Crushing Weight of Paradise

Time passed by in a blur for Alastor. Seconds flew by while minutes dragged into hours. The world spun, turned, twisted and danced before his eyes while a flurry of thoughts rushed through his broken mind like panicked leaves in a gale. Relm was inside. Relm was inside that den giving birth to their children. Too soon—much too soon. He knew they wouldn't survive. He knew what this outcome would be. Still, he wanted to be there. He wanted to support her and show her he cared. But she didn't want him there. She didn't want him. Relm had cast him out from the one thing a good father should have been able to do. Did that make him a bad father for not insisting? For not pushing and standing his ground? Did it make him a bad partner for so easily bending to Relm's demands? His sharp ears could still hear Relm's sobbing from within, the gentle weeping of a heartbroken woman. His heart broke. He had done this to her. It hadn't been intentional, but he knew what all their fucking during her heat season could lead to, and yet they'd both been so reckless.

Eventually, Alastor heard the noises from within the den fade away. He knew it as done. His ears flattened to his head and his shoulders slumped in defeat. A quivering, choking sob worked its way up from his core, but he managed to hold himself together for the time being. The dire wolf remained where he was seated, firm as a statue and sentinel over his distraught lover in the medical den. After some time, Irilyth emerged from the den, reeking of blood and death. The smell normally would've been welcomed by the demon brute, but knowing that it came from his children that never were crushed his heart and soul. Pained black eyes looked down to the golden blonde woman while she came closer and sighed, the heavy expression on her face betraying how gruesome the experience had been. "It's done. She's resting now. I'll make sure she recovers okay." Alastor didn't need to hear anymore. He rose to his paws and turned for the den—only to be stopped when Irilyth blocked his path with her smaller body. "I'm sorry, sir, but she does not wish to see you. She's asked me to tell you to leave."

The dire brute leered down at the petite woman with something akin to anger and offense. How dare she tell him he couldn't see Relm. And how dare Relm dismiss him like he wasn't invested in this with her! Ebony lips peeled back from pearly fangs in a deadly growl, glowering at the den just a few yards away from him. It would have been so easy to bowl Irilyth over and go see Relm anyway... but for what point and purpose? If Relm didn't want to see him, didn't want him here, what good would that do? Why was he trying so damn hard when she just wanted him gone? A heavy huff and a furious snort left the wolf before he turned to storm off into the woods. He was angry. He was hurting. He felt like he'd failed Relm and that she had failed him. All he wanted to do now was escape the pain in his fractured heart. But how... well, he supposed that's what he'd spend the rest of his day figuring out.

- exit Alastor -

"Alastor"