Finally they had arrived, he could smell the markings before them and slowed his pace, he wasn't going to barrel into a pack's lands...not after the last time. Yes many lessons had been learned through trial and error, some had stuck and others hadn't. He turned and smiled softly at his sister, the beautiful and clever Anelisse. Of course if anyone paid attention they could clearly see that the look was not simply a big brothers protectiveness, though that was there as well, but there was a love in Tristan's eyes when he looked upon his sister that other wolves found unseemly. It was why they had traveled so long and so far to reach this pack.
"We're here Ani...Gomorrah...this could be the one." He licked his sister's muzzle and then gazed back and inhaled. The alpha was a female but that much they had heard in whispers. They didn't care who the alpha was, as long as they were accepted as they were.
---
Okay, so she'd admit: her paws ached. So badly. They'd been running for a long time, looking for the perfect place to call their own. Home. She wanted a home bad enough it burned, like a flame lit in her heart, smoldering to embers. Home. A place to build a life together. A place where the wolves didn't judge them for their...quirk. Because love was love, right? Did it truly matter who the lover was? Even if it was your own brother?
The sun beamed down on her brindle coat, warming her from the outside, but it didn't ward off the nervous chill she had. They'd been thrown out, cast away, like they were cannibals or pupkillers. She butted her head against Tristan's coat, breathing in his musky, male smell. Familiar. Her lover, her brother. Why couldn't it be that way? "I just keep praying to Fenrir," she murmured softly, her tail giving a lone wag as her heart pounded. "It's now or never."
---
He stepped forward and raised his head a slow howl made it's way up and out through the pack, a howl that sought permission. He finished off and licked his lips gazing out at the land and standing infront of his sister. Growing up as they had without parents nor pack he had learned to protect her and himself. Anelisse was his world, no one was going to take her from him or tell him he couldn't love her or give her all she needed or wanted. He waited patiently if not a bit worriedly uncertain of their reception.
---
Ani's body trembled with nerves, though she tried to stand still and silent, to prove she wasn't afraid. But truth was, they were running out of packs. No one wanted to accept them, because their love wasn't...right. They claimed they were twisted. Please, Fenrir, make this alphess see their love with fresh, unjudging eyes... She pressed her body against Tristan's, burying her face under his throat and waiting as pawsteps ranged closer. She was coming.
---
Piper heard the howl, plain as day, seeking permission to stay among Gomorrah. The thought made her lips lift into a small grin. Her stiped tail flagging behind her, she strode through her lands, the lands she loved so much. Home. This was home, and it was all hers. The wolves here were hers. Her paws streaked across the ground, her big body ambling through the woods with grace. She slowed as she saw them--identical wolves, with pelts of brindle. She flicked an ear, standing before them. "You rang?" Her lips grinned at them, her voice husky.
---
"Indeed..." Tristan lowered his head slightly his muzzle tipped down partially in greeting but more appropriately in submission. He had to do whatever it took to get Anelisse and himself into this pack. His sister longed for a place to call home, and they both longed to complete their family and settle down.
"I am Tristan and this is my..." He gazed at his sister and then looked back at the alpha his eyes determined. "my mate Anelisse." That they were siblings was obvious if not by sight then by scent, but he would not hide his love even if it meant being forced to travel on once more.
"We have heard of your pack...and we have a wish to join it. I am an able hunter, and I can fight as needed..."
---
Ani perked up at the sight of the alphess. So this was Piper... My, she was large boned for a female...but Ani supposed you'd need to be big to manage an entire pack of wolves. The way the pride shone in the she-wolf's eyes made Ani's heart flip. Would someday Piper be proud of them too? She stepped forward, licking Tristan's maw before speaking. "I can hunt as well and I'm fast on my feet. I'm patient--I can teach your young ones anything." Her tail wagged. Please, oh please...
---
Piper lifted a brow, assessing the pair. They were quite obviously twins--they were identical down to their pawpads. Young, two or three years tops. Slowly, she sat down, her long tail wrapping around her hindquarters with a single twitch. She tilted her head. "Why Gomorrah, then?" she asked, almost innocently devious. Oh, she knew why. She just wanted to hear them explain themselves...
---
Why Gomorrah indeed...she wasn't simply going to welcome them with open paws, but at least they weren't being run off. He took a slow breath trying to think of the best way to phrase his response to her question.
"We've heard rumors of your pack...that you're more...open minded then most. Anelisse and I...we just want a place to call home where we won't be judgedby unfair standards." There that was the best way to put it after all. Of course the fact that words like 'sinners, debauchery, and wicked' had been used against Gomorrah didn't need to be mentioned...after all the twins had been called those same words often enough.
---
Piper offered a simmering smile. "Indeed. You could say that..." She stood and eased towards them, looking Ani up and down--small-boned and feminine with pretty features. And her...brother was even better looking. She let her gaze rake across the male, tilting her head. "A shame you already have a mate..." she smiled, offering a small nuzzle to his cheek. "Because you're roguishly handsome..."
---
Ani kept her joints locked as this female, not liking the way she was eying Tristan. As if she could sway his interests with a sashay of her hip and a flick of her tail. She just...oozed feminine prowess and it made Anelisse a little uneasy. She bit back a growl, watching Tristan with wide eyes. He loved her... He wouldn't leave her for a romp with the alpha.
---
Tristan couldn't be rude but that didn't mean he had to be encouraging either, he had a funny feeling he understood all too well what this females vice was. If the wolves of Gomorrah weren't well received in other areas then perhaps some shared the flaw that he and his sister supposedly did. It seemed that the alpha's so called flaw was her forwardness, even with Anelisse right beside him she made her intentions clear.
