The slate alpha finished up his one on one session with Motif, her Theory, and Poem had all had their first real lesson, and now he intended to finish the day with the biggest and smallest pups. Noir was better behaved when under Rhyme’s watchful eye, and likely would continue that trend even beside Verse in a lesson. He hoped the two of them learning together might strengthen their bond. He was worried about Noir’s, at best, apathy towards his sisters. He was going to be the biggest out of all of them and Rhyme still hoped the striped boy might pick up a protective streak.

The sun hadn’t quite touched the treeline yet, Rhyme’s blue and lavender gaze searching the horizon as he halted in front of the maple tree for the second time that day. He returned his gaze to the hole at the base and called out to his young.

Verse? Noir?” His voice was soft as he called from the entrance. Rhyme had been sleeping in Tana’s den to comfort them with her being so absent. The first couple of nights she had been gone Rhyme had debated about moving them with Shaye and the other two. However losing their mom would be hard enough and he didn’t want to disturb them more. Though he felt trapped when he slept in the den he managed to relax enough to sleep next to his children.

Noir wasn’t in the den, he was behind the maple tree on the opposite side of the entrance. Oddly he hadn’t sought out his father’s attention recently. He hadn’t wanted any attention at all in fact. Noir might have thought himself getting sick, but it wasn’t a virus sickness. His heart hurt. His mom had been more absent recently. Well, since Verse had gone off and been an idiot. Noir would toe the line and venture into the other two pack territories when he thought no one was looking, but Verse had gone out of Abaven. He still hadn’t decided if he admired her bravery or resented her stupidity.

His dad’s voice reached his ears and for a moment he didn’t want to answer him. Yeah he’d been a comfort on the nights without their mom, but he wasn’t the same. His body was lean, and usually too hot. His mom was soft and tiny and perfect to snuggle with. He pouted to himself for another moment, thinking about how unfair it was that his mom was gone and not Shaye or someone unimportant.

He huffed before lifting himself to his paws and rounding the trunk of the tree. ”Yes, dad?” He tried not to show how upset he’d been, he hadn’t let anyone see those emotions. Obviously though, Noir was not as spunky as he normally would have been in front of his dad.

Verse was hard pressed to be in the den these days, though she wasn't about to leave the area yet. Not after what had transpired. Her mother was gone, vanished because of what happened and now it was just dad and her siblings, and sometimes it was just her. It was starting to become a lonely life without their mom. She was sorta the glue that held them together and now they seemed to be falling apart. It was a lot on them all, and it was her fault that miss Shaye did what she did.

Her dad came, but she was focused on the ravens overhead. One had chosen her sister, and she was certain another would choose Noir but she wondered if another might chose her. Seemed unlikely to happen but they were nice to watch anyway. His voice tore her attention to him and she looked at him from over her shoulder. Noir was quicker to answer than her but she was on his heels moments later. She was, like Noir, less than chipper since Tana's disappearance. "Uh huh daddy?" her eyes flickered back to the ravens, distracting but still more likely to keep her out of trouble than anything else. She obviously blamed herself for Tana disappearing but never said so.

"Speech"

The slate alpha watched as the two pups appeared at almost the same time, though for how close they were they took their time. Noir and Verse were the least enthusiastic of the bunch, both of them seemed lack luster to how they normally acted. While Theory seemed hardly affected by their mother’s scarcity, these two were all but consumed. Another reason for him to stand strong despite the pain behind his blue and lavender eyes. He had to be strong for his children, who were too young to be dealing with the loss of a parent.

He put an easy smile on his face as he moved to nuzzle both of them, offering what comfort he could in the form of affection. They wouldn’t gain much from that though, and the routine of everyday life would. The bit of training would help get their minds off the difficult loss. Noir seemed dejected and Verse distracted as she peered up at the nest of ravens.

”We’re doing some training today, my children.” He nosed Noir under the chin, and turned to kiss Verse on her cheek. ”Have you been practicing your defenses?” All of the children had been given the basic idea of how to set their defences, this lesson was to see how creative they had gotten, or if they figured out vitals yet.

Verse was right behind him as Noir rounded the maple tree and sat by her, looking curiously if not listlessly up at their father as he answered the summons. He found his attention shift to Verse as she offered a similar answer. Their father smiled gently, and though Noir squinted through the affection he loved the attention. Rhyme managed to put a similar amused smile on Noir’s lips before turning to Tana to try and cheer her up.

He perked up even more at the mention of training. Noir loved to train, and wanted to be the strongest wolf in the pack one day. Even stronger than their dad! He grinned widely, and sat up a little taller as he let thoughts of his mom drift away so he could focus on his father’s words.

”I like training!” He made sure to tell his father before answering the question. ”I have!” His enthusiasm increased as Rhyme’s eyes laid upon him. ”Ears pinned, hackles up, elbows bent…” He continued to mutter the moves as he did them, finally finshed he looked from his father to Verse. He was ready for Rhyme’s praise.