Ashmedai walked in full ridiculous regalia- harness on top of his bright Hawaiian shirt. He towed Chaos over to Abaven in hopes of securing his pups. Well, also the mother, but the pups were the most important. They were Imperialis. He would raise them in an Imperialis pack. That hadn't been an option with Lust, but he had never been concerned about her or her strength.

That wasn't the case here, sadly, and so Ashmedai had come to call and collect. Hopefully there could be an agreement, but he was very certain of one thing: those pups would not be raised in Abaven.

Chaos continued to throw bemused glances over at his older brother. When he'd first seen the ridiculous get-up Ash seemed to consider to be battle gear, he'd just about died laughing. He'd gotten the gales of laughter under control during the journey here, and managed to stifle even the odd chuckles that escaped once in a while. How he'd managed to get laid not just once, but at least twice (judging by his comment about him having other kids, which would have been a surprise to Chaos had he not already been inundated with Ash-based surprises), Chaos just didn't know. Presumably by not wearing either the shirt or the harness around prospective mates. He couldn't even imagine how Rhyme and Shaye were supposed to take them seriously. He shook his head again, then raised his muzzle and sent out a call announcing their presence and... requesting an answer. Normally, he'd have demanded someone move their ass to the border to answer him, but it was probably better to start off polite so they didn't get off on the wrong paw immediately.

The emotions that raced through him when he heard the voice at the border ranged in all directions. Dark ears fell to his skull as he lifted himself to icy paws. Noir gave him a puzzled glance as Rhyme moved suddenly at the unfamiliar call. ”Stay here.” He muttered as he gave the boy a serious glance before loping in the direction of Chaos’ call. Nothing good came when his family called to him at the border, and he felt a heavy apprehension as he made his way there.

Solitude and Imperia beat him there, the birds took to the high branches of the trees Rhyme appeared from beneath. He’d cleared his features of any emotion, but his mask broke at the sight of Ashmedai.. in probably one of the most ridiculous things he had ever seen. The break was quick, and Rhyme shook himself internally as he slowed in front of them. He kept his breathing even as he second guessed his choice to heed this call.

”Hello, Chaos, Ashmedai.” Polite if not rather cold vocals left him as he looked to each man as he said their name. He refrained from saying anything else, they wanted something and he knew they wouldn’t hesitate long in their demands.

As his younger ex-brother answered the call, Ashmedai broke into a loose smile. He didn't miss the small fluctuation in Rhyme's face either. Of course the other man cleared it quickly and went back to being all stoic or whatever. Lame. He greeted both of them a little coldly and Ashmedai's smile twitched a tad higher. Acting as if they were ever really family was pointless. Ash had never been close to Rhyme not growing up or as adults. The loss of him as a family member meant little to nothing to Ashmedai and it felt as if he was approaching any other stranger who disliked him or his family.

So really, it was the usual.

"Rhyme," Ash returned in greeting. He'd let Chaos take the lead from here, but his eyes glittered with trouble the whole time.

It didn't take long before his call was answered. Rhyme appeared shortly, eyeing Ash's outfit. "Feel free to laugh," he rumbled with a crooked smile. "I did, the whole way here from Legion." Rhyme's voice, cold and full of rejection, was more than a little hurtful considering they'd practically been littermates, but Chaos supposed he himself had started that with his reaction to the news that Rhyme had been diddling his own cousin. His grin turned a little brittle, but Chaos kept it carefully in place. "Look," he said suddenly. "There's no way to put this delicately. Ash here knocked up one of your cousins. I think we can all agree that it's not ideal for there to be a... shared custody of the pups between Legion and Abaven right now." He quirked a brow at Rhyme. "Ash wants his pups in Legion. We'd need to borrow their mother for a time, but I'd be willing to trade for her time, and she'd be treated well of course. A guest, not a slave or anything of the sort. In fact," he added generously, "I would be more than happy to provide her with any sort of training she wants while she's carrying and nursing the pups, in addition to any trade with Abaven for her time, and she'd be free to return to Abaven free and clear whenever she is ready to do so. Without the pups, of course." It was, Chaos decided, a more than reasonable offer, considering. "I understand if you need to talk this over with Shaye first, but we are on a bit of a time crunch. I'm sure the mother is due any time now."

