Thistle stood outside the den that she and her husband shared her tail lashing behind her while her paws dug up the very ground beneath her. She was furious and for good reason. The meeting with his brother had not gone well and she really wanted to rip into her mates hide, a feeling she found she was not used too having never been this furious.
As she heaved herself to her paws and marched back and forth her tail slashing the air with a malicious swish. She began to speak low to herself angry at herself for being this angry when she knew how he had been perhaps still was. Fool that she was for assuming he cared as much as she did. The way the other spoke of this Sif made her think that her mate loved that one but even that did not stick in her throat as much as the fact that she had been pregnant he had thought they were his and he had left. That to her was even far worse than the punishment he had given Dagmar.
How could he do that honestly! What was he thinking leaving her pregnant and unprotected. It does not matter that they are his brothers it was the simple thinking of the thing. And now for me to hear it from his brother, his brother who he also never told me about.
She growled again and snarled her throat raw with a feral sound. She was unsure if she would be able to control herself when he came home, she may murder the man and watch his blood soak the ground. She paced back and forth fast the pups kicking and moving as swiftly as she was almost as agitated as she.
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Ragnar had been surprised not to find Thistle waiting at the borders for him, though he realized and remembered that she was heavily pregnant and such a welcoming sight would been stretching her limitations and had been a stupid expectation to begin with. She was probably sleeping he assumed as he crossed into the borders of Horizon Ridge, thinking that he would surprise her when she awoke. He did not move swiftly towards the den he shared with her, instead deigning to take his time with it, sorting through the details of the meeting, sure that she would inquire about it at some point or another. Honestly, it had not been long and Peregrine - Crete’s brother - had expressed no interest in the babes, more or less stating that they did not even exist to Crete’s family which was fine by Ragnar who had not intended for them to ever know about Crete.
As far as the Viking was concerned he could let sleeping dogs lie now and hopefully put Thistle’s mind to rest in regards to her poor mute lover.
As he approached he heard angry steps against the ground, and words. Words in Thistle’s voice. Angry words. Pausing just short of approach her he watched her pace, her tail whipping out behind her like a weapon, anger emitting from her as if it were a physical cloak she wore that was alive. He could not make out her words but her anger was definitive and for the moment Ragnar was ignorant that it was whole heartedly directed at him.
I knew Ragnar that you had other women and I was fine with that but ot find out that you left her when she could have been pregnant with your own children! Thank goodness they are your brothers and not your's then since you left her knowing she was pregnant! She did not know he didn't know and the half brother had not eluded that he didn't know so she assumed he had known. Ears back on her head she continued to snarl and growl. Much of her problem that she refused to admit was the jealousy that ate her alive that she could do nothing about.
His words I missed you gave her pause and she stared at him for a moment though she was still angry she spoke I missed you too of course Ragnar, but that does not mean I am any less furious with you. How could you do that to her!
She turned to him abruptly he watched, her lip curled back over her teeth at him as she growled at him. Brows shot up, perplexed, because he had not been expecting it; and thusly never ever heard Thistle growl at him no matter how angry she had been at him - and she had been very angry with him before. To call this the welcome home he expected would be to outright lie.
Other women. Leaving someone pregnant with his children. Something about them being his brother’s and not his.
She sat down in a huff and curled her tail tightly around her paws and stared at him with fiery blue eyes. She did not touch him just stared and spoke again her words icy and clipped I said your brother Dagrún who I might add you forgot to mention so imagine my surprise showed up. He talked to me about your gift Sif. she wanted to snarl at the mere mention of hte other woman but she kept her mouth tightly closed on that aspect. He mentioned to me that she was pregnant with Vali's children so they hadn't been yours at all. So imagine my surprise at finding out my husband left a woman who was pregnant with what might have been his babies. She cut her eyes again at him. "How could you do that? I thought what you did to Dagmar was callous and cruel but to leave one behind who was carrying what may have been your children. Though they aren't you're children they are Vali's She sighed and tilted her head and sighed again shifting her weight.
He wanted to play with her, to turn it into a game as he had first assumed it was.
It was not likely the most appropriate time to tell her, and there was always the chance that she would refuse to believe him, but he had realized that he had crash landed on his way back the Ridge from the Plateau.
