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((D: -can't think... dies-))

The large brown female padded gently towards the approaching duo. As she grew closer, her ears shot forward, a glimmer of excitement in her cats-green eyes. "Devvyl!" She barked out to her friend from a couple yards away. "Dev, you're back!" As she caught sight of the tiny pup darting behind the Alpha's heels, the female slowed her gait. The pup looked nervous, so Elphie postponed her greeting with slight annoyance, keeping her space.

"This is Neka," She yipped proudly, with a mischevious twitch of an ear. She glanced to Devvyl, wagging her tail slightly. Again, her attention wandered to the pup. The Beta quirked a brow with a twitch of an amused smile as if to ask And who is this...?

Well, this was... quite a parade coming to greet him. Devvyl hadn't expected this kind of welcoming!

Heya, Elphie! And Neka, he greeted in return, nodding to him once. Were they mated, then? It seemed so. There was no question of whether or not he would be allowed in the pack, and the alpha made no mention of it. If the newcomer would like to stay, he was more than welcome to, and he personally would not try to dissuade or convince him either way.

And Soul appeared as well, quiet as usual. Hello, Soul, he greeted to her as well, not one to leave anyone out!

This is Sha, she's new to our pack. She comes from the mainlands, like most of us have. Sha, there's Elphie, our beta, and Soul, and Neka.

((Whoo, go lameness! O: ))

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

"Nothing's wrong, per se..." Elphie whispered discretely. The brown shewolf padded on her feathered paws with the fox colored female at her shoulder. She paused just a few yards away from the main group, far enough to be out of earshot but close enough to keep an eye on Neka through the crisscrossed stripes of forest, in case the situation appeared too uncomfortable. The earthy female turned herself to face Soul, her paws lingering at the ground in a hesitant dance. "Soul, Neka and I... I think we're mates," Elphie had to pause for a growing smile, but it faded after a moment, replaced by a furrowed brow. "I.. um... Soul." She looked at the older female imploringly for a moment. "Do mates--Does he--Do we--" And then she spat it out, almost comically: "Am I going to have puppies?" The shewolf looked more worried than anxious.

(( Buahaha.. good thing Neka's out of hearing range.. xd ))

The large beta, usually so proud, cringed like a pup at Soul's words. This was it, the only time Elphie had really had the talk with another wolf. She knew about mating, it was in every wolf's blood, but actually talking about the subject sent nervous ripples through her muscles, not so much because of the process but of the after effects. Pups? Motherhood? There was a certain allure about them, and in current months Elphie had surprised herself by admitting that she wanted them someday--but now that mating season was coming round again, she wasn't sure if she was ready this time.

"I mean," She started, lapsing back into the jerky, adolescent speech that took hold of her when she was worried. "I do. I do think I love him." The words gave her a happy twinge in her throat. "But I haven't even said those three little words yet.. " Elphie lowered herself to the ground with a flop, and nosed at her large paws ponderously. How had this whole process come so easily for Selia?

"And that's the thing," She said of Soul's last comment. "He probably doesn't even want pups. I just.. I don't know. How could I ever bring it up anyway? Wouldn't he be terrified?" She flicked her ears back slightly with a light sigh, a wistful smile finding her at last. Elphie's anxiety still lingered, but Soul had effectively coaxed the brown female's stress away, at least temporarily.

"Well, what about you?" Elphie turned her grass green eyes towards the other. "Are you...?" She let the question dangle, open-ended.

She gave her tail a good wag as he came over to her and licked at her cheeks, which she returned without hesitation. She almost laughed at his response to her tease. He'd always been so open about everything... and so soft spoken yet always for her. She realized once more how much she loved him and wanted to be by his side forever. His nose touched hers, and a small smile spread across her muzzle as she listened to him, ears perked with attention. A small sigh escaped her, as if she didn't need words to express that she was so helplessly devoted to him. He was good to her.

When he caught the look in her eyes, she looked away for a moment. Yes, it was true. Her thoughts were elsewhere besides with the pack. She had been thinking about their spot by the river... where they had met and spent their puppyhood together. She was also thinking about... well... puppies. She knew the thought had crossed both their minds at one point or another, and she wanted to speak with him about it. Her eyes met his again, the expression changed a bit.

"Things are fine... I've just been thinking..." She wondered how he'd react if she openly spoke her thoughts to him, but seeing as they were alone in their small spot by the water where they had made such a cozy home, she thought she should be up-front. "I miss the river, Yero... I don't know why, but something in me wants to go back there... go back... and start a family..." The solemness in her voice that had not been present in her first statement scared her a bit, but she only watched him, a small whine escaping her gullet. She wondered how he'd feel now that she said it. She just wanted to say it; she needed to find out what he was thinking, and moreover if the feeling should just be left to pass or if it should be heeded. If they should once again live in their own private solace.

(:3 I finally posted! Kudos to me!)

(( Sorry, Shia! :3 I got distracted by a singing Ewan McGregor. ))

Elphie turned bright red under her thick brown fur. "Whah!--Ask--I could never ask him to--" She shut her mouth with a snap in and curled her tail in sheer embarassment. Elphie let out a heavy breath as she felt her friend's almost mother-like touch on her fourhead. She snuggled her muzzle into her paws and the tip of her tail twitched in a hesitant wag as Elphie again let Soul's attention keep her emotions in check.

The brown wolf hadn't felt this young in a long time, and she glanced up at Soul with an almost puppy-like expression as Soul seemed to wilt slightly, explaining her situation with Isaac. Elphie was still very unsure about the blue and tan wolf. In all truth he frightened her, there was something unsettling in his piercing yellow gaze. But Elphie knew her friend's love for the male was deep, and from what she'd seen when she'd returned with Neka, when Isaac had seemed all too happy to lounge his lanky form against his mate, he had to have similar feelings. "He strikes me as a little odd," Elphie hummed to herself. "But doesn't that mean that if you were going to scare him away, you'd have done it before?" She raised her head and let her ears cant forward jauntily, trying to cheer her friend up. "Just wait until heat falls upon you. See if he doesn't want pups then," She smiled nervously, unsure of her joke.