Rhyme might have laughed out loud with his brothers at one time if confronted with this scene.. before. The thought only made him hurt and he brushed it from his mind as Ash offered a similar greeting to the one he had given. Chaos, of course, was quick to get down to business. He was surprised at the words that came afterwards, Rhyme had never been good at detecting pregnancy but he had his suspicions about Arpeggio. Not that she had been around enough to confront, and she hadn’t come to him. He didn’t know if she’d said anything to Shaye.

"Ash wants his pups in Legion.”

Which really meant he didn’t want them in Abaven. He felt his brows fall as Chaos went on. He came to him with a trade in mind, but he obviously hadn’t thought much about what Peggy wanted. They were her pups as well. ”She is free to go with you if that’s what she wants.” He wasn’t about to stop her from leaving she was free to make her own choices. He knew he wouldn’t have to speak to Shaye about that. However, this all sounded like she had already turned down an offer to go to Legion. Did she know they were here at the border negotiating for her children?

He saw first hand how losing a mother could affect pups, and he didn’t see Peggy being one to be able to leave her pups.

Rhyme might have laughed out loud with his brothers at one time if confronted with this scene.. before. The thought only made him hurt and he brushed it from his mind as Ash offered a similar greeting to the one he had given. Chaos, of course, was quick to get down to business. He was surprised at the words that came afterwards, Rhyme had never been good at detecting pregnancy but he had his suspicions about Arpeggio. Not that she had been around enough to confront, and she hadn’t come to him. He didn’t know if she’d said anything to Shaye.

"Ash wants his pups in Legion.”

Which really meant he didn’t want them in Abaven. He felt his brows fall as Chaos went on. He came to him with a trade in mind, but he obviously hadn’t thought much about what Peggy wanted. They were her pups as well. ”She is free to go with you if that’s what she wants.” He wasn’t about to stop her from leaving she was free to make her own choices. He knew he wouldn’t have to speak to Shaye about that. However, this all sounded like she had already turned down an offer to go to Legion. Did she know they were here at the border negotiating for her children?

He saw first hand how losing a mother could affect pups, and he didn’t see Peggy being one to be able to leave her pups.

Ash smiled and nodded at all the words Chaos said. They were all very reasonable. Yup, he knocked up that cousin of Rhyme's, yup they were here to take her and the pups, nope they weren't getting the pups back, and yes, Ash was here in a gaudy floral shirt and bdsm harness to claim them.

Yes, yes, good job, Chaos. See, this was why he had to be tied down as the alpha of the Imperialis pack- he was the most reasonable of all the kids and also not too grumpy. Just enough to put up with the shenanigans that came with the name without killing everyone in his path.

Aw and Rhyme seemed to accept all this news without even batting an eye. Where were the theatrics? Where were the scoldings? Where were the "oh no Ash, you defiled my cousin you foul creature!" remarks?

Oh well.

Rhyme said she was free to go if she wanted- good so he at least knew who they were talking about. It would have been awkward if he found out Ashmedai didn't even know her name. Or maybe it would be more fun?

"Yeah, well... I don't really know if she's sure about anything and we don't have forever to figure it out," Ashmedai said. He looked over to Chaos, shrugging. Should they even bother asking her?

Now, as part of his explanation to Chaos, Ash had pretty clearly stated that the aforementioned Destruction hadn't really wanted to join Legion. Chaos, however, was blithely ignoring that fact in favor of obtuse optimism. "Good!" he said heartily to the other alpha, and had he been human would have added an equally hearty slap on the back. You know, manly stuff. "That's all settled then. She can come along with her pups if she wants to, they can be one cozy little family and happily ever after. Why don't one of you go ahead and call the girl so I can charm her into coming with us?" He gave Rhyme a boyish grin. "It would be so much easier than trying to carry pups back and find a wet nurse and all. I really appreciate you being so reasonable about this, Rhyme."