Thistle cut her eye at him and said quietly What upset me was that your brother eluded at least that is how I took it that she was pregnant before you left to you, but you left anyway. That is what made me angry but clearly that was not the case. She snapped at his muzzle skimming across her's "Don't try it Ragnar I'll rip your muzzle off before you can blink. Getting fresh. She groused at him.
She froze in mid snap at his next words as she had been going to snap at him again and stared her eyes blown wide. She narrowed them again and searched his face seeing if he was lying though she had never with the exception of too Blue Willow known him to lie. "Oh really? She did not know what else to say she lowered her eyes thinking hard. Could she believe him or was he just telling her that to calm her. She looked back up and said That is a surprise a welcome one but a surprise all the same. She sighed and grinned at him "I love you too, but that does not mean I am perfectly fine now. She tilted her head at him quirking an eyebrow.
Her teeth snapped together loudly when his muzzle touched hers though she had not, yet, made an attempt to bite him though her warning was well noted by the savage who merely offered his wife a cheeky little smirk as he stepped away in a grand gesture as if he were noble enough to give up. Unfortunately for Thistle (or perhaps that was unfortunately for himself) he wasn’t.
Ragnar’s declaration of love had been quite genuine, even if, granted, it did not seem so given their lovers fight going on currently, and as he glimpsed at her eyes to see her pupils blown wide within their azure pools, noting the way she had paused he considered that he had won. That went away suddenly when her question came out of her mouth seeming uncertain to the Viking. If Ragnar had expected some kind of grand fanfare (admittedly he had) he was left disappointed by the calmly way in which Thistle responded, returning his declaration of love back to him, but finishing that it did not make her perfectly okay.
She watched him back up as if wounded and she couldn't help the bubble of mirth that slipped out of her mouth. "You dearheart are insufferable though she huffed at him she could not hide the smile she bore at his teasing.
Thistle sat looking at him and did not answer his question right away to lost in her thoughts to do so. She could not just turn her emotions off she had been furious albeit yes it had been from misinterpretation but still she could not just be calm all the sudden she did not work that way. Besides that she was still reeling in shock and absolute elation at his declaration of love. Then she realized he really had said he loved her and with slow movements as she was much too large to dash to her feet she went to his side and buried her nose into his neck and shoulder nipping his shoulder like always only slightly harder. She spoke quietly "nothing else bothers me right now. I am just still trying to process and calm down. I am not easily brought down from anger as it takes much to make me so and now on top of that I am in shock and very very happy which none of those emotions work well together I was not expecting you to declare your love. Here I thought I would have to suffer my own love in silence. with that she rubbed silken nose across scarred nose tugging gently at his scruff. I'm not sorry for being angry though I am sorry I didn't get to greet you happily I really did miss you it was almost tortuous without you."
Ragnar listened when Thistle told him that she would not be this enraged if it had been his mother that had appeared at their borders, and the Viking shook his head not understanding why his failure to tell her of Dagrún had angered her so much. There were many things she had yet to learn of him, and other things that she would never know simply because Ragnar assumed that it did not matter here or there. It wasn’t as if the whole of Odinn’s Cove was going to suddenly appear at their borders pledging loyalty to Ragnar - though the way things were going, Dagrún was the second to come from the Cove, despite that the Shield Maiden Sveid was no longer around, it certiantly looked like that might be the case. Not that Ragnar particularly minded, if they did all relocate perhaps that would give him the support he needed to break free of Pump and the Ridge and inhabit Ravensblood Forest for his own and re-create the Cove.
The Viking’s grin was twitching and devilish at her laugh and smile at his wounded tone and recoil at her threat. There remained little doubt in Ragnar’s mind that even though she was angry with him, so much so that she felt the need to threaten him that he still held her in the palm of his hand. Quietly, cunningly the Viking studied her, observing, wondering what it would take to have her melting against him, her anger dissolved. That was the ultimate goal, currently.
He stood still then, as she slowly rose to her paws, an awkward movement given the extra weight she was carrying, like some iced and scarred Adonis as she approached, a contented noise leaving his lips when he felt her bury her face against his neck and then his shoulder. A breathless, intangible curse in Ragnar’s native tongue left his lips followed by a groan when she nipped at his shoulder hard, the pain mixing with pleasure in his body in some foreign and familiar dance within him. Her words, however, brought about the savage’s curiosity and softly the feral inquired,
Her husband may have held her in the center of his paw, but she could and would bite those toes off if she needed and she would remind him of this if he was every arrogant enough to admit such a thing. She was very much her own wolf.