"You're are most flattering I'm sure my lovely Anelisse agrees...but I am spoken for. We're looking to join the pack before we seek our mate to offer her a stable home, we want family." Now he had made his intentions clear, hopefully. Still it seemed to him that the mild seduction was just a part of the alpha's personality meaning neither harm nor malice. He pressed closer against his sister and gave her a gentle nuzzle of reassurance.
---
Anelisse's ears swiveled up to focus on Piper, feeling the press of her twin against her body in reassurance. She gave her tail a careful wag, then stepped forward. "We've heard only good about your pack, milady... We've heard that you make room for wolves with...more wicked intentions, if I may." Like incest. She wondered, idly, if any wolves were incestual here. Or if perhaps Piper at one time had been such... Perhaps that was why the great white she-wolf accepted vices rather than virtues. "And we would be honored to call Gomorrah our home and you our queen." She bowed her head.
---
Piper smiled as the male gently let her down, not on guard about it, but just saying how he felt. And he felt sure that he wanted to create a family. "Well thank you," she grinned at the compliment, puffing out her chest a little. She glanced between them. "So you plan on sharing a mate...between the two of you?" She wasn't judgemental; merely curious. So perhaps they weren't as bad as Novik and her Swell, planning to breed despite the lineage.
---
"Yes we'd like to find a nice female we can settle down with, that would fit us both very well. Anelisse is right we would be honored to call this our home." He was hopeful, this could finally be the end of their fruitless wandering and attempts to find a place where they could belong. He stood by his sister and looked at Piper in earnest trying to make her see how much it would mean to them.
---
Piper glanced over them once more. Strong, supple, young. And would this mean they would be bringing more newblood into the pack? Pups to train as hunter, warrior, spy and scout. And Anelisse, she claimed she'd be able to teach their youngbloods. She slowly smiled. "Well then...I don't see why you can't call Gomorrah your home," she said simply, then raised a paw. Her brown eyes gleamed with a new idea. "You will both rank as hunters until the need arises for a rank change. You will be permitted to leave the pack on...a search for your new mate, if you will, as long as you bring her back to me to accept. If you're alright with this, I have just one condition..."
---
This was it at last they were being accepted into a pack, they would have packmates and an alpha, other wolves to rely upon and aid. He nodded at all this at the conditions and then paused. Bringing their new mate was no issue, nor would it be hard for them to have Piper accept her, but what was her last one condition?
"And that would be?" He asked softly hoping it wouldn't be anything drastic or extreme.
---
Piper offered what she hoped was a warm smile to the pair. "Depending on your litter size... I request a puppy to raise, the strongest of your litter, to be considered for heir if..." If she were too old to have another litter. She bristled at the thought, but she refused to name one of Novik and Swell's twisted-blood offspring as her heir, and Urban...well, Urban swung towards boys and one-night-stands. He would never be heir materiel. "...If I cannot produce a puppy from my line." She finished, looking stricken. Those were thoughts better left unsaid--no. She still had one chance. One chance with Sleet... But would Sleet agree? "Those are my conditions. If, by the time you have your puppies and I have found my heir, these will become null."
---
One of their pups? He looked at Ani a little concerned, then again they would be in teh pack and it's not as if Piper wouldn't let them see their pup. He could sense the concern in the alpha though, she must have need of an heir badly to proposition them so. Then again if she was raising one of their pups they weren't very likely to ditch the pack. Except this wasn't just his choice to make, it was Ani's as well and what would their future mate say whoever she might be? He looked at his sister for a long moment before turning back to Piper.
"This is not for me to say alone and while I might be willing I must consider the feelings of the mothers..."
---
Ani's heart constricted. It all hung on a delicate thread: yes or no. Yes...would mean a pack, a home, something they needed badly. They needed a place to rest, to recoup, to find their starcrossed lover and, someday, the litter of pups they might have would need Gomorrah. Yes would also mean losing a child. What if they only had two? The remaining pup would have no brother or sister... Ani's ears flipped back as she gazed up at Tristan with deep gold eyes. "I say yes," she said softly, an idea springing to mine as she ducked her head under Tristan's throat. "You'll...let us see the puppy... right? He'll still know we're his parents?"
---
Piper's muscles visibly relaxed at their reaction. "Of course. And you would likely become higher ranked in the pack if your child should be chosen as heir. I think it will work out for everyone involved. But I understand--talk to the woman you take as your mate. Tell me what she says when you bring her back to meet me." She offered a bow of her head as a howl rose in the distance. Squall... "Tristan, Anelisse... Good to meet you. I will give you the grand tour tonight, but don't hesitate to look around. This is your home, after all." Her tail wagged and she quickly padded off in the direction of her son.
---
He looked at his sister and then smiled brightly as she agreed and Piper welcomed them. His tail wavered joyfully even as he tried to contain his excitement and offer the alpha a respectful bow of his head. He turned and licked Ani's cheek lovingly nuzzling her and happily nodding at Piper, of course, of course! Then she welcomed them to look around,their home he nodded and stepped forward feeling better then he had in a long time.
"Come on Ani...let's...lets look around our new home." He glanced at Piper. "This evening then, thank you." He bounded forward excitedly his nose twitching as he started to familiarize himself with the scents of the pack.
---
Ani bumped her shoulder against his playfully, nipping at his ear. "Don't worry, baby," she murmured, a smile on her face even as her mind calculated a plan. "We'll be able to please our new alpha and have a handful of puppies of our own. I have a plan. But yes, let's!" She grinned and pranced ahead, dropping into a playbow that showed how youthful she truly was. With a yip, she took off a trot, knowing he'd follow her. He'd follow her anywhere. That's how it always had been and that's how it always will be. They were in love.
[FIN-23 posts]