Ash nodded along with everything Chaos mentioned, and he wondered for a moment if they even knew the name of the woman they planned on spiriting away. Rhyme still didn’t feel good about any of it. Ashmedai mentioned that they didn’t have a whole lot of time to decide, and seemed utterly disinterested in Peggy’s opinions. Was he so confident that she would come along with them.

Chaos seemed oddly chipper as the arrangements were ‘made.’ They skirted around carefully about what would happen if Peggy did not want to go. ”I really appreciate you being so reasonable about this, Rhyme." The slate alpha allowed the corners of his lips to pull up slightly at his brother’s words.

”Don’t celebrate yet,” He muttered to himself internally as he lifted his head and called out for Arpeggio to come to them. Or he had guessed that was who they needed, did he have any other female cousins of child bearing age in Abaven?

”You expected unreasonable?” He asked, with more amusement than he expected. Rhyme felt that familiar pain in his heart whenever he thought of this side of his family. It was easy to feel bitter towards them, especially with the feeling of longing nagging at him. He still wanted to belong with them, despite everything that had happened. The slate alpha buried the feelings, they only turned into pain.

As one can assume, Chaos and Ashmedai probably looked more like a conniving version of Dumb and Dumber as they blatantly overlooked any facts not in their favor. As soon as Ash began to show any doubt, Chaos beamed in with his hearty and nearly congratulatory attitude. It brought an even more troublesome smile to Ash's maw as his eyes became alight with the added confidence of his brother. He snorted a little at Rhyme's comment about being unreasonable, but held his tongue.

Unreasonable had yet to come, and she went by a name Ash didn't yet know.

He nudged Chaos a bit with his shoulder, "Rhyme? Unreasonable? Never! Isn't that my job?"

Rhyme seemed to have a good idea already of which of his cousins had been shacking up with Ash - which was good because Chaos had no idea - and raised his muzzle to call her there. "I think Vana had the market cornered on inreaaonability before any of the three of us were even a twinkle in Dad's eye," Chaos retorted dryly to Ash's joke, then tilted his head toward Rhyme in acknowledgement. "I didn't know what to expect anymore," he admitted as his voice deepened in seriousness to a low rumble, though a faint, crooked smile still tugged his lips. "I watched one of your lead warrior's take a man's pups hostage. I watched you and Shaye condone his actions when you both stood back and refused to return his children to their father. So yes, I was prepared for unreasonable."

His ghost of a smile vanished, though, as his mismatched gaze bore intently into Rhymes. "Mark me, though, Brother, I am not Tyranis. I do not roll over and show my belly when someone keeps my blood from me. Look what happened to you, to all of us, because you were taken away from the family. No more of my blood will be raised where I can't protect them. I have nieces and nephews I will never...

Movement as a pale young woman approached them shattered the tension of the moment, and Chaos glanced away without finishing his sentence, feeling slightly queasy from the intensity and uneasily aware he had revealed more of his inner self to Rhyme and Ashmedai in that one moment than he had to anyone since... well, since before Cascade had died. He had grown up alone, with just her, desperately missing the siblings he had all but worshipped as a young pup. Abandoned and lonely, cut off suddenly from the companionship he had craved, like an addict cut off from their drug - was it any wonder he'd grown up to be so fucked up? Well, never again. "Well, there's our girl," he said, the sudden light, casual tone jarring after the deep growling rumble.

Peggy had holed up in the big, sprawling den that had once belonged to Kassander, rather than her own, because no one really would look for her there, and she wasnt quite ready to face anyone just yet. She was bitterly ashamed of her actions, and she knew that if anyone knew the truth they would know it was her fault, that it was what she'd deserved for being such an idiot. There were worse names for what she was.

