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 Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:20 am
Calliope paced nervously back and forward, her pale claws softly scraping on the packed dirt floor of the den. I was large and wide spaced - not something she was entirely used to in a den - but had seemed the best place for a winter home. She was very glad, now, that they had found such a place.
The caramel and chocolate she-wolf was a worrier at heart - she had become nervous in her time alone since she had left her last pack - and that had not entirely abated even now. Zagreus, Ouranos, the white twins.. they were her new pack but she worried about losing them. She worried about winter and them feeding. She worried about getting enough food! Which had just become an even bigger issue.
She had called to Zagreus and was waiting on him here to tell him the news.
Her pacing as she waited seemed as though it might wear a shallow hole in the floor...
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Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:35 pm
At the sound of his name being called, Zagreus yawned sleepily, exposing rows of sharp white teeth. He blinked a few times, his ears twitching faintly, before shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. He had been enjoying the last of the autumn sunshine, and must have dozed off in the pleasant warmth.
Rising to his feet, the dark wolf yawned again before stretching, his back arching as he extended first his front legs, then his rear ones. Collecting himself again, he trotted over to the mouth of the cave, peering into the den. She had called to him from in here, he thought. Sure enough, there Calliope was, pacing back and forth.
Zagreus tilted his head slightly, before speaking in a quizzical tone. "I'm here. Is something wrong?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:59 pm
The she-wolf looked up as her dark, handsome mate walked into the cave-mouth. As he stood there the evening sunlight silhouetted him, making him even darker than usual - an inky shadow with golden eyes.
She was somewhat used to keeping her problems to herself before she met Zagreus. He had drawn many of them out of her, though, and with him she knew she could get straight to the point of the matter. "I wasn't sure.. not until now but I am certain!" she half-yelped, her words a near intelligible tangle as she worried about the corret way to word her next sentence.
Taking a long, deep breath she stopped padding side to side and looked up to Zagreus. Her silver eyes glinted with the reflected fire of the evening sky as she padded towards her mate. "Zagreus I don't know wether to be afraid, excited or worried.." she pressed up against him. She knew, already, she had nothing to fear from him. He would support her, she trusted that he would, but would that be enough?
"Zagreus.. I'm going to have pups.. and soon. I had thought I was gaining weight for the winter - that my coat was a little denser than usual but it's not.." she managed all of that in one long run, pausing only for breath. "We're going to be parents, Zag.." The gamut of emotions assaulted her again. Excited, angry at herself, worried, afraid... She nuzzled against Zagreus' thick pelt, seeking comfort.
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Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 2:49 pm
Zagreus paused, staring at Calliope for a moment, an expression of undisguised surprise on his face. "Wha...Whe...you mean....?" It took another few moments for the news to sink in.
"...We're going to have pups..? I can't believe it.. that's wonderful." Zagreus grinned as widely as his wolfish features would allow, before returning the nuzzle. Now this, he hadn't expected at all. He hadn't even noticed that Calliope had been putting on weight - he had just assumed (as she had) that it was her winter coat growing in.
He grinned again after a moment. "I guess we're going to have our work cut out for us soon, huh?" His tone was good-natured, suggesting that he did not think the thought an unhappy one.
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Posted: Thu Oct 19, 2006 12:00 am
The brown female, resting against her mate, sighed. It was not an unhappy sigh, though. She had known that his response would be good but at the same time it was good to hear it directly from him. He was always the optimist and that, now, calmed her more than anything.
"Yes... hopefully with the white pair growing up we'll be able to bring in enough food." she said, sitting down softly beside Zag and still gaining support from his closeness. "I mean.. we don't know how many new mouths we'll have by spring." Usually this thought would have worried her more but for some odd reason she felt a smidgeon of contentment. It had been a long time since she had truly felt at home but in the place, with Zagreus, it suddenly seemed where she truly belonged.
Ouranos, completely oblivious to the drama outside, toddled up to the cave entrance. He had a small, black, golden eyed pup in his mouth - a female pup. She appeared to be asleep at the moment and in fact their travel back to the den had exhausted her. He looked over her small form somewhat sheepishly at the alpha pair, trying to give them puppy eyes.
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:42 pm
--------------------~o~--------------------
A couple of weeks later... Calliope lay tired, exhausted but happy. She had birthed two pups - a small litter but it was her first and she was glad of it. Two little girls - one very like her father in colour and one mostly like her mother but with a tinge of her fathers silvery underbelly. The pair had decided to name them Melete and Aoede. Calliope had chosen one name, Aoede, after her great-mother whom she resembled a little and Zagreus had named the other.
The den now had three young pups - the new girls and the other, Shambala. The new pack was going to be full of life... The chocolate and caramel female looked to her mate somewhat wearily and smiled - truly clear of her worries in this one perfect moment of bliss.
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Posted: Sat Oct 21, 2006 3:55 pm
Lying behind Calliope, Zagreus draped his head gently over his mate's back and smiled. He had not been entirely sure of what to expect - he had seen pups being born in his old pack, but this was his first experience of actual fatherhood. The two tiny newborns nestling at their mother were the most beautiful beings he had ever seen. They were his daughters. A multitude of emotions were running through him, but most of all, he loved them and his mate.
He had had the easy part, that much was clear. Calliope looked exhausted. He nuzzled his mate gently, before asking quietly, "Is there anything I can get you?"
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