Heron Lake Plateau i know less now than i did before i asked.

Poe nodded. She was an incredibly honest creature, and yet she nodded to confirm the lie that Tegan told. Towhee hadn't asked him to protect her. Towhee was more likely to ask him to murder her than take care of her. And yet, Poe was willing to lend her support to anything that might get them out of this situation. She didn't see either man backing down (poor girl), and she didn't want to see what that collision would look like.

When Phox began to snarl at them, Poe backed away from Tegan. She couldn't help herself - she was super freaked. She shrank against the back wall of the den-like-space, whimpering softly. "Tegan..." she whispered fearfully, watching him with her heart in her throat. Waiting for what he was going to do. He had said he would protect her. He would, right?

well, that was incredibly naive of her -- to think that neither man would step down, when tegan blackthorn was standing in front of herr. 

HAH. 

phox gave a little step forward, a big scary growl, and tegan almost shit himself!! holy shit he was actually about to fuckin fight him!! poe merely cowered behind him which, again, really fuckin sucked. he gave a quick look at poe before giving a sort of defeated shrug. "i mean, you said probably nothin would happen right?" he offered her meekly, ears slicking back against his head. and then, he stepped entirely out of the way, not really submitting but like.. yeah okay. whatever. definitely giving up this fight. 

whatever, plenty of opportunity out there. i guess.

With Tegan out of the way (and, let's face it, quickly forgotten) Phox moved in on Poe. She was wildly different from Camilla, but that didn't make her less appealing. If anything, it made her more appealing. Phox didn't stop to think how this might change his relationship with Camilla (or Towhee, or his children). He just moved in like it was the most natural thing in the world. And really, wasn't it? He was (apparently) above Tegan's pay grade, so shouldn't he get all the goods?

He glanced at Tegan and said a single, Scram. Phox then locked eyes with Poe. Hungry, hungry eyes. He didn't worry about hurting Poe as he had with Camilla. This was decidedly different. His body moved forward in slow, steady motions, ready to put her beneath him (provided she didn't resist too much).

Are.
You.
Kidding.

Poe stared at Tegan in utter shock as he stepped aside with a nonchalant shrug, leaving Phox an open path to strut on in and claim the prize. It was impossible. How could he. Why would. She trembled against the back wall, unable to comprehend what was happening around her. How could he abandon her like this after promising he wouldn't? How could Phox just come at her like this when she so clearly didn't want him to kinda sorta idk? And why the fuckin' hell hadn't she just found Raven in the first god damn place??

Poe's eyes slid from Tegan to Phox. Her mind reeled. Tegan had been her hero. Phox was a married (in wolf terms) man. Her thoughts swam, and then they narrowed. Her resolve hardened. Okay, fine. Trying to rely on a man to protect her from other men had clearly been a very idiotic idea. Which meant she was back to square one - rely on herself to protect her own god damn self.

Poe was not a violent creature. But she was Mordecai Ostrega's daughter.

She flew at him. Teeth bared, snarl barreling out of her chest, she flew at Phox with the intent of clutching his muzzle between her teeth and shoving him down to the ground. Fuck men. Useless fucking cunt bags. If he wanted her, well then he could damn well fight for her. Someone needed to, even if it was her fighting for herself.

scram! yeah! sure! he'd fuck right off. sorry tegan blackthorn wasn't your hero, poe, but it's not like anyone's given him much example on how to be one. 

except, as he turned to leave, the desperate snarl of poe really fuckin startled him. whoa! wait! she really didn't want... someone else? damn was he just that good lookin? what a good lil stroke of his ego and -- fuck oh shit. fuck he mgithve just screwed the pooch.. or... well, lost his chance to. fuck!!

but wait, shitbag opportunity! 

as poe lunged at the front, tegan had already whipped around and very much processed the information in time to take a lunge for the back. never mind it was with terrible intentions, good consequences would probably outweigh the bad. probably. tegan snarled as he took on phox from the back -- like all along it had been his plan to get the guy from behind. hah! great plan, tegan.