She hadn't been feeling well, either. Painful false contractions had plagued her since her return from the Rio Grande, and she had felt so terribly weary. Today was even worse, it seemed that she couldn't get comfortable at all and what she assumed to be false labor pains wouldnt stop. She was still early yet, so she was bitterly aware that she had a week or more of this to enjoy still.

And then Rhyme called for her. Peggy winced at the sound, her ears and tail drooping. She knew she had been slacking on her duties as a pack member in addition to blatantly not informing either of the alphas of her pregnancy, so she could expect this summons to be nothing good. She couldn't blame them, she deserved to get in trouble for all this. Sighing, she made the painful trudge toward where he was calling from.

She was nearly there when she finally raised her head from her immediate path to look ahead, and what she saw froze her in place, a flutter of panic beating in her chest. He was there, he had spoken with Rhyme. Oh god what would Rhyme think of her now? She had never told him or Shaye what had happened and now he was getting the whole thing dumped on him at once. And by someone who had professed to be in a bad place with Abaven, on top of that.

Another pain racked her abdomen, taking her breath away, and Peggy had to brace herself against it until it passed. But with its passing she had no more excuse, and had to finish the humiliating walk beneath their gazes. There was a stranger there, too, but Peggy's gaze was fixed firmly on her paws, her ears burning in humiliation. She stopped before them, a trio of giants towering over her own much smaller form, and tried to find words. Her tongue failed her, though, and she simply remained silent.

Had it really been weeks since he'd seen Peggy? He'd seen her around after that fateful, awkward day at the Battlefield. She'd been pretty damn evasive after that day, though he couldn't figure out why - and god, had he wanted to gossip with her about what they'd learned there about Shaye and Rhyme - but her avoiding him had turned into her being completely absent altogether. He'd been preoccupied with his own things, after his conversation with Shaye about being promoted, and then all at once it hit him that she was actually hiding. Maybe not from him, but from something, though he wasn't ready to worry since her scent was still here and there around the packlands. But once he heard Rhyme's call for her, he couldn't resist heading toward it. At this point he was less so being nosy and mostly just worried for her. Disappearing wasn't like her, at least not disappearing from him. He was torn between being worried and vaguely annoyed with his cousin for evading him for so long, and he wasn't sure what to expect when he finally saw her. Surely she had a good excuse that would make him feel like an ass for being annoyed, right? He never expected to see what he did when he finally showed up to the small group that had gathered. Rhyme was there, and so was Peggy, but so were two other very weird looking strangers. As he drew closer, he was distracted by the oversized teeth that the darker male possessed, but his attention was captured more quickly by the outfit of the other one. His attention strayed a moment too long before it fell to Peggy. It took a long moment and a few slow, confused blinks before he realized his eyes weren't deceiving him. She was.. pregnant? Extremely pregnant, and there was no mistaking it. Uh... If he could tell anything it was that the tension between the group was thick and Peggy didn't look like herself at all. Her posture was slouched and she looked downright miserable. He made an effort to catch her eye as he drew closer, clearing his throat to get her attention, and giving her a look that said: What the fuck happened? He didn't want to be accusing or unkind to his cousin; she was by far his closest friend and companion, but he was utterly bewildered and wondered if he ought to be kicking himself for not seeking her out sooner, instead of being stubborn about it. "Who.. what..." He mumbled as he pulled closer to her, his voice barely audible and his words faltering, hardly able to even formulate a proper question.

Rhyme was still on edge as their conversation skirted towards something almost friendly. An everyday banter between three brothers, they even had an insult thrown in about their sister. The slate alpha wished for a time when being around them had been easy and fun. Now he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of course the talk would not linger there in days gone by as Chaos grew more serious. ”...I was prepared for unreasonable.” After that argument Rhyme couldn’t blame him, but they had not been met with any final confrontation yet. Plenty of time to be unreasonable.

