He offered Peggy as much compassion as he could convey in just his eyes as she confessed, and apologized for everything she had done. She was still rather young, and had plenty of time to make more mistakes. Likely she would learn some rather hard lessons with all of this. ”I thought I was in love.” He felt himself sigh inwardly, he knew that feeling better than he liked. ”I don’t want anybody fighting over me.” The young Destruction girl was quickly showing her youth and naivety as she continued to speak. Much louder than he would have liked her to, Peggy announced to all that she did not want to leave Abaven.

Now the real fun was about to start. Rhyme tried to keep himself calm and cool as his heart raced inside his chest. They might still get out of this diplomatically, but the chances of that were quickly falling. Bright blue and lavender gaze shifted to their guests, and was confronted by Noir’s guilty face.

Everything was quickly spiraling out of Rhyme’s control. He stood frozen for a moment as he gave a quick glare to his son as his attention was pulled back to Peggy. She was practically doubled over with pain and the slate marked alpha realized they were out of time.

”The pups are coming.” His voice was surprisingly flat as he watched his young cousin. What a fun day they were having. For a moment he wondered if he might be able to spirit Peggy away to a den before his brothers pounced. Rhyme refrained from offering any physical support as he lowered his eyes to her level. ”Hey, keep breathing. We’ll make it through this.” He offered verbal support in hushed tones as he eyes strayed back towards Ash and Chaos.

Corvus was admittedly a stubborn guy, and he was seriously torn between annoyed at Peggy and deeply concerned for her. His gaze lifted to Rhyme when he asked if he could have a private word with her, and Corvus hesitated for a moment before following. He wasn't going to stand around with these two strangers and he desperately wanted to know what exactly was going on. Finally he trailed after Rhyme, his brows furrowing in confusion as he spoke. Wait, they wanted to take Peggy's kids? What the hell? He bristled as Rhyme told her she could leave Abaven if she wanted. Surely that wasn't what she wanted.. right? He tilted his head to her, trying to contain his confusion and hoping his gaze didn't look too pleading. When she spoke, she was addressing him as well as Rhyme, apologizing and trying to explain herself. Almost instantly he felt all of his annoyance melt away. "No, you - you've been fine," Corvus lied quickly, wanting to assure her that she didn't need to feel any worse than she clearly already did. She'd.. thought she'd been in love? His gaze softened sympathetically. Her embarrassment was palpable and he found himself feeling a bit embarrassed himself for her. She'd been through a lot, was going through a lot, obviously she had been keeping to herself... and though she said she'd considered joining his pack, in the end she wanted to stay here. Corvus felt himself breath a sigh of relief, releasing air he hadn't realized he'd been holding in, deciding he wasn't sure what he would've done had she decided to leave. Abaven without Peggy wouldn't be right. His attention jerked back to her when she recoiled in pain, and his eyes frantically found Rhyme - who announced the pups were coming. Seriously? Already? Eyes wide, he looked from Rhyme to Peggy and back again, occasionally glancing at the two strangers who still lingered. Hell, if they tried to take her pups - that was a weird thought, Peggy having kids, and one he was sure would take a long while to get used to - he'd fight for them himself, consequences be damned. They needed to remain in Abaven, no matter what.

Chaos made some snide remark about the woman being pretty young and Ash just shrugged, "An adult is an adult. Besides, she seemed... more competent when she was healing. Or maybe I just lost too much blood."

His dear brother then went on to say they didn't take him out much which earned a chuckle from Ash, "Speak for yourself- you're trapped behind borders most days while I roam free." When the pup, however, agreed, Ash shot him a a snort. Coming from some stuck up Abaven kid pissed him off. If he wasn't like IN a pack, Ash might have drug him away for a nice little chat.

Noir, as it was, said he wasn't allowed to be an Imperialis anymore and Ash nodded sharply just once. Damned right he wasn't. Not with a fool like Rhyme as a father. Rhyme could have been good, but he just... wasn't Imperialis material. Not like Rhys. Speaking of the father of the pup, was this one of the inbred ones? Ash eyed him warily. Gross. Even by Ash's relatively low standards, incest was gross.

And then the girl of the hour opened her mouth do declare she wasn't gonna leave Abaven at least not by choice. Ash let out a sigh as his expression grew dark. He had to remind himself that Chaos was supposed to be the one in charge.

Then she started going into labor.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Ash mumbled to himself, stepping forward.

