Something Unsuspected

His breath was quiet and steady in the almost silent den, really just surrounded by his and Ruse's own natural sounds. It was more soothing than he remembered. He wasn't necessarily reserved when it came to his family, it just seemed like he was always busy. And he tried his best to give that extra attention to his siblings especially his younger ones by Aliana. Chimera had taught him without any lessons this core importance of their family. A drastic difference from where his mother came from. Maybe even his father too, but he lived in the now with Chimera, and Viper was relatively open about the way she felt about everyone else. He did wonder if things would be different had she still been alive. He hoped that she would have found peace with his father.

"I know." He spoke, using his paw to carefully pull her in closer to him at the center of her back. There was nothing beyond this natural love that he felt for her, to keep her safe, eventually to get her home. On some level he felt like life had been a little different for the two of them. Scylla and Albion had been so close, and Aliana had plenty of boys to keep themselves occupied. Cerberus had grown up almost like a litter mate to Scylla and Albion and Ruse was a bonus. But there was a part of him that just felt a little different. Even to Ruse. They may have been single litters, but his mother was dead. It may have been natural to feel just a little out of place.

He was quiet for a moment, maybe even like he was about to go to sleep while he cradled her there. But he spoke again quietly as if he didn't want to wake her up had she fallen asleep already. "I have missed this a lot." He paused hard, like some kind of tension was built up in the thought. "I... felt like dad had these expectations for me. I didn't want to ask to move back into Siren's den. I had Valtiel for a little while but..." but that was it. In a sense he felt like he wasn't able to protect her, he failed her. Had she gone out of the pack on her own will for something and was snatched back up? Or maybe she felt the need go back to her formal slaver. It was heavier than he showed.

"Cerberus"