Rhyme watched Chaos carefully as he explained clearly what would happen. He didn’t miss the use of ‘brother’ as the fanged alpha spoke. Already knowing where they would be forced to go if an agreement could not be held together. ”I have nieces and nephews I will never…” Rhyme didn’t know if Chaos was talking about his brood or he spoke of something else that had happened. The slate alpha was vaguely aware of his older sibling’s offspring, and would be kept wondering about where his brother was going for a long time.

Rhyme watched as Peggy appeared, ashamed and more downtrodden than he had ever seen her. He wished in that moment he had a better timeline, her pregnancy was incredibly obvious. She really was due in days, and he wondered if the long trip would throw her into labor. His dark ears fell to his skull as his heart reached out to her. Corvus was suddenly there as well, offering his own confusion and support.

He looked to Chaos and Ashmedai as his cousin stood scared silent before them. ”If you’ll allow us a private word.” He motioned for Peggy to follow him a little ways away, and wouldn’t shoo Corvus away if he followed. He looked to the much younger Destruction, trying to keep any of his own interfering emotions from him as he looked down at her with obvious concern on his features.

”I know you must be going through a lot right now, and it's far from over yet.” He paused to look at her and sighed softly. ”They want your children to grow up in Legion. I don’t know what your relationship with Ashmedai is, but you are free to leave Abaven to live with them. However, if you don’t wish to go to Legion.. just say the word and I will fight for your right to remain here.”

Noir planned on keeping his father’s command for a long time, he sat with little to do as the alpha left him to his own devices. Rhyme hadn’t said how long he was supposed to stay put. When the call for yet another wolf to appear at the border reached his dark ears Noir couldn’t be held back any longer. He found his paws and cantered the direction his father went. He tried to stay in the shadows as he came up on the scene.

Big blue and lavender eyes looked to each of the wolves, three were his pack mates. His dad and a couple wolves he didn’t know the name of. There were two other big wolves on the other side of the border. He fixated on the fangs of the dark beast that wasn’t dressed up in some strange objects. Noir had seen nothing like either of them before.

His father seemed to drift away from the two and Noir found himself unable to restrain his paws. His blue striped form krept closer to the strange wolves, why hadn’t his father wanted him to come and meet them?

Ash listened as Chaos explained that he had, in fact expected unreasonable. Oh, come on, when had Abaven ever not eventually keeled over to an Imperialis's demands? When Chaos finished explaining why he thought it might be unreasonable, Ash nodded, "Okay, maybe unreasonable, but definitely a lot more interesting."

Oh, then Chaos had to go get all serious. Look, it wasn't that Ashmedai couldn't be serious, he just didn't like to be. It ruined his mood, obviously. He agreed with everything that Chaos was explaining, but for him, it with without saying. Still, he did his best to mirror his brother's mood. He straightened his posture and dropped his smile. Fine, serious Ashmedai activated. Whatever.

Then the girl showed up, as acknowledged by Chaos. "Yup, that's her," Ash said, his more mischievous smile ebbing back onto his maw. He saw the others approach, but other than a brief up-down glance for each of them, Ash ignored them. Nosy bastards.

Aaaand Rhyme and the girl walked off for a little chat. Ashmedai sighed and eyed Chaos from the side. He didn't say anything in mixed company, but he didn't have a lot of hope that this wasn't going to end up being an all-out brawl in the end. He was ready for it, though. And if he thought about it enough, he'd start getting all excited about it.

Chaos watched the girl approach, and couldn't decide if she looked ashamed or fearful. He couldn't imagine Ashmedai raping someone - though more and more it looked like he didn't really know his brothers after all, he still didn't believe that Ash would stoop to that - so he decided that the latter was likely. Though given the fact that she was a Destruction, perhaps she was just a generally mousey girl. He couldn't understand the idea of being attracted to someone so... uhm... gentle. Weak, really, when you got down to it. He'd always preferred his potential mates with a great deal more fire to their personality. But Valen had picked a gentle mate as well and Ash had been really close to that Sparrow girl, so maybe it was just him that was the odd one. Even Rhyme had picked less-than-ideal mates, though if Shaye hadn't been, well, his cousin Chaos wouldn't have entirely disapproved of her. She had some fire when she wanted to, though like all the Destructions she clung to the supposed superiority of her morals like she was clutching her pearls.