"Rhyme," he called out as a warning, "Bargaining aside, I swear to god if you don't let me see the birth of my pups-" he cut himself off, eyeing Noir. The pup shouldn't ideally hear the threats Ashmedai was going to make. Now the pup would make a good bargaining chip but... Ash eyed Chaos and decided maybe that wouldn't be the best for the Abaven/Legion relations.

Still, he had every intention of being right there when his pups were born.

Chaos' characteristic smile grew bitter at the boy's words. He didnt begrudge his father the right to choose who could or couldn't bear the Imperialis name. Valentine had more than earned the right to protect the name of the family he had founded. No, he didnt blame Valentine for the situation that made it so this pup, Chaos' blood, could not be raised to be what his bloodcould have made him. "I imagine," he said lightly, "that's because the Imperialis dont approve of your dad fucking his cousin and getting her pregnant." Ok, ok, so it slipped out. Not very diplomatic but hey a man could only exhibit so much self control before the Saxe escaped.

And of course the girl was going into labor. Wasnt there some sort of rule of the universe that said what could go wrong, would go wrong? And stress probably had a lot to do with that particular little snag. Well, time to go ahead and amp that stress up a little. "chill, Ashmedai," he said softly, though his words were intended to reach Rhyme and the girl. "Rhyme isnt going to take her anywhere. Rhyme, you remember that little raid we went on, dont you." it wasnt a question, but a flat statement, delivered with a half smile as he watched Rhyme. The raid to avenge Rhymes captivity, the raid where they had slaughtered an entire pack of slavers right down to the pups whose squirming bodies had stilled in his jaws. "Rhyme knows how far Legion is willing to go to keep what belongs to us. I would burn this whole damned pack to the ground before I let anything else be taken away from me."

He tilted his head, gave the laboring girl a pleasant smile. "Besides, a pup deserves to have both of their parents, doesnt ot? Better for everyone if the girl just comes to Legion until the pups are older." He shifted his smile to Noir, winked very obviously at the boy. "Would be a shame if anyone had to get hurt to get what we want, wouldnt it?"

The blue striped boy peered hard at Ashmedai as he nodded in affirmation at being stripped of his birth name. He huffed softly, well he didn’t want to be Imperialis anyway if they were anything like this oaf. Chaos was much cooler, though both of them had points from the pup from swearing in front of him, he lit up a bit at the reiteration. Not that he fully understood it, but Chaos’s words did plant a seed of doubt in his admiration of Rhyme. He wasn’t allowed a reaction though as he was forgotten for only a moment.

Uncle Chaos seemed to more heavily embody his name as he went on, the look in his eye told Noirhe really should be afraid of this man but the pup couldn’t quite bring himself to. The fanged alpha tuned back to Noir, and he felt his skin go cold at his finishing words. Would he really hurt him? Wasn’t family supposed to mean so much? Noir’s perception of the wold shifted slightly, he eyes going a bit wide as he found his gaze captured by the dual tones Chaos sported. Now he felt a little fear creeping in as he managed to tear his eyes from Chaos to his father. He didn’t dare move otherwise.

”You’ll be here, she’s not going anywhere fast.” He offered to Ashmedai as he looked at him, mostly to keep his own head on straight. He had to breathe, he had to keep Peggy breathing, his brothers.. He just had to breathe. Chaos called Ash off as Rhyme returned his attention to Arpeggio, but Rhyme tore his gaze away from the laboring she wolf. Chaos’ words were much sharper.

He was doing his best to stay cool, but the situation was quickly becoming incredibly high stakes. On one side of him, Peggy was about to give birth, and on the other side of him Rhyme's own brother was threatening his pack and more importantly his son. Rhyme's hackles raised as he resisted the urge to snarl and launch himself towards his half brother. "Noir, come here." he said while leaving no room to argue.

”It cannot be taken if it was never yours to begin with. What claim have you besides Ashmedai getting laid?” He narrowed his gaze, voice low as he used all of his willpower to remain calm. Arpeggio was born in Abaven, fed, protected, and very much loved here. The pups were Abaven’s. ”If you want unreasonable, threaten my son again. You will regret it.”

Rhyme’s family was everything to him, and the passion he once felt about his name was given tenfold to his children. Chaos had crossed a line that he couldn’t return from. ”I’m still willing to talk,” though he said it through clenched teeth he meant it. ”You won’t be getting her close to Legion without her popping.”