Well, this was a whole lot different than his interaction with Camilla, though he wasn't sure if it was good or bad. It was certainly more of a challenge. Instead of being ready and willing, Poe fucking snapped at him like a goddamn lunatic. Phox had never been much of a fighter, but he had survived a fight for a girl once. He could probably do it again. Maybe. Did Tegan know how to fight? Did Poe? Would answers to those questions change his actions? Hell fuckin' no.

Tegan came at him from the rear (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖) while Poe came at him head-on. They were both so snarly, but Phox wasn't about to let that stop him from getting to his prize. Yes, Poe was his now. Not in the same was as Camilla, not for the long haul, but for now. Or so he believed. Not wanting to hurt his prize, Phox whirled around and attempted to either a) scare off Tegan or b) bite his face. Either outcome was fine with him. And with half of his own face missing, the first one probably wouldn't be that difficult, right?

Phox was quick to show he had no real desire to engage in combat with her, just as Tegan was quick to show he was a little d-bag that only stood up for himsellf when someone with some damn balls did so first. These things were fine with Poe, because she really wasn't much of a fighter. She knew how to defend herself, yes, and her fight or flight instincts were definitely kicking into high gear for her here. But still, she was rather thankful when Phox turned away to focus on Tegan (serve the little bitch right), and she slammed into his shoulder with all of her weight, hoping to knock him away and send him out the door.

well i guess she caught on. that's fine. he deserved it. he was definitely a d-bag. but i'm typing this and i'm crude so i'm gonna call him a full on douchebag. shitbag. fucker. keep the profanities comin'! 

but, yeah, phox turned and got a good fuckin chunk outta his face. not actually sure that's what he intended to do, but while maybe the plan a) would've done enough work, poe's good old slam knocked the trajectory off or whatever and ended with a solid chomp to the cheek and a good tear out the way. so. fuckin OW. holy shit ow. tegan hadn't felt that kinda pain in his life. he yelped. ouchie.

where was finley right now ??? ;-;

but he didn't pussy out! for once! and instead came reeling again, lunging with his own pair of fangs hoping to scare or bite. seems everyone here had the same idea.

That was unexpected. Instead of helping to defend Tegan, Poe actually helped Phox by throwing his teeth right into Tegan's face. Cool, cool. This was gonna go over real well with everybody. Not that Phox was thinking about anybody but his dick right now. Poe seemed to be on Tegan's side, and Tegan seemed to want Poe. Well, who didn't want Poe now? Phox knew what he wanted, and he was unlikely to give up easily. The taste of blood only made it all the more wild.

He lunged at Tegan again, this time with even more vigor. He had the upper hand, and it could only get better, right? ... Right?

Helping either of these penis-brained buffoons was not what Poe had intended. She actually wasn't sure exactly what she really wanted to get out of this. Her hormones were telling her that she needed to accept the strongest of these two to father her children, which made it a real struggle for her better sense that told her she couldn't allow herself to get pregnant so what the crap did it matter who was stronger? Problem was, she wasn't paying much attention to her better sense. She was paying attention to instinct.

As Tegan reared to re-engage with Phox, Poe scrambled to the side to get out of their way. There was no sense in fighting for herself when it appeared her preferred paramore was now willing to do so for her. Especially not when the other male was refusing to engage with her anyway. Her eyes darted between the fighting wolves and the way out. They were currently blocking her from escaping, but she could maybe manage it.

If only her paws would cooperate. Shit, it looked like instinct was controlling those.

actually ! tegan did not want to fight! poe please stop making assumptions about him you hardly know him and he is quite stupid. not literally, but emotionally he's a total moron. so when poe backed out of the fight tegan almost lost it. what do you MEAN this isn't a tag team effort anymore?? tegan was a fuckin scrub. look at him. he was hardly a fully grown adult and had the dumb averageness of his father, meaning he was pretty unimpressive without any special training! sure, he'd been trying to take on the role of guardian but... that didn't require any actual skill. just waltzing around the border all day.

so, what i'm saying is: tegan was F u c k e d. with a capital F! and i don't use that button often! 

