She had to get away. She was tired, her sleepless nights only increasing, and now she was restless on top of it. All sorts of emotions were gnawing at her insides and clawing their way to the surface. She'd done her best not to panic yet and she had to commend herself for a job well done with keeping it at bay so far. Her talk with Kalliope had not gone how she'd pictured. Rather than deal with it at the time she'd decided to get away to clear her head. The thought of another routine border patrol didn't sound appealing. She wasn't sure what brought her here again. The summer had ruined the grasses and yet she could still smell prey animals. Everything was withering in the cold and yet it proved that this place was faring more than others. She felt drawn to it and idly she was welcome for the distraction. Had Regulus not gone on the trip with her parents and Kavdaya she would have left by now and probably would have claimed this place as her first territory. She liked the area and it had a very home-like feel to it in its own natural way. She finally came to a halt by the stream and sat. The thoughts running rampant in her mind and the feelings twisting in her gut could no longer be kept at bay. I'm pregnant, shit. That part scared her. She adored the idea of pups, but she was mostly cursing her stupid hormones. She should have gotten a hold of herself. Of course doing the do with a stranger would have led to this. How could she not have recognized it sooner? She felt so stupid - what was everyone else going to think? She wasn't some harlot that slept around with everyone, and yet this was not even what she expected of herself. Would she even be able to find Zell to tell him? Would he want to be in their lives? It was so confusing and she was, for once, at a complete and utter loss at what to do. Walk, "Talk" Think

His mind stayed on her. The woman he had spent a night with, the pair having done something together he didn't think would happen but it did. He didn't regret it though, in fact, he wished he could see her again. But they had to part ways, she was the alphess of a pack after all. It's not like someone like him would have been able to hold onto her, but then again did he want to? That was something he kept asking himself...he had never fallen in love before, and he was afraid to do so. Something he didn't want to admit to anyone.

He wandered the lands, his bulk having slimmed down some since prey had been scarce all season. Winter would soon approach, and prey would be even harder to find once it fell upon them. Maybe he would go to the southern continent soon...it wasn't like he had anything keeping him around here.

Lost in his thoughts, he nearly missed the scent that drew across his nose. Blinking, the male looked around and wondered if maybe he was just hallucinating because of his thoughts. But evidently, it was no such thing. Blue eyes would fall on a figure several yards away, and he would stand there in surprise. How ironic was it that he had run into her again! He wasn't sure whether or not he should feel excited or...not. He had opened up to her, mostly because of that stupid storm that had gotten him uncontrollably worked up. We'll, now that he was here and she was there...

"Fancy running into you here." He approached her, a playful smirk showing as he stopped a few feet away. Her scent was different then the night in the cave, but at that time he had mostly concentrated on her heat scent. So he didn't really think much of it at this moment.

Faite sat for a while and she couldn't keep away the stream of thoughts that coursed through her head like a runaway freight train. She should be happy - she'd always pictured eventually settling down with a mate and having a litter or two. Hell her mom had three litters though that seemed a bit much to her at the time. She was still young after all. Now she couldn't help but feel a tinge of fear. She hadn't meant to get knocked up by a stranger. She'd love the pups regardless, but now she was just worried. How was this going to play out? More than anything she was just worried she'd be stuck raising them alone. Would he really want to be a part of helping raise kids he hadn't planned? Had she been smart, more in control of herself, maybe she could have prevented it. A soft sigh fluttered to her. How was she even going to track him down? He'd left Abaven so that lead was a no go. She couldn't spend forever looking for him either. She still had a pack to run. A voice caused her to jump. She turned her head and lo and behold there he was. Her breath hitched in her throat as she stared at him for a moment. It was if the universe had answered her prayers and sent her a blessing. Now that he was here though how was she going to break the news. How would he take it? God this was terrifying. He had a playful smirk on his face and she smiled at him yet it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Hey, Zell." She murmured. "I um, I was actually hoping I'd run into you. I need to talk to you." She was doing her best to steel her nerves. She absolutely had to tell him, but she couldn't shake away the nagging anxiety. Walk, "Talk" Think

"Hm? You need to.. talk to me?" Oh boy. His smile faded, wondering what exactly she wanted to talk to him about. Had he been too rough that night? Had he been out of line? Did he hurt her? Was she mad about what happened? Question upon question swimming around in his head. Was she going to...force him into the pack for that night? No...he couldn't think like that. Then again, he didn't know too much about her. For all he knew, she could have just been taking pity on him because he had acted like such a coward during the storm. But...she really didn't sound like that was her intention either...

