Chapter 12
Walking through the woods has always been an enjoyable time for Bog but this time, he's not quite sure if it's the woods making him uneasy or his companion. After finishing their schoolwork, the boys went to take a nap with the sleeping Marianne and he set out to start dinner. It wasn't that much longer after, that Dame Plum showed up with Marianne's things and several other guests. While Dame Plum, Dame Dawn, and Sunny moved everything into the cottage, he got pulled into a walk with Bane Dagda. At first, it was just him checking on Marianne but the more he sniffed then it turned into a search for something only the alpha wolf knew, that started from Bog's back porch. A fallen tree, the smashed trunk recently damaged, catches Bog's attention away from the silent man beside him and with a start, he realizes that they're following Marianne's tracks that night.
"Roland's lucky she never killed him," Bog mumbles, the marks on the tree showing that one hit brought it down.
"An alpha's instinct does not permit us to violate the laws," Bane Dagda remarks, passing the tree. "But her sense of justice is far fairer than mine. I would have dragged his sorry carcass to the nearest witness and ripped his throat out."
Bog looks uneasy at the casual way that was remarked. Following dutifully, Bog prays for someone to realize that the wolf king suggested, more like demanded, him to accompany him before the alpha wolf decides to make due by performing that threat against him. Of course, he could take this opportunity to get some questions answered.
"I noticed as we left the courtroom that all the wolves bowed their heads but I've never seen them act that way to Dame Plum," Bog mentions, hoping that the king is not like his sister. "So why did they do so now and why is Marianne called Bane instead of Dame since she isn't the wolf queen yet? I asked Dame Plum but I didn't get a real answer."
"My little sister likes her games and pity to the one she likes to play them with," Bane Dagda grimaces. "Bane is a title given to all Majestys at their maturity, despite the fact that it will be several centuries before they ever become crowned, and when they are crowned Majesty, that title is merely added their present one. A Bane's authority is equal to the present Majesty to all wolves beneath them and only the present Majesty can overrule them."
"So that means that even though Marianne isn't queen yet, she has all the power and authority of one, right," Bog questions, getting a nod? "Wow, I guess that answers that but that leaves the question of Roland's intelligence. I thought he was a fool before I even met him and then an idiot before I knew what all he'd done but now I'm not even sure what to call him that wouldn't insult anyone else."
Bane Dagda's deep laughter shocks Bog as the woods echo the joyful sound. Watching the elderly man laugh reminds him of his own father and Bog's trepidation eases out of him. Maybe he'll survive after all.
"Marianne said that wolves view dominance claim as different than rape but why does she still seem ashamed of it," Bog asks?
"As I said in the courtroom, there has never been a dominance claim enacted against an alpha before," Bane Dagda starts, loudly sniffing the area. "It is surprising that one has been enacted and even more that it was successful but the most surprising is the number of times. This whole matter is unusual. My daughter has gotten enough insecurities caused by being the first female Bane in several generations and by being..."
Bane Dagda pauses, a faint scent teasing his nose, and searching reveals the source. He pulls a large broken red chain necklace out from underneath a bush.
"Is that the pendant that Sunny and Dame Plum mentioned that block wolf scents," Bog questions as the sun makes the chain sparkle?
"It is," Bane Dagda confirms, growling and placing the chain in his jacket. "It smells wholly of Bane Marianne. He must have used her blood to make this and it just makes this situation more confusing. Unfortunately, Bane Marianne won't be able to answer my questions for a few more days."
Hoping to shed some light, Bog explains his recent conversation with Marianne as they continue their walk. Even with the unease he feels from the older man's piercing look, Bog keeps his recap as close to the full truth as possible. The wolf king might as well know about his affections for his daughter and his grandsons.
"Do you understand what all your desires entitles," Bane Dagda asks after a few minutes? "Her children are not your offspring and in a few more weeks she'll be pregnant with another male's pup. Are you willing to care for children that Roland is the father of?"
"He may have sired them but he is not their father," Bog growls. "I love Gabriel and Michael and I'll love this new child the same. I'd be proud to be their daddy even if Marianne doesn't want to have another."
Both males turn at the sound of running paws heading toward them from the path they just walked. Bursting out of the brush, the golden wolf puppy beelines to Bog and pants as he sits at his feet.
"Couldn't find you," Gabe explains between breaths, swishing his tail.
