?"

We already have a billion threads I'm not caught up on but what's one more. :P I'm gonna go ahead and pretend this happens ~1 week after the meeting so that it lines up with Ukko lingering on the coast. I think it would probably take about a week for them to fully plan the party going to Emberwood to get rid of them, so this timeline will work best I think!

I ain't complaining! I love me some Saena threads!

The rabbit he unearthed had surely by now soured, but food was food, and Reek was not one to be picky over quailty. He ate, dirt and all, until there was nothing left but the loose bones of an old kill. The remains laid in a soiled heap before his outstretched forepaws, tattered and stripped of all sustenance. It had been a nice snack and a full stomach brought Reek contentment, however, his contentment was still laced with the anxiety of the coming trip down to the emberwood to force their threat away.

He heard footfalls approaching and he lifted his head to see. Catching his mate's eye, Reek smiled briefly and shuffled himself straight and alert. The brief moment of silence that ensued was marked by a nearly vacant stare from the raggedy alpha. She was practically glowing, wrapped tightly in the bones of a setting sun. Beautiful. Nevertheless, his dopey expression shifted into something more serious after she spoke.

"I haven't seen him since the meeting you called," he answered. Ukko's absence was something Reek noticed almost immediately, as he liked to keep close tabs on him at all times. It was unfortunate, really, that even though Reek's endgame had finally played out with Ukko leaving on his own fruition, he still felt he could use him more. "I guess he couldn't handle it after all eh? Kind of an inopportune time to break though... I was hoping to have him come with me to the emberwood." They needed all the muscle they could get, and following Esaro's little speech at the pack meeting, Reek wasn't sure they'd be the most intimidating bunch.

It was as Saena suspected. Ukko disappeared sometime after the pack meeting and hadn't been seen since, not by her and not by Reek. "Maybe he went out and was waylaid," suggested the alpha female, but they both knew she wasn't completely convinced of it. It was too easy to believe that Ukko was a coward and a traitor who would turn his back on his pack. There was less emotional investment with that assumption, and anyway, the man hadn't earned himself a great reputation by challenging the lead male only to fall short as a leader himself. Nevertheless, she made the suggestion out of courtesy and because she was in the position herself, once, not so long ago. She would feel terribly if that was the case and she doubted him, but for now, she had nothing but intuition to go on.

"We can't really waste time looking for him," she sighed, plopping her rear down on the snowy ground and shifting her shoulders, which ached with slight tension. "We've got bigger things to deal with." Like Aaron and his Emberwood aspirations. Like the possibility of a pregnancy. Like running their pack with an absent beta male, whom they couldn't spare the resources to go find. Especially when it was a mere possibility, and the other possibility—that he had indeed run out on them—was still plausible. No, the lead bitch could find no sense in sending out a search party when she couldn't even be sure it wasn't intentional.

"We should have at least a beta before spring," Saena suggested, raising her eyes to meet Reek's. It was too early to tell for sure whether the pregnancy had taken or not, but she was sure Reek had the same mindset she did. Both of them would go forward assuming it had. "A proper one, not one doomed to fail under his own ego and not one put there to learn a lesson. Someone trustworthy." Arion was the obvious choice but both alphas knew he was much too volatile to give the opportunity to. The warrior kept to himself too often, too, and was more of a recluse these days than a pack mate. With a limited number of other males in the pack as far as she knew, the beta Saena had in mind would almost certainly be one of the females.

Whatever had befallen Ukko beyond their borders came of his own volition.  Ultimately, Reek felt clear of all semblance of guilt for indirectly pushing his beta away to his possible doom; in Reek's eyes, his paws were clean of any blood that he may be indirectly resposible for. Suggesting that Ukko may have been waylaid, injured, or in danger, Saena provoked no emotional change within the raggedy alpha, who cared little if Ukko lived or died following his betrayal. But, that isn't to say Reek felt nothing from his beta'a absence. He felt not for Ukko, but for the hole he had left behind in their pack.  

A beta, distrusted as he was, was still hard to replace. Reek had grown accustomed to having someone directly under him to carry out the pack's day to day business, an intern of sorts. The heavy load of leadership now fell back in full to the leading couple. Of course, Reek agreed that searching for Ukko and dragging him back by toe to the Maplewood would be a waste of time and valuable energy, especially now with a war brewing on the horizon. He signaled his agreement with a silent nod and continued to listen as his wife spoke.

