Rhyme laid his head gently to his paws, his gaze skimming the entrance of Shaye’s den. While she had invited him within whenever he wished he hadn't quite taken her up on the offer yet. Despite the snow he still preferred to sleep outside under the stars. He’d just finished a patrol and the night was coming to its midway point. He decided to take a quick nap before letting himself take another trip around Abaven’s border. Not that sleep was going to be easy to grasp.

So much had happened recently, and the slate alpha felt on edge. Soon they would take their places against the slavers that had held on to he and Rhythm for so long. He tried not to think about the fact that he might not return. He wasn’t ready to meet his doom yet, but to protect his children and his pack he would gladly cross over. He didn’t want to throw his life away though, and he would fight with everything he had.

He sighed softly, flicking his tail around his body as he curled tighter around himself. Just a little rest and then he’d be back to work.

She sneaked quickly over the gap mumma made in the barrier. She looked up at Shaye and grinned as her mother mimed quiet, and she was more than happy to comply. She slipped past and waddled with her tummy to the floor over to her father. She kept as quiet as she could, holding in her giggles as she crawled over to his sleeping form.

She had to decide on her point of attack. She eyed up his tail, which was curled up around him, before dismissing it. She eyed up his nose, and well that could be fun to dig her little teeth into, she thought it might be too big to really clamp onto. No, the best thing to attack here was his ear. With this decided, she put herself into position, gave a little butt wiggle, and pounced. She gripped the ear, latching onto it with all the strength of her jaws.

The slate alpha drifted to sleep with a rare ease, his breathing evened and his body relaxed into the snow. Were Motif not hot on his trail he may have slept until the next morning. Rhyme hadn't been expecting the sudden rude awakening, and the pain in his ear caused a violent awakening.

He would never hurt his children. Rhyme gained control back over himself after a nasty half growl. His eyes shot open and he realized the culprit was not the slaver his body was trained to recognize. With his heart beating in overtime Rhyme let his rigid muscles free and his hackles lower over his back. He tried to find Motif with his gaze, finding himself worried about how the tiny she pup was going to take his sudden outburst. Ready to apologize to her and her mother for potentially scaring their small child.

"I mean.. Ouch she's got me!" He tried to save the moment, hoping Motif would roll with the punches. While he made note about his future nap sites. Avoiding a repeat of his outburst might be in his best interest.

Wooh! Daddy woke up pretty quickly, and lifted his head, her little toes ended up dangling above the ground, holding on to his ear with all her might, which likely hurt. But she wasn’t thinking about that, instead she concentrated on her father who growled at her eyes a little wild. “Got you” she growled, the words muffled as they slipped out between her clenched teeth. She wiggled a little more, dangling, before letting go and slipping back to the earth.


She blinked at her father, who looked a little guilty, through she couldn’t fathom why. She didn’t expect anger from either of her parents, sheltered and loved to the point where she couldn’t even recognise his initial outburst as being anything more then play. Butt wiggling she jumped closer to his face, and curled up under his chin. “Can we go on an adventure daddy?”

Indeed it did hurt. Motif's teeth were tiny daggers that held her firmly to his abused ear. He didn't let her dangle for long (because omg ouch!) and was relieved that she didn't react to his subconscious actions. She squirmed and tore at his ear before finally letting go and pulling away to look up at him. He beamed down at his offspring as he tried to let himself be at peace in the moment.

Motif didn't make that task difficult. With her tail wagging a mile a minute she bound at him again. This time instead of flashing teeth she nuzzled up under his chin affectionately. He smiled as she asked to adventure, though he wondered what her time frame might be.

"Of course, but not tonight. Speaking of, shouldn't you be asleep young lady?" He asked playfully, pulling her closer in to his chest as he did. He thought he saw Shaye from the den, was she keeping an eye on them or cuddling with Poem? He nuzzled his nose into Motif's warm cheek fur.