Sorry this is so short, i felt this was a good stopping point. things will pick up soon. Enjoy, and please read and review.
Kinnley and Fortune sat in the plastic chairs outside the infirmary. Vanilla was bandaging Ace's arm.
Fortune jumped up when he heard Ace's scream of pain. Kinnley grabbed him before he could dart in the room. "It's ok Fortune," he said gently, "miss Vanilla is taking care of him. He'll be fine."
The younger pup's ears fell back, but he sat down again.
It wasn't long until Ace came out of the room. Keelie was at his side and Vanilla was right behind them.
Fortune hopped up and hurried over to his brother. His gold eyes looked up at Ace with worry.
Ace sniffled a bit and wiped the tears from his eyes with the heel of his hand. "I'm ok Fortune."
Kinnley came over to them and looked at the splint on Ace's arm, "is it broken?" He asked looking up to his mother.
Keelie smiled sadly, Kinnley was such a perceptive boy. "I'm afraid so sweetie."
"Why did uncle do that?" He asked, "Ace didn't do anything. We've never even met him before." Kinnley always asked the difficult, but important, questions.
Ace's gaze hardened. "He's no uncle of mine." Then he turned and stomped down the hall.
Keelie sighed. Ace was becoming more and more cold in his dealings with others. It worried her. She didn't want him to become like his father, cruel and heartless. Or like her father, a bully. But he had the deck stacked against him. She just hoped he would stay the sweet boy he was.
"Hi aunt Tempest," Kinnley chirped, grinning up at her and wagging his tail.
She looked down from the cabinet, bowl still in her hand. "Hello Kinnley." A smile rested on her face.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm making some dinner," she answered while setting the bowl on the counter.
"Can I help?" He asked hopefully, bouncing a little on his tiptoes.
"Of course you can Kinnley," she ruffled his hair, "go wash your hands first." He nodded and hurried over to the sink.
"Aunt Tempest?" He asked after a minute, "is Infinite really our uncle?"
The female jackal stopped in the middle of cutting potatoes, "why do you ask that?"
"Well," he pulled a few more leaves off the lettuce, "he hurt Ace, and a lot of other people, I just was hoping he wasn't."
She sighed, "honey, we can't control who our family is, and what they do doesn't define who you are. But he is really your uncle. He's your mother's half brother."
He tilted his head, "half brother?"
She nodded and resumed cutting vegetables. "They have the same mother, but different fathers."
"Why?" His gold eyes looked up at her with confusion.
"It's complicated." She put the potatoes in a pot and poured water over them. She was glad Rouge had taught her how to cook. Then she turned on the stove.
"You can tell me," he said. "I won't say anything to anyone."
"I don't think that's a good idea Kinnley."
"Why not? I won't, I promise."
She sighed, it probably wasn't the wisest decision, but she felt he needed to know. Tempest turned to face him, "things have changed a lot over the years, and things we did weren't good for us, but we didn't know any other way of life. We lived together in villages called packs, with an alpha. This happened before I met your uncle, but Jay told me about it. Jay and Infinite," his new name still felt odd as it rolled off her tongue, "were the only two boys of their litter, they had eight sisters. Infinite was the smallest, and only Jay really cared about him, because in that time, only the strongest pups were valued. Anyway, there was a tragic accident, and Infinite's father, and sisters, were killed."
Kinnley's eyes widened as he listened to her story.
"So Infinite's mother was forced to take a new husband, and he became your mother's father." She tried to use words he would understand. Keelie was trying so hard to keep them out of jackal cultures.
"Wow," Kinnley whispered. "so what happened after that? Why did he get so mean? Why did he hurt Ace? Why did he kill Reagan and Aurora?"
"Honey, I think that's something only he can answer," she replied while placing the casserole in the oven. "Come on, let's clean up. I'll wash, you dry."
About the time they were finishing up, Ace came in the kitchen. "Hi Ace," said Tempest gently, "how's your arm?"
He shrugged, "ok I guess." He perched himself on the seat at the table. "What are you guys doing?"
"We just finished making dinner. It's still cooking though," said Kinnley.
Ace nodded.
"Did you take your medicine Ace?" Tempest asked him.
"Yeah," he sighed and rested his head on the table. "My arm still hurts though."
Tempest reached over and patted his uninjured hand in a reassuring gesture. He gave her a weak smile.
"So what happened Ace?" Kinnley asked, "what did he do to you?"
"He bit me," he mumbled.
Kinnley gasped, "didn't his mama teach him not to bite?" He asked Tempest with wide eyes.
Tempest sighed sadly. Their old life was really not a good one. She was just glad Keelie's boys didn't have to live that way.
