Hello all! So sorry for the late update, wifi troubles yet again. Things should be good to go for the next few chapters though.
Brynn and Riker will see each other again, I'm excited for how that's gonna go down.
Yes, jackals can keep their pups away from anyone they feel is a threat to their little ones. I like Legoshi too, he's very lovable:)
Thank you so much for the high praise! I am so glad you are enjoying it so much to keep checking the pages. Yes I've read enough to see Gosha, he's a great character! I can see Nova's similarities to him. (that was purely unintentional btw)
Still loving the voice choices. If this ever were to become a movie the budget would have to be huge, just to cover the actors would be a lot. But totally worth it! :)
Ace wasn't alpha yet when he met Nia, you're right in that it wouldn't be ideal for the alpha to leave The pack without protection. If he did have to leave, the alpha's second in command would be in charge.
Kenzi sure has a way of looking at things, some of that will be explained in this chapter.
Interesting theory on why jackals hate other species, I will definitely be exploring some of that in Ace and Nia's story.
In Nia and Taja's pack, there definitely would be fights among the males. Those kind of opportunities don't happen every day. If Brynn did get pregnant that would've caused a lot of problems for everyone. The truth would not be told to the pups, and it just wouldn't end well. Thankfully she didn't.
If the alpha was bested while his mate was still pregnant, what happens to the pups would depend on the new alpha. If he wanted to keep the alpha female as his she would have the pups and he may or may not allow them to live. If he didn't want her as his, she would probably still be allowed to live, just she and her pups would have no right to alpha lineage.
Thanks for all the reviews everyone! Enjoy!:)
Kenzi was sobbing. Everything hurt. Why did Crowe have to do this? She didn't deserve it. Jalna didn't deserve to die like that. He was her father. Her father.
She clutched her pillow to her chest, eyes shut tightly as her tears kept coming. A soft sob jerked from her chest. She had loved him, and she'd been convinced he'd loved her. And their daughter.
Anahi had told her repeatedly that it wasn't really him that did such awful things, that it was the illness. She wasn't sure if she believed it. But she'd seen him break free for a moment. Just enough for him to process what he'd done. And he'd ended it. He'd killed himself before he could kill her in the same way he'd killed Jalna. And she'd held him. She'd screamed, begged, pleaded. She'd watched as the light left his eyes. Kenzi truly believed she'd died with him that day.
She covered her ears, trying to block out the memory of her daughter's death. Her crying for Kenzi to help her. Kenzi had tried, but she was already hurt. She'd done her best, but it wasn't enough.
Jalna had started her first heat, and he wasn't in his right mind anymore. It didn't matter that she was his daughter.
Kenzi had tried to protect her, but he'd had his way with her in front of their daughter, and then taken Jalna. And it had killed her. She was too young.
Kenzi sobbed again. Her chest burned with agony. She could still see the horror on her mate's face when he'd realized what he'd done. Could still hear her baby girl crying for her mother to save her. She couldn't make those memories go away.
The tragedy made her realize one thing. You couldn't trust men. For anyone to be truly safe things had to be ran by a woman. That's why Cujo had to be alpha, so she could make sure nothing like that ever happened again. She kept sobbing until she fell asleep.
"Kenzi?"
She sat up with a gasp. It was his voice. "Crowe?" She asked. She stumbled to her feet. She wasn't sure where she was, but it definitely wasn't home.
Then she saw him, standing there, holding Jalna's hand in his. He smiled when he saw her and Jalna waved.
Kenzi ran to them, sobbing as she collapsed in his arms. He held her the way he used to. His hands smoothed her hair gently, "it's ok."
"It's not ok," she hiccuped, "why did you have to do this? Why did you hurt me like that? Why did you leave me like this?"
"I am so sorry Kenzi," he said softly, "I'm sorry." His voice comforted her.
She sniffled, burying her face in his stomach.
Jalna touched her arm, "mama?"
Kenzi looked up at her, "baby girl." She hugged her tightly, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you."
"It's ok mama," she said softly, "I know you tried."
Kenzi turned back to Crowe, "how could you do that to her?" She sobbed, "she didn't deserve it. She's our baby."
Jalna tilted her head, "do what?"