She tilted an ear at his question and answer just as softly Long enough. I am glad you left it short. I have a few weeks left dear heart. She smiled coyly at his muted curse and his groan. She was woman hear her roar. She stepped back from him and tilted her head "Did it go well then? I hope so.
Ragnar didn’t understand but then again he was a man and his as complex, cunning, clever, and intelligent as he was, her thought processes and emotions were like a labyrinth to him, one that he figured he might never find his way out of to be able to make sense of her completely. Women were confusing creatures at best and downright enigmatic at their worst. Perhaps, he considered, that was all apart of their allure to his sex (besides the other, more obvious allures). While Ragnar could hardly speak for other men he enjoyed the challenge of attempting to unravel the mystery of her emotions and thoughts, even if he suspected he might never reach the end to achieve full understanding. Men and Women were too different despite how similar they seemed to one another.
Ragnar’s ear twitched slightly at her response to his inqury regarding how long she had loved him, playing with the words “long enough” for a few moments before solidifying his conclusion that it was likely she had fallen in love with him before he, her, despite that he had been falling for her when he had asked her to be his wife even if, at the time, it had been almost purely because he wanted possession over her. Not to misunderstand Ragnar because he had liked her, finding her extremely fascinating, amused by their verbal banter, impressed by the persistence she had displayed, putting him in his place when she had been tending to his at the time, wounded shoulder. But the majority of his desire to claim her for his own had been borne of his jealousy at her near constant talk of Kennedy (of whom after the meeting Ragnar no longer saw as any sort of competition) and after their night of passion in Ravensblood Forest when she had still been in her heat season the simple fact that he didn’t want any other male to have her like that. Only him.
There was nothing about Ragnar that was gallant, or even remotely, nobel. He supposed he could have his moments - after all he wasn’t entirely made up of selfishness and flaws - but he didn’t illusion himself as Thistle’s knight in shining armor. More like he was a demonic fallen angel that had managed to pull her into his gravitational pull by dark temptation (at least that was what he fancied). In reality, he had no idea what had made Thistle fall in love with him, or even, agree to be his wife because he hadn’t asked.
Thistle Cloud did not really expect him to completely understand not only was she very different from him as were her thought processes as they were spanning two cultures, but also she was a completely different gender and tended to see things differently. Not that it bothered her, they complemented each other in a lot of ways, both vastly different though some ideals the same. She was virtually calm at this point, and not as anger and she in a way felt bad for her reaction, but what was one going to do when she was pregnant hormonal and all of the above. She twitched an ear and heard his expression confused at first. Why was she like a labyrinth if she was thinking of the correct thing they were mazes of a sort. He explained in a way what he meant, but she was momentarily struck dumb at his smile and couldn't even think of a reply let alone reply. He was breathtaking even on his worst day, but a smile was enough to kill her.
In a way Thistle's love for him had stolen over her without any problems. It had come as a surprise a welcome one, but a surprise none the less. She had not expected to fall in love with him so soon. She imagined she probably had been all along and just didn't realize it. Perhaps that was why she sought out comfort from another far to afraid to even think on any emotions she had regarding anyone. For her the dalliance in the forest was simple and easy and there were no emotions invested so less chance of getting hurt. She had seen what her mother had gone through at the hands of her first mate and she refused to be that way. So in a way she assumed to herself that she had always been afraid to veer towards love, but it had caught her anyway and she found she was not complaining at all.
Thistle listened her ears erect and forward as he spoke she was nervous and a bit afraid. She had not realized how so until right at this moment. Perhaps that was part of her angry as well an irrational fear of what news he would bring even though it was not his fault what another might say. Well I don't think we can ever really know how someone is going to react until the moment comes. We can certainly think on it. A sense of crushing relief hit her at the moment and for a dizzying moment she felt light headed and had to close her eyes. "Thank goodness. She breathed out, she had not realized that she did not want them to be there. She knew in part it was because Pump was forcing others onto her to help raise their pups, that she didn't want anyone else to try and help and or take them. I did not realize how much I seriously did not want them around them at least not right at first. There's already going to be too many trying to help me and it will most likely cause me to go crazy though I know it is needed and perhaps warranted. She tilted her head and licked his muzzle Thank you for taking care of my mess Ragnar.
