Bearclaw Valley Hello, my name is Jimmy Pop and I'm a dumb white guy

The same day that Lucas awoke to the sound—finally, he could hear things—of someone snoring, he popped his head out of the den for the first time. There was a little apprehension in the beginning as he worked up the nerve to approach the dazzling light that shimmered and shook in the doorway, but at last the little dancer gathered up all his courage and his rolls and waddled out into the sun.

He remained within the den's mouth, just barely beyond its opening, and squinted and whined as sunlight lanced into his vision and seared into the back of his head. It hurt the little boy who had never experienced it before, but at the same time, its warmth on his darkening back set his tail a-wagging and his little paws a-prancing, and soon he was doing a fidgety little dance in the entry with his eyes nearly closed against the offending rays.

"By two weeks of age, the pups can waddle, and about a week after that, they may come out of the den for the first time." All welcome for any who would be tolerated near the den. Tagging @Laurel and @Indra for reference in case they disapprove of whomever joins.

major eyes emoji

It was without an offering that Alexander approached the den, intending to do a walk-by-peek-around and continue right on his way; both groups of children were getting older, yet he’d not the chance to really see the youngest bunch. He brought meals to Laurel when he could catch something and tried to peek in every now and again, but usually succeeded in dragging himself away before he could—but today didn’t fall under the usual occurrences, as there was a little mass at the mouth of the den. He’d only barely noticed the boy there as he moved on by, catching a glimpse of him in his peripheral.

Curious, Xan glanced around at his surroundings before giving in and falling victim to his own curiosity. He walked slowly towards the den, eyes trained on the boy whilst his brows pinched together with confusion—what was he doing? Tilting his head, he plopped down on his stomach and army crawled the rest of the way forward, whisper-asking, “What are you doing?” as he got closer. He didn’t expect an answer—well, he sort of did, but not really—but asked anyways with the unconscious hope that maybe the kid was all-knowing and already able to converse (Xan knew nothing about babies).

These first weeks had been exhausting. Laurel felt a lot happier than she remembered ever feeling before in her life after her pups had come but it was also tiring to be a single mother -- even if she had Indra to stand by her side -- and Laurel caught z's where she could. She had actually intended to stay awake while Indra was out doing something else but her eyes had gotten the better of her and Laurel'd fallen asleep by the den's entrance, just inside, while the sunlight trickled onto her face and the pups waddled around or slept by her side.

She didn't wake until the sunlight was blocked. With a murmur that could only really be interpreted as I don't wanna get up yet the tired mother smacked her lips. She didn't instantly connect that Indra wasn't back yet, nor that one of her pups was beyond her immediate reach; for all she knew they were still safely asleep while their aunt watched over.

When she heard Xan's voice her hackled raised and Laurel instantly leaped up. She bumped her head on the ceiling of the den -- which hurt quite a bit -- but the pain was easily forgotten as she pushed herself beside the pup at the den's mouth and a ferocious snarl ripped from her throat. With eyes narrowed she warned Xan not to get closer. If he didn't want her, then he didn't deserve to see his pups, as far as she was concerned, and she would make sure he knew. Staring into his eyes she hoped to see some of the pain there that she had felt, some of it dealt by his own hand, for he deserved it.

No one had ever told Lucas that leaving the den was a potentially dangerous thing to do without supervision. Of course, even if someone had told him, he wouldn't understand. How could warm light like this, he might reason, be harmful at all? He pranced in it and squirmed as it warmed his spine, and after a while, his squinting lessened.

Enough for him to make out the brown-and-green patchwork of the grass as it recovered from winter. Enough to make out the stunningly blue sky and the brilliant orb that made his eyes water to look at. And enough to make out the white wolf that was shimmying toward him on his belly. Lucas' baby blue eyes locked onto Xan's red ones and his whole body began to wiggle, from his tail to his ears. Friend! Everyone was a friend to him.

That is, until Laurel came pelting out of the den and overshadowed him. The cub flinched down to the ground and cast a sidelong look up at his mama, who growled viciously at the white wolf. Lucas mustered his own growl, a cheap imitation that was hardly intimidating at all, as his eyes drifted back to the mysterious white stranger.

Time moved quickly—starting with a thump.

Alexander’s head shot up, eyes staring past the child and into the den, gaze laced with concern. What had happened? Was another child trying to come out—had they hurt themselves?

Followed by a snarl.

The male’s body jolted upwards, bringing him right to his feet. He locked eyes with Laurel, who warned him away, but he did not move even an inch. Drawing his body up to his full height, he stared at her as his lips twitched, a snarl of his own managing to slip through; it was silent, a mere warning.

Finished with a growl.

It was a small sound, but not so terribly so that it was easily missed. In a matter of seconds, he was looking down towards his son again, head cocked to the side and ears perked up with curiosity. It was humorous, really, but also rather endearing. His tail wagged once—twice!—before he remembered they were not alone. Again, he returned his attention to the mother and corrected his posture, head straightened out whilst the interest once there in his expression was forced to disappear (without success). “Calm down, Laurel,” he voiced; he continued to stand where he was, moving neither forward nor back. “Why are you doing that? I’m not going to hurt him—I just wanted to see them.” Did he not have the right to meet his own children? Especially now, as they were growing older?

Luckily instinct told her child to be careful and hide with her as she moved up to him. Xan caught her warning but did not seem intimidated at all. Laurel looked -- and was -- ready for a fight then. If not for Lucas between her legs she might have dove for him then, fought it out right then and there; his right to see his children, her place in the pack. The tiny growl Lucas let out distracted them both and seemed to bring Xan back from his high-and-mighty I-have-a-right-to-see-my-pups disposition... at least a little bit.

Laurel knew she had him pinched there. She had great plans for the future of her pups and they would not grow up with their mother being second to their father's whims. He had had a choice and he had chosen poorly... and he would pay for that.

Now, the worst thing one could probably do to a new mother who was upset and hovering over her young baby was to tell her to calm down. Laurel had never been good with being told to calm down but now, as a mother, she especially did not like it one bit. "Calm down?" she hissed, a warning, a chance for him to rescind the words being reminded of how dumb they were to utter. An are you sure, really? "Ha. You made your bed, now better fucking lay in it." Her eyes coldly sought his, hoping to see some of that pride melt into pain at some point or another. She wanted to have him pinned, to have him realise that she was the only way to get to these pups right now. Different roads lay ahead for however he'd handle this situation, but none of them were all too good for him at present.

She remained hovering defensively over her pup, only breaking eye contact with Xan once to gently touch Lucas' head in a silent gesture of it's okay, but stay there while her body language still showed that there was a threat in this situation. Not a physical one, perhaps, but there were more than one way to get hurt.

Too much was happening for the marshmallow of a wolf pup to keep up with. The longer Xan and Laurel exchanged heated words, the more Lucas' ears and tail drooped downward. Even at his young age he could sense the hostility here, and he didn't like it, not one bit. His curiosity was quashed by it so that he crept backward, further under Laurel's belly and further from the wolf that his mother was indicating as a threat. In this, his socialization period, if Laurel didn't like something, then Lucas quickly learned not to like it either.

Who could say whether Laurel identifying Xan as a threatening, dangerous presence to Lucas would have far-reaching effects? It certainly would shape his interactions with his father in the future, happy-go-lucky though he may be, but that was all very far from his mind as he slid back down into the dark of the den and sought his siblings for reassurance.

Feel free to skip Lucas from now on unless it's important to him, then just tag him!