Rhyme moved to take the girl aside as a few more young Destructions appeared - it was always fairly obvious who they were - and Chaos took the opportunity to study the girl from the short distance. He was certainly no expert on pregnancy, but she looked like she was going to pop at any moment. "She's not one of Bass' brood, is she?" he asked idly, with some surprise. "I didn't think any of his kids looked that much like him. A little young to be his kid, though, I guess. A little young for you, for that matter, isn't she?" he added, with a curious sidelong glance at his older brother.

One of the younger Destructions who had drifted in was what would have been an odd color before he'd met Artemis et al, and before both Angelus and himself had had equally colorful litters with two of the family. Electric blue stripes crossed the kid's dark pelt. He was clearly one of Rhyme's kids, with those distinctive spots under the eyes that both Rhyme and his mother both had. Well, it was probably reasonable to say that he'd gotten his stripes from Valen's side after all, since this not-so-little tyke sported a similar pattern himself. Chaos wondered if this was one of the inbred brats Rhyme and Shaye had birthed, or from the other litter, and he gave a thoughtful hmm sound as he studied the boy intently. He certainly didn't look like he had a double dose of Destruction, and except for that Destruction slash under the eyes he could easily have passed as one of Chaos' own pups. Well, if Rhyme was going to take up their time talking to Ash's girl, Chaos might as well do something productive with his time, especially since if things turned south he might not be allowed another chance at conversation with this particular familial branch. "What's your name, kid?" he asked the blue-striped pup curiously. "I'm Chaos Saxe, Legion alpha," he told him, tapping his own chest, then indicated Ash. "The weird one over there is Ashmedai Imperialis - we try not to take him out in public much. We're Rhyme's brothers, which unless I miss my guess," he added, indicating the boy's eye markings, "would make us your uncles. Don't suppose he talks about us much?" He ruthlessly suppressed the wistfulness that threatened to color the question, smothering it with a joking tone.

Corvus appeared not long after she had, and cleared his throat to draw her attention. Not that Peggy had needed to have her attention drawn, she was immediately aware of her friend's presence and her ears felt on fire from embarrassment. Guilt followed quickly on it's heels at the bewilderment in Cor's expression. Oh, hell.

Rhyme spoke to the... well, honestly, both the males were strangers to her, she was realizing more and more... two males who had come to the border, asking to have a word with her privately, and motioned for her to follow him. She found her gaze drawn to Ash as she stood to follow, like iron filings to a magnet she simply couldn't help but want to drink in the sight of him despite everything, but then she did a doubletake. He was wearing... something. She was at a loss as to what, exactly, to call the strange combination of brightly patterned fabric and a spikey leather harness. It really wasn't... armor, precisely, and it clashed ludicrously with her image of him as a noble, gentlemanly warrior, and sent her anxiety about this whole meeting rocketing skyward.

She followed Rhyme to the side, both relieved and embarrassed when Corvus followed at her pleading glance. As little as she wanted to explain this to her younger friend, she also didn't want to be explaining this any more often than she had to, so getting it all over with at once certainly seemed preferable. "Rhyme, Cor, I'm really sorry for all this," she said in a rush. "I know I haven't been a good packmate, or a friend, or a cousin, for a while now. I should have told people sooner. I just... I thought I was in love..." Was she? Even now, as upset as she was, she wanted to make excuses for Ash's behavior. That he just didn't understand, that he just wanted to protect her and the pups, that if she could just explain things better he'd understand why she couldn't leave Abaven and he'd be ok with it. The larger part of her saw the warning signs in bright neon and wasn't at all ok with the way this was going... but that small part of her that thrilled at his attention still set her heart fluttering at the thought of him. She knew his name now, thanks to Rhyme, and that small part of her clutched it close to her. Ashmedai. But the practical, logical side of her kept drawing her attention back to all the little red flags, and the big ones, that he kept throwing up at her, and she couldn't help but be wary.

