| ELEANOR
and it tells you to tear everything apartNaturally, it had happened again- biology was to blame, as much as the woman hated to admit it. The warmth and closeness required by the cold winter had led to some rather uncomfortable stirring in her sensitive regions, and one thing led to another, and Despoina's belly had grown once more. Eleanor was a fretful mate, though her words were not without action behind them. She was returning to the den now from a hunting trip, a pheasant and a swamp-bird dangling from her jaws, the lifeless feathers tickling her nose. Soon the scent of birth filled her nostrils instead of feathers, however, and she was soon racing towards the den, her mind awash with the many horrible complications that could happen with the birth of children.
She arrived shortly after the birth of the last pup, raising an eyebrow at the muffled sound of a pup's cries that quickly grew into a full crescendo. Eleanor dropped the birds and slipped inside the den, allowing her eyes a moment to adjust to the gloom before she was able to see her pups and mate clearly. A grin quickly settled across her face at the sight of them, and she quickly snaked her head down to give Despoina a swift nip followed by a nuzzle to the cheek, before turning towards their pair of daughters. "She has a voice enough for the two of them." She murmured, nosing the quiet girl gently, she let out a puppyish growl that sounded almost too animalistic before she was quiet again.
It did little to quell her excitement, however- "For the quiet one, what do you think about the name Indigo? You see, it's--" Eleanor was interrupted by the sound of another outside the den. A stranger, and a male one at that. She huffed, ears falling flat against her skull, before emerging from the den rather dramatically. She eyed the male warily, making it quite known that she was sizing him up. His words were... confusing, though, and it wasn't until her eyes fell upon the two pups at his feet that it finally clicked. They were abandoned, clearly, whether by the stranger's mate or somebody else mattered little. Whether or not Despoina complained, the woman knew that neither of them would refuse these children food and a warm, safe place to sleep.
But that did not mean she was going to give this male an easy time.
"Robbing dens, I see. Did you fancy them an easy meal and then change your mind?" Her eyes narrowed, but there was a playful glint to them, though it was dangerous in a way that suggested her fangs would meet the soft flesh of his throat should he make one wrong move. Her eyes flicked towards his side as the lithe, agile form of Pine pulled up beside him. Eleanor huffed once more, though she at least had the knowledge to dip her head slightly in the presence of the alphess. Her words caused the woman to raise an eyebrow, gaze moving between the little woman and the black-furred male.
Eleanor sighed. "You know as well as anyone, Pine, that neither me nor Despoina would leave puppies to starve and die. As much as she claims to hate them..." She glanced backwards towards the den, where the girl who was nearly a spitting image of herself started to wail and whine again. The woman snorted lightly before turning back to the pair. Her voice lowered, eyes softening as she looked towards the male and his pups. "She won't be happy to, but your children will be as well cared for as our own." She didn't expect him to have the audacity to bring up the unconventional parentage of their pups, though she was sure that he was thinking something along those lines. Her distrust of men, however, was keen.
iromar | eight years | despoina's heart | malleah's soul
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