Peggy's eyes flinched shut and her ears fell back at Rhyme's words, but she couldn't deny the accuracy of them. She had more than enough training as a healer to recognize it when the evidence was so clearly obvious. The contractions had become too close together and too regular for them to be the false labor pains she had been convincing herself they were. "I am breathing," she muttered rebelliously under her breath, but obediently forced herself to concentrate on just her breathing, centering herself and finding a calm that had been missing for some time now as she had been battered by crisis after crisis. Even as she did so, however, she could here the conversation moving on around her. Ashmedai's brother had started out sounding so reasonable. She was shaken to hear that he had hidden his true self just as thoroughly as Ashmedai had to her. Burn the pack to the ground? Rhyme's reply implied that the Legion alpha's oblique reference to a raid meant that they would harm Noir. What kind of pack had she involved herself in so naively, that would so casually threaten to harm a child to take her children away from Abaven? What if they hurt her children as well? In her state of she tried to help her packmates she would put the pups at risk. Rhyme would fight them if they tried to force her to go, if they tried to take her children. Corvus would fight for her. That was the pact she and Corvus had made, wasnt it? That they would always protect each other and the pack? She couldn't fight to protect them now. She would have to do something else

Sometimes sacrifices needed to be made to protect the ones you love.

Her eyes opened, and she stared into Corvus', her gaze begging him to understand. "Dont fight them," she said, and was surprised when her voice came out a thin rasp. She was afraid.

She gathered her courage and began again. "No one is going to hurt anyone. I don't want anyone to fight over this." She swallowed, her eyes going to meet Ashmedai in his outlandish outfit before her gaze dropped in confusion, and she dragged it to meet the Legion alpha's eyes. "I will go with you if you swear to me you won't hurt anyone from Abaven." She let out a sharp breath through another contraction, and as it passed added fiercely, "My pups will be born here, in Abaven. My family's pack. I am not going to risk them walking to your pack in labor. That's not negotiable." Not that they had any choice. She wasnt going to make it to Legion. She could already feel how close she was, though she was fighting the inevitable birth. If she tried, she would end up birthing them in some wild, dangerous place far from other healers and their lives would all be at risk. "They will be born here and I will carry them in my packs to Legion, not you. They are my children. I won't let you take them from me if I can't keep up." Tears pricked at her eyes but she wouldnt let them fall. She was quivering now, the fear still with its claws in her chest but bolstered by the fierce protectiveness. Her pups would be safe. No one in Abaven would be hurt. If she had to leave Abaven to ensure that they would be protected from the danger she had brought upon them she would do it. "Swear it to me."

His words sparked more of a reaction now, and his crooked grin grew even as his eyes narrowed into amused slits. "Oh come now, Rhyme," he purred. "I wouldn't hurt your boy. He is my blood, isn't he? Why, he is practically the spitting image of me. One would think he was mine rather than Rhyme's, wouldnt they, Ash? He would fit right in, in Legion. What a pity that he's stuck being raised by Destructions instead of where he belongs." He tilted his head to the side, eyes glinting in relish as he slid home the true threat. "It grieves me deeply, you see, and I simply couldn't bear it to have another litter ruined by this pack. To think that they would have to go through what poor young Noir is going through tears me." With the faintly mocking grin and lackadaisical stance, someone could be forgiven for thinking he was joking. But there was a sharp note to his voice, a razor's edge that cut through it, that put the truth behind his words.


The girl's voice broke in, quavery at first but hardening as she spoke. Chaos turned his attention fully to her, letting her ramble and waiting patiently through her contraction. "Of course, Sweetheart," he assured her, all gentle sweetness now that she had given her agreement. "No need to cry. We will take as long as we need to travel back so that they - and you - are safe and healthy when we arrive. After all, they will need their mother, won't they?" It would certainly be ideal to have her there rather than risk the pups while he looked for a wet nurse, and if letting her carry them with her ensured they came to Legion without a fight, it would be no sacrifice as far as he was concerned.


"This is a great gift you have given us," he continued softly, pouring on the charm now he had the agreement he sought, seeking to catch her gaze with an assuring smile. "It makes you special to Legion. You will be well treated."