He sat down, blue gaze steadily watching her. Now that it wasn't dark, he could actually see what she really looked like. And he had to admit...she was pretty. Were he the sort of cocky bastard to brag, he would say that he scored big time! But since he wasn't that type, he didn't think that way. He supposed he was...lucky, to say the least. It could have been some mangy mutt after all, but she was definitely far from it. "What is it? Is everything alright? If...if I hurt you, I didn't mean to..."

"Hm? You need to.. talk to me?" She noticed how his smile faded away and she felt her cheeks burn. She had to get this over with. She'd already told him she needed to talk to him and yet why did she feel so nervous? She wished she could read his thoughts and yet it was hard to tell what he was thinking. How would he take this news? Was he even ready to be a father? Her frown and worry deepened considerably then and she let her mouth remain clamped for a few more moments. Her stomach had so many knots that it felt like it was trying to twist itself into oblivion. "What is it? Is everything alright? If...if I hurt you, I didn't mean to..." Huh? Her face contorted with confusion and her eyes widened. What? Was he worried about that? She felt her cheeks heat up and she shook her head, slightly embarrassed. "No of course not... that night was ... fun." She admitted. It had been fun and she'd enjoyed it, even if he was a stranger. "I um... fuck." Why was this so fucking hard? "I'm pregnant." Walk, "Talk" Think

He waited patiently for what she wanted to tell him, noticing the way her frown seemed to deepen told him that it had to be something really, really bad...he seemed to be holding his breath now, the short seconds that lay between his question and her response felt like the longest minutes of his life. He was worried, very much worried about what it could be. Had she gotten in trouble by someone? Was he in trouble? The anxiety of the unknown gnawed at his insides. but when she said that it had been fun, he still didn't feel any of his worry drop away. "I am...fuck." He was confused, so very confused about what she was trying to tell him. The way she was...acting. but could he really think that about someone he didn't know very well?

"I'm pregnant."

What!? His eyes widened and his body froze in place. She...did he hear that right? She was pregnant!? Shit...he had not taken that possibility into account when they had done it...it hadn't even crossed his mind! He remained silent as his mind tried to wrap itself around this information. The thought of being a dad had crossed his mind every now and then, but he never thought it would happen this way...or any other way considering his attitude. He always thought himself unsociable, unapproachable even. He had given up on the idea of trying anything of the sort.

Finally after long moments of silence, the male stood. Quietly, he closed the distance between them. His neck wrapped over hers, head resting against her as he breathed in her scent. So that's what it was...he didn't exactly know what pregnant females smelled like, but now he knew. "If you think I'm going to let you go through this alone, then stop thinking it." Indeed. Even though he hadn't planned on it, and even though this was completely surprising, he wasn't going to run from it. He didn't want to. "If you'll let me...I would like to stay with you." He reached towards her ear, tongue swiping out to give her as comforting a lick as he could. He wondered what her response would be. He knew he had probably come off as bold about it, but wouldn't running away from it be worse? He thought so.