"fuckin--!" tegan attempted to yap as phox lunged once again at him. tegan scrambled, pretty unimpressively, to the side, all the while using his own teeth to combat phox's. was it working? i dunno, but he did a pretty gnarly job at banging his muzzle against the other males -- and no teeth were in his flesh at this point, so that was good. at phox's lunge and tegan's scramble, a space opened up behind them, and as tegan lunged for phox's shoulder, he yelled, "GO!" hopefully she'd fuckin listen.

It was neither Poe nor Tegan's teeth that were able to shake Phox from his hormone-driven attack. It was none other than X who came literally swooping in that grabbed Phox's attention. He didn't know why the bird was here, but something about the X's presence brought Phox back into some sort of reality. It reminded him of Towhee, which in turn reminded him of family, which of course reminded him of Camilla and his children.

A look of guilty realization passed over Phox's face, and he didn't bother to say a single word as he darted away from the would-be lovers.

Poe knew she should run for it. She knew it. Still, she continued to hesitate while the boys scuffled. Part of it was because her instincts demanded she wait to see which male would prove worthy enough to father her children (SRSLY HORMONES STOP), and part of it was because she was enjoying seeing Tegan get beat on for being such a piece of shit.

Of course, Tegan shouting at her to go was really just the nail in the coffin. She wasn't doing anything he told her to now. Not even if she had thought of it in the first place.

Poe bared her teeth at him, but stayed out of the fight. X's arrival on the scene was simultaneously startling and baffling to the girl who had never seen the hawk in action before. And actually, she'd never even heard of Towhee's companion to have any inkling of what the crap it was doing there. Whatever its purpose was, it seemed to have a stabilizing effect on Phox who disengaged, gave them both a guilty glance, and then took off with the hawk tailing him.

The Ostrega blinked after them, bewildered as fuck. "What... the...?" she stammered, forgetting Tegan was even there for a moment as she tried to figure out why some random ass hawk had joined the fight for her womanhood. Not that it had stuck around to claim its prize...

Oh, hey. Speaking of.

Poe turned and looked at Tegan.

tegan, who was now bleeding and a little more than pissed, was R E L I E V E D to see phox turn and leave. why? who knows. but tegan was really happy about it.why poe had refused to listen to him was beyond him but... she was here now, after the dust settled, and tegan was pretty surprised to see that... considering how pissed she was moments prior. 

he blinked at her, maybe stupidly, a little blood seeping down to his chin and dripping off. "that was towhee's bird," was all he could say right now.

Poe listened to the explanation she was given, finding no real clarity in it whatsoever. Towhee had a bird? Wolves could have birds? Her most recent memory of the beta came flooding in unexpectedly, bringing heat to her cheeks and bringing her flying back to the present. Poe in heat. Tegan standing there, looking irritated and slightly bewildered, clearly thinking just the same thing she was.

What now?

The thought of him standing aside for Phox made its presence known clearly in her mind, but the flare of indignation was short-lived. He had promised to protect her, yes, but Poe had known all along that this was not a mission to preserve her innocence. He wanted just what he'd said he would make sure no one took. And she knew perfectly well now that she had intended to give it to him. Hell, she would've given it to Phox had she not just guided his wife through giving birth to his children.

No, she wasn't stupid. At least, not stupid in that respect. She was only stupid now in that she was walking towards Tegan, reaching for his chin, and tenderly licking the blood away from his chin, leaving me to wonder how many more personality shifts I'm going to give this poor girl through the remaining duration of this thread.

tegan hesitated as she suddenly got closer with him again. was this worth it? was his quest for the punanny really worth it? was poe worth it? she was pretty hot -- especially now, but he'd never really talked to her. did that matter? it didn't used to, but now it suddenly felt important. oh, fuck, ouch, feelings. abortr, abort. yeah, better to just fuckin shove that down and just bang out all the uncertainty... 

... 

right? 

plus, what if phox fuckin turned around and came back and bit his dick off -- or something? was THAT worth it? hell fuckin no! then he'd never ever ever experience  s  e x. ever. and that was high priority bucket list. but like -- or -- he could just experience it now? why the fuck was he thinking so much. 

roughly 8 personality shifts happen in this post alone, so poe you're not alone there. really, somehow, now, despite the overwhelming force of nature that was her season, really driving his thought process, tegan could only think of one thing. 

he used a paw to hook her closer, pressing his head to her neck -- beginning to preen gently at the fur along her scruff, also probably getting a lil bit of blood on her, whoops. "is this still what you want?" he murmured quietly, pushing down the thoughts burdening him.