Catching his mate's raised brow, he knew why they would eventually need another beta. If she was indeed pregnant, Saena would be out of commision for a time, and while she would remain alpha in name and title, Reek would bear the heavy burden of running the pack on his own. While, he felt he could handle it, running the pack solo wasn't exactly the ideal situation. His ears splayed back in thought of a suitable replacement, but no names stood out to Reek. He trusted few and the pack was occupied mostly by new recruits. Desna... and possibly Spring to an extent, were the only wolves aside from his wife that Reek trusted, but neither, he felt were beta worthy.

"I can keep an eye out from now on," he reassured. Perhaps in the time between now and spring, one would rise to the challenge and be a clear beta candidate. "But, uh, no one really stands out to me yet as leadership material. They're all so— new, you know?" It was times like these that he wished Scarlett, Nochtli, and Citali were still around... if any one of them had remained, they would be shoo-ins for the position.  "What do you think babe? Anyone stand out to you?"

"Tavi," she supplied instantly. It was a gut reaction more than anything. She didn't know too much about the woman, but although Tavi's induction into the pack had been wholly unintentional (something the lead bitch still didn't know), she had been remarkably loyal ever since and Saena had noticed. She'd been present for most everything the pack did. Her relationship with Ukko, whatever it was, could've complicated the matter if it was common knowledge that the alpha pair had been scheming to break the man, but that dark truth existed between Reek and she alone. Of the wolves in the pack, Tavi was not the highest ranked but she was the one Saena knew best aside from Desna.

Speaking of that, "I'd thought Desna would make a good one," she admitted, "in time, but she's still very young. And don't call me a hypocrite," she shot playfully at her mate, knowing the first thing to come to mind was probably the fact that she had founded her pack at the tender age of 13 months. "I mean it well. I think it would ruin her to be given so much responsibility so young, and she still is reeling from her family. If I could go back in time..." she drifted off. She wouldn't have changed much about her life, but being more patient with her ambitions, she could've afforded that. She could've waited until she was older to found her pack, made fewer mistakes.

"But Tavi has been here nearly as long as Ukko was. She knows the pack, she knows the ins and outs, and I think she could handle it."

Tavi. While their zeta's name had not been one to appear in flashing lights in the annals of Reek's mind, he tried to keep an open mind when regarding Saena's suggestion. Saena's relationship with Tavi had always been a tad stronger in comparison to Reek, who felt he still hardly knew her, even after all this time. But, business-wise, Tavi seemed to be a good choice; she had longevity and regularly contributed to the pack. Despite not being particularly chummy with each-other, Reek could see past this.

"You think she's be ready to take on this sort of responsibily?"  he asked.  "I mean, we don't have to make any decisions now— but, I can talk to her about it if you want. You know, dangle the carrot a bit and see how she responds to it." He could seek her out, but this sort of decision was not one to be made in haste.

Reek also nodded in agreement to Saena's meantion of Desna, who was shaping up to be a fine girl. Her age, however, ruled her out in Reek's eyes despite the fact the love of his life had been a young leader herself.  "I wouldn't call you anything of the sort... headstrong maybe," he jabbed back playfully before shooting her a happy grin. "I think you did a fine job though babe... I mean, shit— I wouldn't have been able to hold a pack together as a yearling. You're special." Maybe Desna was special too and could be shaped into a fine leader, but it was still far too early. "Who knows? If Desna's lucky, she might turn out like you; ambitious and confidant. I'll keep watch over her over the coming months."

"But, in the meantime—" he continued, "I'll keep an eye on Tavi. That is, if you want me to talk to her?"

There was a slight reluctance to select Desna over Tavi, perhaps because the girl had left the maplewood on an extended trip and Tavi had not. Saena could understand, in part, the desire to seek out family and banished the thought from her mind. It was unfair to hold that against the yearling. Her real reason for preferring Tavi, at the root of it, stemmed from maturity and the fact that Saena, hypocritical as she was, trusted older wolves more.

Reek's hesitance caused her face to fall slightly, but she quickly masked it with a smile. "We can keep an eye on her," the alpha female agreed, "but we will need a beta sooner than she can be ready, someone to help run the pack when... if... I'm unable to." There was no guarantee yet that Saena was pregnant, after all. Appointing a beta right this second could prove risky if the pregnancy hadn't taken, but Saena had every reason to believe it had, and so her mind was on finding someone suitable and soon.

"I think we should talk to Tavi about it, though," she half-insisted, half-agreed. There was no law saying they couldn't also make Desna a beta alongside Tavi when the time was right. More specifically, when Saena felt Desna was old enough to not completely blow it.