She stared at him with a fretful expression and her ears laid back against her skull as his eyes widened. He looked as shocked as she had been when she first found out. She tried understanding his expression and yet she couldn't glean any information from it. She hadn't expect him to be happy about it, but was he angry, scared, was he going to leave her on her own to deal with this? She hadn't even told her family about it and she was terrified to. They'd notice sooner or later, but she wasn't sure what to expect from them. Would they be angry or upset with her? It seemed that she was waiting forever by the time he stood up. She stared up at him, all her nerves tense, and if she could have frowned more she would have. Was this it? Was he going to leave her? Tell her to have fun and never see her again or have to worry about it? The thought unsettled her. To her surprise he moved closer to her and before she knew it he had her large frame draped around her in a hug as he relaxed his head on her own. She tensed before letting out her breath and relaxing. "If you think I'm going to let you go through this alone, then stop thinking it." Oh. Wow. She hadn't been expecting that. She leaned against him gratefully and let out a relieved sigh. She'd been so worried about it ... it hadn't really crossed her mind on what she should do if he was going to actually stay. What was more was that he wanted to be there, stay with her, and help raise the unexpected litter. She closed her eyes as he swiped his tongue across her ear in a comforting manner and she nodded softly. "Of course, you can stay if you want." If Reg doesn't kill him when he gets back. But she shoved that thought away before she could overthink it. "I'm sorry, I've been worrying about this for days." She chuckled. She felt as though a giant weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Walk, "Talk" Think

He held onto her. His heart hammering against his chest. This was...something that had come straight out of left field. In such a short time, he had...done a deed, and now he had kids on the way. And might have found himself a potential girlfriend...or, probably mate at this point. Assuming she'd let him stay. Even though it all happened so suddenly, he wanted to be here. With her. And hopefully she'd give him the chance to get to know her beyond a physical level. Though he knew it might be hard for him to open up, he was willing to try since they were now tied into each others lives. She responded, and he nodded. "Of course. If there's anything my parents had taught me, is to not run from things like this." He pulled back a bit to look at her, "And...my mother and father had raised us to have certain values. Family is one, and so is accepting our responsibilities. So...yes, I would like to stick around and...maybe get to know you better." He shuffled his paws, clearing his throat as he looked away. God this was weird...but she was his responsibility now, and he would not shun that. And soon, he would have even more responsibility as a father. And although that thought scared the shit out of him, he wouldn't run from it. "Talk"

She was so relieved. All the pent up worries and anxiety left her as he hugged it out of her. She had barely anything to worry about now. Sure, she still had to worry about eating enough for how ever many kids were growing inside her, but she could do that. There also was the fact she had to birth them. That terrified the living daylights out of her. What was that going to be like? She certainly didn't expect it to be sunshine and rainbows. She knew Zell wasn't her mate, but she was so happy that he was going to be there with her every step of the way. Her kids wouldn't grow up without a father in their life. Sure, this wasn't going exactly the way she had pictured in her head, but it was better than being a single mom. She could only imagine what that would be like and it made her shudder. As he pulled away she looked up at his face and smiled. She felt better, lighter, more free. She certainly didn't worry this much and it was exhausting. She was happy to have the burden off of her shoulders now. Now she only had to focus on having the kids and then raising them. They could do this. "I'm honestly relieved you'll be staying. I know this is a bit sudden, but I eventually want to leave my brother's pack. I want to make my own pack and I'd like you to be a part of it when the time comes. If you're interested." she was hopeful. She could create a pack for her kids and other free spirits like her. She wanted him to be a part of it. Walk, "Talk" Think

Her words didn't come as a surprise to him. He understood her worry after all. Had it been anyone else, then he was sure they would have backed out and left her to deal with it on her own. But not him. He was more or less ready to take on this responsibility, even if it had been something totally out of the blue. However, when she suddenly made mention of making her own pack, and that she wanted him to be a part of it. A brow raised, gaze returning to her as his eyes grew a bit wide. So...she wanted to make her own pack? That was admirable. Not everyone could handle it, but he felt that she could. He hadn't anticipated any of this at all. He hadn't planned on all of this so soon after leaving Abaven, but perhaps fate itself had his path laid out for him...after a moment, he nodded. "Well, my life seems to be getting more and more interesting. So I'll say yes, I will join you. Besides..." He shuffled his paws in the dirt, "It wouldn't be right of me to not be in the pack with you and...our pups." Whoa...that thought needed some getting used to.