Thistle said nothing to his comparison of her to a labyrinth which didn’t bother Ragnar all that much because he hadn’t really said it to woo her or anything silly like that. He had been speaking exactly how he thought of her, expressing that while he could not always make sense of her he was going to spend the rest of his life trying too because it felt like something someone in love did. Ragnar blinked at his wife, his smile fading at her dazed expression, lips parting to speak before he closed them again, trying to understand why she was looking at him like that. It did not occur to him that it had been him that had placed that starry eyed expression upon her face and so the Viking ignorantly wrote it off as a pregnancy thing and left it contented at that.
Thistle shook her head a couple times to dispell the image of his smile merely out for the time being she would go back to it at a later time. She saw his expression and asid quietly Ragnar you realize one of these days that killer smile of yours is going to be my undoing right. She was teasing but she didn't want him to think she was being empty headed or something was wrong with her pregnant self as he was sometimes prone to do.
Thistle listened as he spoke on their sons birthrights so to speak.She was fairly certain no one would try and teach them anything other than hunting, healing and defense. Which she was fairly certain would be some of skills she and Ragnar would teach them anyway plus raiding and pillaging and the like. I do not think anyone at least in the Ridge will say anything as long as our sons learn tasks that will help the pack.
.
Thistle’s quiet words were processed by the Viking, an amused look stealing across his muzzle and dancing in the depths of his icy, oceanic eyes.
For now, they were his little secrets to keep.
She looked at him and his soft spoken words and she knew he was right. Most of the others just like Dilucolu thought that he was really not as harsh and savage as he boasted but she knew otherwise she had seen the scars herself on his pelt many times. She also had seen the cold steel in his eyes. They maybe willing to tempt the devil, but she was not. And besides you could only tempt a devil with an angel's grace and none of them had that. Yes I know I just wish some of the others would realize as well that you are indeed a dangerous man. She did not mind that about him at all on the contrary it was a primal instinct that she loved that he carried.
Ragnar caught her mock glare out the corner of his eye, as to which he responded with a wicked grin that pulled at the scarred portion of his face as his muscles complied beneath marred platinum silver fur, distorting the what was supposed to be disjointed raven marked there. He might have believed it was a genuine glare if she had not chuckled a few seconds later causing him to hum tunelessly with delight. In a way, he understand their inability to accept that he truly was as dangerous as he claimed to be that he was not, for the sake of it, claiming to be that way to scare them. If they wanted a witness to it they could find Bazi, in truth, because she had witnessed just how ruthless he could be when he had sacrificed a baby cougar, rather heartlessly to Odinn for his own success. In a way, Ragnar had been doing it a kindness but that hadn’t been his true motivating point. The simple fact of it was that Odinn had wanted the cougar cub, commanded his devout follower to take it’s life, and Ragnar wanted to ensure his success. The mercy he had bestowed upon it had merely, though Ragnar had more or less sort of lied out his ass to Bazi about it, a happy coincidence.
Thistle’s opinion about him might have changed in that instant if she had known what he had done, but Ragnar had no intentions of telling her because the truth of it was he didn’t want her to realize what kind of monster man he truly was and decide that she could do better. The fact of it was that Gavriil, hell even Kennedy probably were much better for her than Ragnar; but he loved Thistle and for whatever it was worth, she had him, however helplessly. Letting her go wasn’t an option - had never really been an option.
Regardless of what he had done, would do and was planning on doing her mind wouldn't change. She knew very well what she had been getting into when she agreed to be his. Yes she did not know all of his feral savageness, but she did know that he was feral and savage and wild and that was alright with her, because regardless of that wildness he did follow his own set of morals even if they weren'tlike most. She nodded Yes they will. Before she could say anything else she got a swift kick to the side that made her wince and she suddenly just felt tired and wanted to sleep.Her day and emotions were catching up to her. "Ragnar one of your son's has a strong kick. She smiled softly and leaned into his chest for a moment and spoke through his fur "I am tired Ragnar I have excited myself far too much. I need to go to sleep.
It seemed the worst of their fight had passed and Ragnar, exhausted from the trip having pushed himself a little harder than had probably been necessary to get back to her. He noticed her wince but didn’t comment on it simply because he didn’t have the chance. Beating him to the punch Thistle informed him that one of his sons had a strong kick and the Viking smirked to himself.