"Grandpa and I decided to take a walk to get away from Dame Plum, so she couldn't put us to work," Bog comments, grinning at the other man's snickering.
"Granny and Dame Plum are arguing about moving Mommy into the cottage," Gabe mentions. "Granny said to leave Mommy alone where she is but Dame Plum said that it isn't proper for you to take Mommy to your bed, especially with Granny putting your shirt and shorts on Mommy after she cleaned her. Dame Plum said that you're taking li-ber-ties on a injured woman. What does that mean?"
"It means there is going to be another murder charge, me against Dame Plum," Bog mumbles, ignoring Bane Dagda's laughter. "Go on back and tell Granny that I said that she is right and Mommy stays there. We'll be back to the house in a little bit."
"Hold on, pup," Bane Dagda orders as Gabe gets up to run. "I want you to tell me something first. How many times did Daddy come around, that you remember?"
"Well, last time before Mikey was born, Daddy came just that once to hurt Mommy and me. We smelled him around but he only showed up again when Mommy was having Mikey," Gabe answers, restless on his feet and edging closer to Bog. "I hid between Mommy's front paws because I didn't want Daddy to hurt me again. That was the last time I saw Daddy until last week and then this morning but we have smelled him in the city, though."
"One more question, pup. Do you want him as your daddy instead," Bane Dagda asks, nodding toward Bog?
Gabe's puppy face lights up with pure joy and he jumps into Bog's arms, licking and nuzzling the stunned man. He happily yips and whimpers, getting louder when Bog shifts his hold to nuzzle the four-foot wolf puppy back. Jumping out of Bog's hold, Gabe takes off down the trail at full speed.
"Mikey, Mr Bog is our new Daddy," Gabe howls!
"That answers my question sufficiently," Bane Dagda remarks, resuming his walk. "And he answered a few others as well."
"Was that a good idea to get him excited about that before Marianne and I have a proper talk," Bog questions as he follows, worried about disappointing the boys?
"From what I did manage to get from my sister, which wasn't a lot, mind you," Bane Dagda quips. "You and my daughter have been courting for nearly six months."
"We've only known each other six months but we haven't gone on a date," Bog corrects.
"Have you not been providing her and her pups food? Plum said that was how you two met, even before you met her for information about wolf laws. She said that you smelled of Bane Marianne and the boys when you came to see her," Bane Dagda mentions.
"When we first met? Oh, I remember! I was going back to my office not long after Feral Law opened up," Bog remarks, thinking back to that first day. "Mom and I just returned from breakfast at the diner when I overheard the boys asking Marianne about breakfast but she had one more hearing before she could take them to get something to eat. I had grabbed a few extra doughnuts to give to the others but I figured Marianne and the boys needed it more and gave them the doughnut bag. I had traveled to meet Dame Plum that afternoon but that was a two-day drive."
"Did you not get a token of appreciation," Bane Dagda asks?
Bog pauses in his walk to reach under his shirt collar and pull out the braided necklace. The brown cord was quite simple but he still remembers the joy on Gabe's face when he put it on after the boy handed it to him. They had come to his office that day right before he left.
"She gave you that," Bane Dagda questions with a chuckle? "I didn't know my daughter was so brazen. When she gave Roland permission to court her, she only gave him a braided cord of vines. A braided cord of hair is a high honor and of far more value to wolves than gold is to humans. My sister also said that you've been providing food nearly every morning roughly since then."
"It's just a bet that my mother proposed," Bog explains, fingering the necklace. "If I win court than she pays for breakfast and if she wins court than I pay for breakfast. I haven't won yet, so I've been paying for breakfast for her and the boys."
"That is still you providing for their food. You've also provided shelter for her and her pups," Bane Dagda points out.
"Also my mother's idea," Bog comments. "We just lost our last tenant and Mom somehow found out that Marianne didn't really like the place she was staying at, so she offered her the cottage."
"Which is in your name and you charge her less rent than any previous tenant," Bane Dagda remarks, his smile a little devious. "I've not heard one thing that said your mother did something that you didn't agree with."
"I didn't like Marianne at first and we didn't get along," Bog mumbles, his blush not hidden from the keen-eyed wolf. "I only got into wolf court to prove that wolves were getting far too lenient punishments for their crimes."