Unable to lead. "Too plump to move?" Reek quickly amended in its place with a laugh. While in these early stages it was too soon to tell, Reek operated under the assumption that the pregnancy had take root. After all, it was better to be prepaired either way. Soon, changes would take place within her body and the two would know for sure. "I'll still think that you're pretty when you're rotund. Who knows? You might have a graceful waddle." He stuck out his tongue in playful jest, but behind his jokes was a level of truth. Appearance wasn't everything; this was something Reek was sure Saena knew, since he wasn't really the attractive sort.

All jokes aside though, Saena was right. If the pregnancy took, they would need to find a beta. "I'll talk to her after the raid," he said. There and then would he be able to gauge Tavi's readiness and reaction to a heightened sense of responsibility.

Nevertheless, neither of them needed to worry about such things now. Reek stretched his limbs outward, pushing the bones of his meal away, and yawned. "So, do you think it took?" he asked, referring to her possible pregnancy. "It's hard to believe— us, parents." A family of his own had been something Reek had always wanted, as if it were a way to retroactivly fix the mistakes made in his own upbringing. His own absence of a father only drove him to be the best dad he possibly could. Soon, unbeknownst to Reek, he would have his wish.

"Ha, ha," snorted Saena, who surprisingly didn't dread being fat and awkward as much as she dreaded having to sit around tending to babes. She'd been a member of the plateau pack back when Blue Willow gave birth and remembered how her aunt had become a recluse as a result. A light shiver crawled up her spine but she managed to keep that fear from her eyes. Losing her freedom was, truly, Saena's biggest fear in life and even though it was too late now, she secretly wasn't sure she could handle being stuck in one place for a while.

"I'm worried," she admitted aloud, flicking her ears, "y'know, because I had four parents and every one of them was a shitbag, y'know, except the one I killed when I was born. Do you think it's contagious?" Would she be a shitbag mother? She knew she wouldn't willingly abandon her pups like Peregrine and Hawkeye, but there was always the possibility of dying. She couldn't afford to think about it for more than a second, and tried to drop the thought, but her eyes sought comfort from her mate.

Her worries were sound in nature and in practice; Reek also had some of his own. Parenthood would be a new experiance for both of the them, and he knew that it would be no easy task. "I'm scared too," he admitted. He hoped the solidarity in emotion with his mate would bring her some comfort, but if she was looking for blind confidence, she would find none within his expression.

He worried over the little things. Unlike the boy he had been in his youth and young adulthood, Reek no longer felt the need to wander like he used to. His freedom was inconsequential. He would remain home and strive to be as big a part of his pups lives as he could, but he still worried if this would be enough. No child liked a helicopter dad, and Reek worried he'd smother them. At the same time, he worried he wouldn't love them enough; that they'd grow to be jaded, cynical, like Reek himself had. He worried about Saena too; her mother had passed in childbirth— Reek would not bear to lose her too. There were so many risks and variables involved to be confident.

"You're going to be fine," he reassured. "We're going to be fine." These next three months were sure to be long, but Reek knew the best course of action would be to just wing it and hope everything turned out all right. "You're nothing like Peregrine, so don't compare yourself to him. These kids are gonna be so loved by both of us, I know it. They won't have to grow up like we did." As far as Reek knew, they would grow up in a stable, loving family, and lead stable, normal lives.

His admission that he was also scared did almost nothing to soothe her worries, and she nearly chided him for being honest. As a soon-to-be father, it was Reek's job to lie through his teeth to his mate to ensure she felt completely and utterly comfortable bringing children into the world under his watch, though she had no reason not to trust him. If there was any wolf in the world Saena trusted completely, it was her mate.

But he went on to add to his admission, and that did calm her slightly. She was afraid to agree, afraid she would turn out to be exactly like Peregrine, but she didn't think it would happen on her watch. "I hope not," she mumbled, pressing the side of her head into her mate's shoulder for a momentary comfort. The thought of bringing children into the world only to subject them to the heartache of losing their family... well, it was simply irresponsible. That's what she thought, anyway.

Post #700! Hard to think Reek's made it this far! Want to fade this one out and have something a little more current soon?

Reek knew he wouldn't be able to bring her much comfort, but he offered what he could. Parenthood would be new territory for himself as well, and while he felt ready (let alone excited), he couldn't help but feel the rise of anervous flutter in his gut. In the moment however, he chalked it up to being nervous about the coming raid, even though deep down he knew it was his prospective fatherhood that brought him apprehension.

She leaned in close and Reek let out a sigh. No matter what they did, they would do together; he was sure. Even if the sky came falling down upon them, he felt they would come out stronger.

She'd intended to get up and get moving, perhaps seek out Tavi, but with Reek leaning against her she fell prey to the warmth and the comfort. Her eyes fluttered and she let out a slow breath, and within moments she was dozing against him, enjoying the mild weather and the calm before the storm of her pregnancy.