"You mean you don't remember?" Kenzi asked.
"Why don't you go find something to do for a little bit Jalna," Crowe interrupted, "your mother and I need to talk."
"Ok. I'm gonna go find Ghost." She kissed her mother's cheek softly, then hurried off.
"Ghost is here?" Kenzi asked. Jalna always had a little crush on him. She was always up under his feet, wanting his attention.
"Everyone is here." Crowe took her hand, "walk with me?"
She did.
"Jalna doesn't remember what I did. That is a blessing for her. But I remember," he added, "and it torments me."
"I know that Anahi says it was because of the illness, but..."
"But you have trouble believing that."
She nodded. "Did you ever love me?" Her voice quivered with tears.
He pulled her close, "yes baby, I did. And I still do."
She buried her face in his chest, sniffling.
Crowe touched her face like he always did, turning her to look at him, "baby you have to stop what you're doing. You're hurting our pack. Zayla's done so much for us. Remember how she helped you when you were having Jalna?"
"I know. But I can't, she deserves this. Lance can't be alpha, I will make sure of it."
"Kenzi please, I want you to be with us when it's time. I don't want to lose you again."
"You can't change my mind Crowe."
"I know. I never could. You're so stubborn, and that's one of the things I love about you."
"If things could be different they would be."
"They can Kenzi, you can stop this, there's still time."
She stared at him. He was pleading with her to change, as if he knew what was going to happen. "I can't Crowe. I'm sorry."
Then, she woke up.
"She said that to you?" Roux asked.
She nodded, sniffling as she buried her face in his side.
They were both in their bed. It was late now, and she'd been too upset to even think about letting him take her.
He was a little disappointed, but understood that she was in need of comfort. He gently rubbed her back. "Is there something I can do?"
"No," she said after a minute, "I don't think so."
"I'm sorry," he whispered.
"I'm sorry that I let this ruin our first night together."
"Don't worry about it Sasha. It's your body, it's your choice."
She smiled. What did she do to deserve someone like him?
"We still have some time even though it's late, or we can wait till tomorrow. You decide."
Sasha flushed a bit. She was tired, but she really wanted to experience this with him. And she knew he was tired of waiting too." She turned on her back, "if you're ready I'm ready."
He grinned. Then turned to lay against her. "I'm ready."
Riker sat cross legged on the ground. Nova was already asleep. He sighed softly as he looked up at the stars. He didn't like how quiet it was. It left him alone with his thoughts.
His ear twitched when he heard soft whimpers coming from Nova. He looked away from the sky and over at the elder. He was shivering, and twitching a bit. He was probably dreaming.
Riker took the blanket off of his shoulders and lay it over Nova's body. He stopped shivering, but still whimpered a little.
A chill went up Riker's spine as the cold seeped into his bones. The desert was cool at night. But he would be ok. He was tough.
Without warning, Nova sat up with a gasp. "No!" He cried.
"Nova?" Riker asked hesitantly, "are you ok?"
The elder was breathing heavily, and he could feel tears pricking his eyes. He swallowed, "I think so."
"Are you sure? Do you need some water?"
"I said I'm fine!" He snapped. He felt guilty when he saw Riker flinch back. The boy was just trying to help. "Sorry," he mumbled while rubbing his face.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Riker ventured.
A short exhale that was half of a laugh, "more like old memories."
"Oh."
Silence.
"Did you want to talk about it?"
Nova laughed for real this time, "you sure are nosy kid."
"No, my mama always listened to my brothers' bad dreams. It seemed to help."
Nova raised his brow, "she didn't listen to yours?"
"I'm sure she would've if I'd shared them with her," he shrugged.
"Sounds like your mama is a great lady."
Riker nodded, "the best."
"Look kid," he sighed, "it may not look it, but I've had a rough life. My parents, they cared more about my older brother and sister than me. I was the runt. In their opinion I should've been killed the moment I was born. I just didn't have what it took to be a fighter. Fighting was most important in my pack. But for some reason they kept me around." He shifted under the blanket, "the alpha's mate Katrina, she took an interest in me when I got older. I think it was because I'd worked my way to be among the top ten ranking males. I think I had a shot to be second only to the alpha." He smiled at the thought. "Anyway, she would come find me alone quite often. We would just talk. I told myself she was just being friendly with me, but before I knew it I was quite attached to her."