Bane Dagda bowls over in his laughter, leaning his hands on his knees for support. No matter how long a being lives, everything repeats itself anew and love is no exception. He manages to cool his laughter after a short while to continue on his hunt.
"We're alike, you and I," Bane Dagda admits. "We did something and all for a female's attention, not like we would admit it though. It was before I became His Majesty, my sire still being alive, and I had ventured into the human world to see how bad the problems for my kind really were. Bane Corvan felt that we didn't need to interfere, that any wolf that crossed over took their own chance and were no longer our problem. I wanted to know the truth and came across Marie. She was caring for two orphaned pups at the time and hiding them from the ones that killed their parents. She knew wolves weren't animals but she had the gall to call me one when she thought I was a wolf hunter and it was worse when she found out that I was an alpha. I brought the pups back to the wolf world but I couldn't forget that feisty female and crossed back over, at which point I got stuck because of the twelfth moon."
The wolf king pauses his story as they enter a clearing, this one blaring evidence of a fight with all the damage and looking around reveals how they circled back. This clearing faces Bog's bedroom through the sparse trees and across the open field. Even from here, he can see his daughter's sleeping face through the window.
"The long story short of it, Bog, I started that war not for fairness or justice but because of Marie and the child she bore me. I wanted to prove myself worthy of them," he continues. "Whether you or my daughter realize it, you two have been courting for these past months. You've provided her and her pups food, shelter, companionship, and as you proved today, protection. I walked into the courtroom right before Roland attacked Gabriel and I saw you protect him at your own risk. My daughter's scent clearly marks you as her preferred male and as she told you, clearly evidenced also by this place, Roland tricked her this time by threatening you."
Bog stares around the clearing before looking back across the field. She was so close that night and he had slept peacefully while she endured such pain. His heart pangs at the sorrow.
"Guilt won't help, believe me, I know," Bane Dagda remarks. "You aren't the first preferred male who wasn't able to help during a dominance claim but now you have a choice to make. If she is your preferred female than you can challenge Roland's present claim but you only have three weeks to do so."
"What? What do you mean," Bog asks, looking to him in shock as hope rises up inside him?
"A successful dominance claim always results in offspring, it throws both male and female into a high fertility state but she remains unpregnant for the first month before his seed takes effect. A preferred male can overpower the offending male's seed by mating with the female within that time period," Bane Dagda explains, trying not to laugh as the other man catches his meaning. "It's why a male sticks around to make sure his claim isn't challenged."
Bog follows as Bane Dagda leaves the clearing and heads toward the house. His mind spins with all this knowledge but the wolf king remains silent while they journey through the field. Bog stills as he manages to catch Marianne's face in his window and berates himself for thinking so selfishly. Was he really thinking about blackmailing her into a full relationship with him just so that she didn't have to have another child by Roland? Of all the stupidity!
Looking back at the standing man, Bane Dagda can just see the argument taking place. He chuckles silently at the resemblance. So alike, indeed.
"No matter what you decide, Bane Marianne will still have to have another male's offspring, either from this birthing or from another," he comments. "She has to birth the next Majesty."
"But she has Gabriel," Bog points out. "I did manage to learn wolf hierarchy from Dame Plum months ago and that means that Gabe is the next wolf king after his mother."
"I'm afraid he isn't allowed. Did you see that purple rune mark on both boys' neck," Bane Dagda asks, getting a nod? "What Marianne did in the courtroom wasn't a punishment for murder but a punishment for treason. Our laws are strict and she had no choice once she discovered Roland's treachery. All of Roland's first generation offspring are branded and they're prohibited from all positions of power. Gabriel and Michael won't even inherit the title of Sire after they reach maturity. In the wolf world, they would be treated with the respect of lower common wolves and not like alphas like they should be. Their offspring won't be branded as long as they don't follow their sire's treasonous act. Marianne's first offspring from another male will inherit the title of Bane instead of Gabriel."
Laughter draws their attention back to the house. A familiar scene is taking place in the backyard as the boys run around Griselda's flowerbeds with Goblin taking swats at them. This time though, the boys are carefree in their wolf forms, yipping happily.
"They love you just as much as you love them," Bane Dagda remarks before shifting form.
Bog watches as the massive wolf plays with the pups, the necklace of fangs dangling in temptation around his neck and the boys' attempts to grab it. Fingering the braided cord once again brings his decision to a final.