A small part of her expected Tegan to push her away after that whole ordeal. But it was only a very tiny part. He was a man, after all, and he'd already proven himself to be extremely interested in what she had to offer. As much as her more intelligent self wanted to reject him and throw him out on his ass for being a little bitch, her more feral self wanted to keep him. He may not have fought for her, but she'd fought. She'd fought because she had chosen him, and she had won. Which meant she was really the one getting the prize here, not him.

It's convoluted, but it worked enough for her. For the moment, anyway.

In answer to his question, Poe stepped forward, running her nose along the dark charcoal line along his spine. She gave her tail a wag in his face, bopping him lightly on the nose as she glanced over her shoulder and gave him a small smile that was almost coy in spite of the boldness of her actions.

if tegan was thinking about opting out, the gentle whack of a tail in face totally melted all that insecurity away. the request he had still pressed to the back of his mind, like it could somehow fix everything. but tegan knew better. emotions were for dumbass bitches, and tegan was not a dumbass bitch -- i'll tell you that right the fuck now. fuckin moron, is what he is.

the look she gave him over her shoulder was the final straw -- in a way -- and tegan turned abruptly to nip at her hocks, shooting her a sly look and falling entirely back into his natural form of typical douchebag. yeah! fuck feelings! just use ya dick to think! if this was what she wanted, then he could absolutely give it to her. he hoped. fuck -- don't think like that right now, dumbass! a cautious, slower motion of his nose nudging at her tail, since he was only 70% sure how to do this (and that was only mostly a lie) and he was hoping her own reactions would give him some guidance... or did he just like jump on and latch on right now? oh fuck too many choices.

Tegan seemed hesitant for a moment. Though Poe was feeling 10 million times more impatient than normal, her usual level of patience was so immaculate that she only took notice of it as a curiosity. It seemed what had happened with Phox might've spooked him pretty good. She didn't worry at all though that he would decline the invitation, which was good as she was shown pretty quickly that it would've been a waste. Her smile was all it took and the Blackthorn was on board.

Well, almost. She flashed her tail out of the way to give him a real good eyefull of the good stuff. But still, there he was, hesitating again. And only then did it occur to Poe that he might not actually know what he was doing. He might not have ever done this before. The realization came as a surprise, but fortunately (for Tegan) it didn't actually make her second guess her decision. Her upbringing had dictated an attitude of freedom when it came to sexual pursuits. The fact that this might be his first just made this act that much more special to her.

So, in celebration of this touching, monumental moment in the young man's life, she backed her ass up into his chest and wondered if that was enough instruction for him to be getting on with.

shit yeah that was plenty of instruction. that seemed like a pretty affirmative she was ready and now all tegan needed to do was put himself to work. now all he needed to do was figure out ... how to... do this... shit... cue a quick montage of home boy hopping up and then getting down to business. i won't go through all the motions but think kid using a hammer for the first time. you know, missing the nail by a long shot a few times, a few dinks to the side of the nail, and then BOOM there you go got it figured out. i hope this analogy is good for you. 

anyway. hot damn when he figured it out was it fully worth all that confusion! he also probably looked like such a fuckin lameass... but hey! dick was now properly placed and the rest felt pretty natural now. he started with some slow motions and then kind eased into it, trying to figure out if she was into this or not... cause he was pretty damn into it i'll tell you that now.

That did the trick! Poe braced herself as Tegan hopped aboard and went to work. Speaking as the plank of wood in this construction-related metaphor, she spent the first few minutes feeling as all planks do with a new carpenter. A little nervous, a little jostled from all the positioning, a little banged in the wrong places, and a little violated as the wood made way under the nail getting pounded in. But, eventually, everything seemed to fall into place, as she had known it would. Seeing as this wasn't her first time playing the plank with a first-time carpenter, Poe knew the drill. Ha!