Ashmedai sucked in a breath through his teeth when Chaos told him to chill. "I am chill," he said, his eyes leveling with Rhyme's own. "Ice cold." Then Chaos went on to make threats that wold almost make Ash's eyes roll if his eyes hadn't moved to be glued to Peggy's form. Ash's hackles stood on end. He was ready to snatch and drag Peggy out of the way if Rhyme and Chaos started to go at it. Though it was hard for him to take any threat from Rhyme seriously, when he asked about what claim he had to the pups, Ash's eye's flicked up to him, "I got laid meaning my blood is in them." He didn't feel like he had to explain more, but he did anyway. "Judging by y'all's reactions, I'd say this is all news to y'all too," Ash said, his eyes sweeping across the group of wolves. This group was a mess. "Can't have our pups raised in such an inattentive, oblivious pack, can we?"

Chaos said Noir was much more like his own pup and a wicked smile twisted onto Ash's face. "They'd never question it. It's a pity," he said, echoing Chaos as his icy eyes locked onto the boy's form. He could have been a true Imperialis.

Arpeggio said she'd go with them and Ash's eyes snapped to Rhyme to see his reaction. He put real effort into keeping the corners of his maw from tilting into a sneer. He shouldn't be getting enjoyment out of this. He was just here to get what was his, but as the scales tipped in his favor, he couldn't help but feel a little giddy.

Chaos came back with his sweet tone that Ashmedai could only think to gag at. He was right, though. "They'll have their mother- we will ensure it," Ashmedai said, tone becoming more serious. He ignored the rest of what Chaos said and got himself ready to leave, ready for Rhyme to protest at any point.

Corvus was relatively quiet as he watched the interactions unfold. He was mostly concerned with Peggy and her well-being, not on the two idiots that had shown up here.. though as they spoke, he found his attention straying to them, his eyes narrowed with obvious distaste. They insisted, again, that the pups belonged with them, not in Abaven. Rhyme was jumping to Peggy's defense, and Corvus was about to as well, until Peggy managed to speak again. 'Don't fight them' she told him, and he felt himself visibly deflate. Don't fight them? Why? Every bone in his naive, inexperienced body was begging him to fight both of these wolves - despite them being stronger and more experienced. Peggy's pups, his nieces and nephews, they belonged here, in Abaven. Not in Legion, or.. wherever the hell this guy wanted to take them. But he wouldn't go against her wishes, at least not right now, no matter how badly he wanted to. Instead of arguing, he bit his tongue and tried to calm himself. They'd be born here, but.. Peggy would later go to Legion. It was hard to fight the instinctive, protective swell of anger that raged inside him but he willed himself to say - and do - nothing. What would Rhyme have to say? As badly as he disagreed, he couldn't stop the feeling that he might argue with Rhyme right there on the spot if he tried to ignore Peggy's decision. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair but she'd made a choice, and trying to yank her back from it seemed just as wrong as what these other two guys were currently doing. "Fuck the both of you," he directed a sharp gaze to Ash and then Chaos. He didn't care how experienced they might be, or how easily they could both kick his ass... all he cared about right now was Peggy. "You heard her, she'll be coming with you later. Now - if you care so much about these kids, I suggest you stop talking for a minute," he snapped at Ash. His tone was more commanding than he'd expected, but he didn't care. "Stressing her out won't help anything." Instead of worrying about the two strangers, he wanted to focus on Peggy and her birth.. though he had no idea what he could do to help. "Rhyme? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Zen. Rhyme tried to remain calm and not further escalate. They found his soft points and saw his weakness and they were going to pick at him as hard as they could. Why? Did they despise him and Abaven so much? With the behavior displayed before him, Rhyme was completely convinced Valentine’s removal of his name and himself from his life was a blessing. Abaven was thriving under his care, and he wouldn’t be convinced otherwise. Especially by his brothers. Rhyme tried not to think about what Noir thought about all of this.

He was ready to leap at Peggy’s defense, but she piped up quietly at first and made known that she wished not to be fought for. She would go to Legion to avoid violence. Rhyme sighed heavily, not allowing himself to relax in such close proximity to Ashmedai, he loosened slightly. Noir made his way behind him reluctantly, his head likely swarming with everything he’d heard from his uncles.

Corvus took the wind from his sails, and Rhyme didn’t stop his speech as his attention shifted to his laboring cousin. His eyes shifted to Chaos and Ash both, sure they wouldn’t harm Peggy, not sure they would leave the other wolves in attendance alone. ”Then so be it,” he offered as Peggy made her decision. ”Lets get you comfortable and welcome your children to the world.” Rhyme wasn’t sure if the emotions swirling in his breast had been replicated but once or twice in his life. He hated that the cause was from his own blood. He felt his brows furrow, frustrated at what his pup hood relationships had devolved into. This whole thing could have been so much different.