"So what did you do?"
"Not what I should've done." He grimaced, "we both became more friendly than we should've. And when the opportunity presented itself, I mated with her."
"And you got caught."
"Not the first time, or even the second. It was probably close to a year before we were found out. It was one of the worst moments of my life. Getting caught in the middle of the act is probably the worst way to get caught."
"Was it the alpha that caught you?" Riker asked.
Nova nodded. "He would've killed me right then and there if it wasn't for her. She tried to take all the blame, but he wouldn't have it. I was to be punished. So I was beaten and exiled. He also scared my mouth because I had kissed her. He scarred another place too," he added with a gesture to indicate where. "Because I had mated her."
Riker winced at the thought. "It could've been worse I guess."
"No, because he didn't do that immediately. Katrina broke down and told him everything. When he realized she could be pregnant, he held me captive until it could be determined."
"Was she?"
Nova nodded. He hugged himself, "it was bad enough that I had hurt her. But when he ended our pups," his voice broke. "When they were born he..." Nova couldn't finish the sentence. "It was all my fault. I can't ever face her again. The agony she went through when he killed them." He clenched his fists. "He did it in front of me, and made her watch."
Riker felt something twist in his gut. "But it wasn't their fault," he protested, "they were just babies."
"I know. But he felt they were a threat to his authority. If they were allowed to remain it would incite rebellion."
Riker swallowed.
Nova looked over at Riker, "now you know the truth." He hugged himself as the tears threatened to spill, "now you know what a horrible monster I am. I cost six innocent pups their lives, all because I was selfish."
"But you didn't kill them," Riker said, "he did."
Nova nodded, but stayed silent.
"I'm sorry all that happened to you," Riker said carefully.
"Me too kid. Me too."
"Lance," Zayne whispered as he shook his brother's shoulder lightly. "Lance wake up."
"Huh?" He mumbled a bit as he sat up, "what's wrong?"
"I heard something." He looked around the room, worry on his face. He'd heard the sound a few nights ago too, but didn't wake anyone.
Lance was a little annoyed. It was the middle of the night, and he wanted to sleep. "Papa's here. He'll protect us." Then he turned over to go back to sleep.
"Lance," Zayne whined. He shook his arm, "wake up."
"Everything's fine Zayne," Lance said firmly. "I didn't hear anything."
"That's because you were asleep."
Lance brushed him off, "go back to sleep."
Zayne whimpered, but let it go. He curled up beside Lance under their blankets.
That was when he heard the sound again. A soft cry. Not quite in pain, but he was worried.
Lance sat up, he'd heard it too.
"I told you I heard something," Zayne said.
The future alpha's ear twitched. He heard a hushed voice. He frowned, "that sounds like papa." He slipped out of bed and over to their parents room. Zayne right behind him.
"Mama?" Lance asked as he opened the bedroom door, "Papa?"
A yelp, and Pierce jumped back. Zayla was on her back, and Pierce was on his knees beside her now. She seemed out of breath.
"Oh boys," Zayla managed in a minute, "it's only you." She cleared her throat, voice stronger now, "is everything ok?"
"That's what we were wondering." Lance folded his arms. He was suspicious, they were up to something.
"It is late," said Pierce, "the two of you should be asleep."
"So should you," Lance countered.
Pierce sighed, "we can talk in the morning. You need to go back to bed."
"Is mama ok?" Zayne asked in his little voice. He was obviously concerned about his mother.
"I'm fine sweetie, go on back to bed. We'll talk in the morning."
Even though they were leery, they obeyed.
"They almost caught us," Zayla mumbled as she put her arms around his neck and he lowered his head to nibble along her collar bone.
"It is fine, they did not see us."
"Yeah." She stayed still and quiet as he ran his hands along her body. Her eyes burned. Despite their efforts, she had yet to become pregnant again. It had been a couple weeks now. She blinked, clearing away the threat of tears.
"Do you want to finish up?" Pierce asked in his gentle way.
"Please."
He bent down and covered her mouth with his.