When finally Tegan seemed to find his footing and get into the motion, she dropped her act as the plank and began to move along in rhythym with him because who, I ask you, WHO actually wants to nail a lifeless, wooden board? She wanted to be a good partner for him and make his first time enjoyable, so she did whatever things were necessary for that. I'm not going to go into it either, but I heard she's a good lay, so I trust her. She even made all the right noises as it began to feel good and she began to enjoy herself.

Meanwhile, her raging hormones began to cheer that they had triumphed over her level-headed nature and tricked her into thinking that copulating was an AWESOME idea. Instinct always seemed to get what it wanted in the end. The bitch.

listen, poe, you could have been a lifeless board and tegan would've found it enjoyable. he was pretty glad you were an actual, living, breathing, wolf, but all the same. thank you for doing him this for him. 

tegan was probably an average lay considering he didn't exactly know what he was doing, but once he figured it out things went a little more smoothly. he showed good potential. he'd probably try to practice again another day if circumstances called for it. but who knows. 

anyway. badda bing, badda boom, badda bang. all done. it was a pretty damn euphoric experience, and tegan was pretty damn happy with the outcome. he muttered a phew choice expletives (pick your favorite) and something like oh brother. all good things, normal. he was, however, less happy with the fact that he really wanted to lay the hell down but was pretty glued to her. he shifted, trying to figure this shit out without seeming like he couldn't figure out how to get out, and instead leaned forwards (more) to nose at the fur between her shoulders. "how you feeling?" he asked. casually.

Poe wouldn't say it was the best she'd ever had, but it did satisfy that itch being in heat had given her. When it was over, she felt quite pleased and quite ready for a nap. The whole being anxious about getting pregnant thing was as far from her mind as could be, up until the point where she realized he was kind of stuck to her. That's about when it all threatened to come flooding back in, but his touch against her shoulders helped her to keep it at bay. Mostly.

"Alright," Poe responded, hoping she sounded alright. She didn't want to burden him with her fears, especially since it wasn't his fault that they were in this position (she has a short memory span when she's in heat, apparently). Conversation seemed the best thing for keeping herself calm, so she went with it. "Was it... okay for you?" she asked, knowing it was an absurd question. Of course it had been okay for him. He'd lost his virginity. He'd be skipping if he could detach his dick from her.

"yuh," crooned tegan gently, mostly because he was tried than because he was trying to be sweet. he gave her another few licks, as if that would help something along. or... something. she didn't seem bothered, so tegan was mostly positive this was supposed to happen. ? "you should... stay with me," he muttered then, unsure if he meant it or not. maybe it was just his deep rooted abandonment issues seeping through, or maybe he was just hoping she'd stick around to let him stick it in a few more times. tbd. "in case phox comes back." not that tegan would do a single fucking thing about it.

oh. wait. 

he just now remembered the little wound he had on his cheek. after all the hormones settled (kind of) he realized it actually fuckin hurt. "i don't know what that guys problem is," he added with a bit of salt.

Poe was beginning to feel rather anxious, locked beneath Tegan like this. His affections did make her smile, though, and they reminded her to relax. It was going to be okay. And if it wasn't, well... There wasn't much use in fretting about it now. The mistake had been made, and this was his first time. She didn't want to ruin it now by being a gloom monster.

His comment made her glance back over her shoulder at him in surprise. She wondered what he meant by that, even after he clarified that it was because of Phox. Poe gave him a squinty eye as she wondered if he actually believed that she was going to buy that. Fortunately, she was feeling too satisfied and exhausted to relocate that anger she'd felt towards him when he'd bitched out on her, so instead of snapping, her face broke into a smile as she huffed a laugh. "Uhh, I don't think you could do a whole lot for me in this position," she commented, "Though actually, you are kind of block the only point of entry right now, so I wouldn't be much use to Phox either."

Poe eyed him for a moment longer, wondering if she should try to reach him so she could return some of the affectations. She determined after only a short moment that she wouldn't be able to get to him though, so she dropped her head away and just tried to relax into him. "As for staying... Won't really have a choice for a little longer, anyway," she murmured lightly, still wondering what he'd meant by it. She didn't really believe that he liked her in that way, even though her hormones were making her want to. Which was dumb because she couldn't stay anyway. But... he was handsome, and he was being rather sweet to her. But. God damnit Poe, stop.