"I thought he loved me," she continued in a small voice. A contraction took her breath away, this one longer and harder than the ones earlier, and made her lose focus for a long moment, and she had to close her eyes through it. Another week or two of this? Really? "I told him I would think about it when he made his offer for me to live in Legion. I thought he'd give me more time. I don't want anyone to get hurt because I made a mistake," she said as the contraction passed and she could focus again. A slip of the tongue, a phrased loosed from her by the distraction of the pain, but now that she had said it she could look at it and examine it and decided yes, yes it had been a mistake. This whole thing had been a mistake. She'd been a naive little fluffhead and all those consequences she'd conveniently forgotten were coming home to roost all at once. "I don't want anyone fighting over me. I'm sure it won't come to that. Ash will understand..." she hesitated, then held herself up straighter, lifting her head and firming her jaw, turning so that she faced Ash and his brother-alpha-of-Legion as well as her own packmates, and raised her voice so they could hear her determined words. "I don't want to leave Abaven. This is my home. My family is here, my friends are here, and my responsibilities are here. I belong in this pack, not Legion, and I want my pups to grow up here, where they'll be safe and happy."

Despite all the bumps along the way - the Abraxas occupation, Sparrow's capitulation and later her death which ended the occupation but brought a new set of troubles with an unknown alpha and a whole spat of new wolves, the whole thing with Rhyme and Shaye - Abaven was home to her. She'd grown up with stories of it, and it was all she had left of her mother. She'd grown protective of the pack and everyone in it, and she was determined to work her way up to lead warrior and beyond. She wasn't going to give that up just because Ash asked her to. Once he understood that, he'd stop being so pushy.

Her confident, determined pose was somewhat spoiled as another long, painful contraction hit. As she closed her eyes against it she felt the flutter of panic she'd repressed earlier return with a vengeance. This was much faster and more painful than the contractions all week had been. Had she actually been in labor all day? But this was too soon for her to be in labor, wasn't it? She still had at least another week or two before she was due.

""

The ridiculous one seemed to ignore him, which would have bothered Noir quite a bit more if he hadn’t been noticed by the second. He was more respectable anyway, with his hulking frame and incredible fangs. Piercing dual colored eyes looked his smaller form over, and Noir began to second guess following after his father. He wasn’t his sisters though, he was brave and had no fear. The young boy managed to puff his chest up as he made his way closer.

"What's your name, kid?" He held his head high, but his ears were perked with obvious curiosity for these strangers. Noir looked back at his father, who at the moment was much too busy to have noticed his disobedience. "I'm Chaos Saxe, Legion alpha," His eyes widened a bit, he hadn’t really thought about there being alphas besides his dad and Shaye. He should have with all the excitement recently. "The weird one over there is Ashmedai Imperialis - we try not to take him out in public much.” Noir felt himself grin.

”I can see why.” He mumbled as Chaos continued, letting the boy know that they were his uncles. Noir only knew one uncle, Epitaph. Who was much closer to his half sisters than he or his siblings. ”Don’t suppose he talks about us much?” Noir shook his head, he had no idea how much family he had outside of Abaven.

The reintroduction of the Imperialis name had caught him off guard. When Rhyme had told him he couldn’t be one anymore… Was that part of the reason he had been told to stay behind? He didn’t like the way any of it made him feel. ”I’m Noir Destruction.” He was still a proud little pup and told them his name confidently. ”Dad said I can’t be Imperialis.” There were more questions lingering below the surface. Chaos seemed friendly, so why was this the first time they were meeting? ”Is that why you haven’t visited before?” He voiced his concerns with regret, having these two as uncles instead of Epitaph would have been a lot cooler.

The boy turned his head as the pregnant lady spoke up, these guys wanted to take her back to Legion? His attention already in their direction he made eye contact with his dad, there went the chance to sneak away.