Stone Circle From Wolf to Whale

@Greyback

Valette had been in a sour mood. Perhaps it was the ongoing snowstorm that made her outlook over the fields below deplorable.  She preferred to stay updated on the life of their bison herd but with the poor visibility, the female had no choice but to accept it. She still tried, but today, after roaming the fields, she wandered a bit too close which caused an angry bison to chase her.

The female noticed instantly that she wasn't as quick as she was before. She was tiring more quickly now. Nothing really happened, the bison stopped its chase after a short distance. However, it made the Matriarch realize that she wasn't going to be able to join any bison hunt in the upcoming months. The female really liked hunting, before she was perfectly capable to hunt until the last moment of her pregnancy. This time was different.

She plowed through the snow to her den, panting while doing so. Valette felt as if she was in the last days of her pregnancy but it couldn't be. Her heat had been last month. She could not be close to birth already. Plus her teats were not full yet. Usually, that was a sign as well that the pups were close to coming. Her last pregnancies took two moon cycles, so she figured that this was going to be around the same time frame. Except, her belly was growing much faster than the previous times.

Valette entered the den with a scowl on her face, though it did lighten when seeing Greyback. Since Greyback was so large Valette didn't have a problem with entering the den at least. Valette greeted her mate and plopped down in a sit, belly protruding. "I am already as large as the day I gave birth to my last litter!," Valette puffed and then looked down at her own belly. She glanced up, looking a bit more sourly at Greyback. "This means I might explode if I have to carry this full term!," she sounded slightly worried. How many did he even put in there!?

Body splayed out and paws cradling his chin, the Patriarch laid down defeated after his hunt with the hares from earlier. The once plentiful glade was now barren save for the walloping bison that feigned aggression to those who neared too close. Rabbits, fat with their hides much like himself were all the while sleeping within their burrows, tucked away from his jaws—and so the mammoth of the man began to brood after failing to bring home a meal to his mate. His Valette.

His ears instantly responded to the familiar sound of the soft pawsteps crunching above the frozen snow, their beat a little unsteady by the weight accompanying them. Greyback did not have to turn his head to know who it was, nor did he have to guess; but he did anyway.

The silhouette stood at the lip of the cave, their figure tall and a tad rounder than usual. It was only when they sat down did he seal away the fallacy of his own troubles. "Valette," he greeted with his usual inflection while he rose and sauntered over to sit by her, his nose pressing to her cheek. He was not surprised by her moodiness, if he had been carrying his own whelps he'd be upset too.

"Come now, my love. You musn't worry—I doubt any wolf has ever exploded from a pregnancy," Grey chuckled  whilst looking down at the Matriarch's protruding stomach. It was hard to believe that her womb was empty nearly a moon ago. But she was right, the pups were already looking ready to the born. The thought  his fur raise in slight skepticism but an itch in the back of his skull reminded him that he was very large, far larger than Valette and perhaps there could be more than 3 in there. "...But shall I travel to another neighboring pack to speak with a medic?" He asked, rising to meet her gaze with his own softened one.

Valette couldn't help but smile a bit when Greyback sat next to her and touched her cheek. She quirked her lips up just a bit. She leaned into his touch. "Well, you probably wouldn't know because she would not be alive," Valette pointed out. However, she was only mildly joking of course. It was just that this felt so different than her last pregnancies.

Valette slowly shook her head. "I don't know. It is not that it feels wrong," she stated with a shrug. "My belly just grows far quicker and wider than it has ever done before," she offered and then leaned against him. She couldn't help but kind of like the idea that everyone was seeing that she was pregnant. She licked his muzzle. "It is just annoying that it already makes me slower and less agile while hunting," she pouted. After all the female loved hunting.

Greyback's words did remind her that she lacked a female friend to talk about pregnancies and such. Ira was a friend but perhaps not the best wolf to chat about being pregnant with her father's cubs. Steph was normally the one she could go to but she was traveling. Vespera and Korei didn't seem like the right wolves either. Maybe there was a female in Lost Creek Hollow that could talk to her about pregnancies.

The flattened joke fell deftly on the Patriarch's  ears as he stared at her with an everlasting raised brow, wondering if he should laugh at the morbid joke that left Valette's jaws. He didn't want to think about his mate exploding and him having to explain to the pack that it was due to him. He guessed it would not go well with Ira specifically.

He only shook his head and shrugged.

"Perhaps there could be more pups than usual." Valette had only ever given birth to three at a time if his mind was correct. "..Or it might be because im much bi-" Greybacks voice died as his brain halted, the beginning syllables slipping from his tongue before he turned his head looking towards his flank, scruitnizing his body with a grim expression. "-Bigger." He continued. He wasn't even a father yet his body was already starting to look like one.

Fat.

He wondered if Valette had noticed, and if she did would she mind? He turned to her, looking at her belly once more. At least they could be fat together.

Valette watched how Greyback responded and couldn't help but chuckle softly. It lifted her spirits to see him even consider the idea of her truly exploding. The female smiled a bit. She then considered his words. "Yes, there could be more pups in there," she agreed with him. She bit her lip. "What if we will have like 6 or 8!," she sounded a bit astonished when realizing that this could be a reality. She had been young when she started pups, as soon as she was mature enough. Now she was in her prime and maybe her body was telling her that as well by having more pups in a litter.

"You are bigger than my last mates," she grinned a bit and licked under his chin. So maybe he also fathered bigger sized pups. She really hoped there weren't 8 pups in there. She was not sure how to care for so many newborns, perhaps that was the easy part once they started to explore and get into trouble, then 8 would be a terrible amount. She hoped for their sake that the pups were just big and not many. Valette felt a bit more cheered up. "However, with this big belly, everyone will know that I am carrying your babies, proudly," she hummed, to cheer him a bit up too. He said that he liked that after all.

Six!? Eight!?

Greyback stared at his mate like she had sprouted antlers, his eyes wide and mouth agape. He could barely handle Ira, gods help them if there was six or eight kids in there. "Now, now, Valette, I doubt there will be more than Four. Eight is quite a lot, where would we even put them?" The man glanced around the den, it was quite spacious but even with Valette and he it felt a bit cramped at times. Though the thought of so many young running around it made his heart skip a beat.

The soft caress of a tongue on his chin grounded him though, and he turned to look at her once again. "That I am," he chuckled, his voice vibrating in his chest where Valette was pressed. "And they will do best to remember that before crossing you or I—less my fangs find their hide." He joked. "But it is late, and you need your rest. Please, rest yourself and I will return to you before sundown with something to eat?"

Valette watched how surprised Greyback looked. She hoped that she realized that six could be a possibility. The female chuckled softly. "It could be that we have that many. We would really count on the pack to help," she thought about it. Valette then smirked. "You will probably have to sleep outside," she teased. She felt that they would be able to do it, raise that many. Now they were with two. Normally she would do it by herself. The female smiled at him. He looked cute being so surprised.

"Greyback, no. Please. You need to rest as well. I'd rather that you rest with me," she protested and made her point she snuggled more against him that he would need more effort to move his body. Valette liked that he cared for her but he also had to think about himself.