Bearclaw Valley tetelestai | (it is finished)

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a cheerless dusk shrouded the sky and a thick, foreboding fog gripped the teekons.  bearclaw valley was cast in a coat of white from the dusting of snow they had received yesterday and decorated in dismal shades of gray.  the air was heavy with moisture, and the girl with no name crept through the valley with silent and purposeful stride.  

her mood paired well with the weather — the cramping from her pregnancy had been exceptionally intense today and her last interaction with the subject of her ire had increased reigi's irritability.

she needed her husband. 

the raven did not understand how everything had gone so wrong.  she had brought the girls food and swiftly turned around and left, but indra would not have it.  it seemed as if she simply wouldn't be appeased until reigi was gone — no matter the circumstances of her departure.

reigi had been obeying alexander's command to be kind; she had avoided the girls until their latest interaction.  she thought, perhaps, laurel was ready to put it behind them by her lack of response... but her quarrelsome and ill-mannered sister took it in her own paws to stir the metaphorical pot.

and honestly, it had gone past the point of tiring.  the behaviours indra were expressing were ones reigi simply could not understand; it wasn't from refusal or insubordination.  grappling for rank was, simply, not how primitive wolves went about their business.  it did not come naturally, it was not instilled into her like it was the redleaf girl.

but defending herself was.  and soon, that is what it would come to.  she was terrified that the redleaf girl was going to provoke her too hard one day, and she'd be forced to take the girl's life between her jaws and reigi would be blamed.

none of it was anything she wanted to think about right now.  she just wanted to spend the evening with her boy.  another intense, crippling cramp racked her body and she grit her teeth in frustration, pausing in her search for @Xan and taking the time to breathe.

The albino was not far off from where his wife stopped, traversing the territory and checking on various points. So long had passed since he’d last spotted a fox that he’d become incredibly satisfied with his ability to get points across; truth be told, he was likely the worst possible candidate when it came to doing so but, hey, he thought otherwise. He’d stopped searching for the scents of the lesser canines, convinced they’d stay away, but was unpleasantly surprised when he saw a blur of red cross through his peripheral. In a matter of seconds, the boy was after it, running it right towards Reigi—yet, before it could reach her, he’d gotten a hold on the tail and yanked it back towards him, jaws soon clamped down around its throat. With a few wild shakes of his head the vermin was rendered lifeless, whilst his eyes found their way to the dark mass just a few yards in front of him.

Alexander did not know of the ailments accompanying pregnancy. He’d never experienced them, nor would he ever, and had never spent enough time with a pregnant female to observe them. So when he saw the expression of Reigi’s face his body stiffened and he strode towards her, concerned for her well-being. The fox was discarded as he approached, nose pushing against her shoulder—are you okay?

she'd been so caught up in herself that she did not hear the fox approach so close behind.  she heard her husband's clamoring but his scent came to her easy, so she remained rooted to the spot as the symptoms came and went.

she melted soft and desperate into his embrace.  it had not been so long since THE DARK MAN had touched her and she had not forgotten, but the one thing she needed right now was xan.   she did not want to think about her quarrels or her pain, she just wanted to go back to when it was easy between them.

with troubled eyes she turned to him, supplying his chin with a bouquet of kisses.  she grazed her body alongside his, their touch electric.  it had been so long!  and then unceremoniously, she flopped on the ground before him, fat belly up in the air as her wrists turned to her narrow chest.

hi hello this is sAPPY AT END I AM SO MANY DEGREES OF SORRY

Alexander’s mind was soon put at ease as she reacted to him, tail swaying and muzzle tilting downwards to get in a few licks across her muzzle. He followed her first with his eyes, but his head turned as soon as she ran her body along his own, maw parting with a smile—which faltered, briefly, as she flopped over. With her stomach fully exposed he almost felt bad; there was so much there and he was the cause. Closing his mouth, he closed what little space was between them as he, too, plopped down at her side. “You’re huge,” he noted rather bluntly, gaze running the length of her underside before settling back on her face. “Does it hurt?” It didn’t seem like it did, but what did he know? It wasn’t something that he’d ever experience, which he was actually rather thankful for, yet he was still curious.

And those curiosities spawned several realisations; they’d always been present, lingering in the back of his head, but only just then acquired the strength to cross to the front of his mind.

This was his wife lying beside him, and the soon-to-be mother of their children. Did that not mean she was supposed to be beside him, even in the hierarchy? His mother and father had led together prior to their problems, and then so had Burke and Meldresi—did that mean she was meant to lead beside him? It seemed likely and, surprisingly, he wasn’t entirely against the idea of offering her some power over the pack; the thought of having her at his side did not bother him, nor did he feel threatened by the idea of no longer being the sole leader—

—but how he would convey that to her, he wasn’t entirely sure. So, for now, he settled instead for being the cause of history repeating itself, telling her, “Nalligivagit.”

 

are you kidding me?!??! sappy xan is fav xan!

if reigi had been any other woman, perhaps xan's comment would have brought forth an untenable onslaught of aggression.  he had called her fat!  but instead she just laughed.  she did not really know the implication of what he had said; only that he looked to the blimp that she'd become and then sought her gaze.

she was also thankfully ignorant to the thoughts that had taken hold of him.  although they were positive, she did not want to think about rank or stature.  she just cared about him!  what a blessed life, to only regard such simple affairs.

his last word confused her most of all.  it did not register as common tongue by its roller coaster of inflections.  she regarded him softly, nosing his lips before butchering his lovely word, nayya-giv-get.

but it did not matter.  she could see the way he regarded her, and of course she could not forget that she was now his wife.  she could read his i-love-yous in the way he came to her side whenever someone called at the borders, in the way he brought her food now that she was mostly unable to hunt for herself.  she saw it in the soft way he regarded her, and in every subtle interaction.

and to answer your question, yes, she loved him, too.

then a bunch of stuff happened and she became his wife and also the alpha for like five seconds.