Mature rating for gratuitous amounts of violence and gore.

The time had finally come. A half decade's worth of perseverance, pain, and rage had led Kane down this path, but at long last, the day he'd waited for, worked for, had at long last arrived. He'd caught the wolf's scent south of the Bent Canyon during a hunt and followed it through the dense oak forest and the arid badlands in southern Auster. It was there that he'd caught his first glimpse of his nemesis. The hulking black wolf as large as a boulder plodded the dry and craggy wastelands, lumbering along without a care in the world. Kane scouted the area a few more days after that first sighting just to confirm he'd actually seen what he thought he saw and that it wasn't a trick of his mind. But it wasn't. The massive primal dire wolf had made the southern part of the continent his home. He recognized the familiar scars on the brute's face and neck, leftover mementos from his long-dead fiancée. This was the wolf that had destroyed his future, tried to kill him, and been the target of his hateful vengeance for most of his life.

There was a strong temptation to simply charge in after the wolf; after all, he was older now, and Kane had the advantage of surprise. Only thoughts of Tamsyn halted Kane's enraged brashness. If he went into the fight alone and was killed, she'd be left all alone once more, heartbroken for a second time in her life. He couldn't do that to her. Besides, he'd promised her to let her help him kill the big fucker and he wouldn't break his vow to his new mate. It frustrated him to let the wolf go every time he caw him, but he knew he had to for now. Kane had waited five years for this moment. He could wait a little bit longer.

Despite having tracked the wolf to the southern territories, Kane hadn't been able to follow the deadly predator to where it was denning without giving away his presence. He knew it had to be somewhere at the far end of Auster and he had to be closing in with the frequency at which he found the giant dire again and again. Finally, on a particularly gray and rainy day, Kane decided to take the vengeance he so rightfully deserved. He gathered up his knife from the room he shared with Tamsyn, filling up the hollowed stone blade with his poison composed of wolfs and and lavender extract, slipping the leather sheath and strap around his chest before heading to find his mate. She wanted to come along and he would let her. Once he found the smaller black fae with the white feathers in her fur, he nudged her with his shoulder and motioned for her to follow with a jerk of his head, explaining on the way what was going on. Tamsyn would understand the importance of urgency in this matter.

Kane led the hunt south around the coast of Auster, then up to the Dragon’s Blood Grove. With the rain, finding the scent trail of his quarry was difficult, but not impossible. When he got a faint trail, Kane led the two wolves south, the scent getting stronger until it disappeared into the thicket of the bamboo grove. Kane gazed up at the veritable labyrinth of bamboo, a dread clenching at his pounding heart. So this was where the giant dire had been hiding all this time… This hunt suddenly became infinitely more dangerous as the hunting grounds became a veritable maze of ambush points. Kane’s expression darkened, and he rounded to face Tamsyn, looking at his beloved mate with a growing worry for her safety. He could still picture Tiva’s savaged and mangled body as clear as the day he’d lost her. The thought of anyone doing that to his Tamsyn…

"Tamsyn, this is it. I… I don’t know how things will go once we head in there. I’ll let you make your own choice, but… I don’t think you should follow me in there. This has become more dangerous than I expected, and I can’t ask you to put your life in danger for my revenge. If you want to remain out here, you may." Kane waited for Tamsyn’s response. Ultimately, this could go very, very wrong for the both of them. But he would not tell her what to do. The decision had to be hers.

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
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Tamsyn had watched Kane's tracking and hunting of his long time target increase over the last several days and she was just waiting for him to tell her when it was time at this point. In a way it had been a small blessing in disguise that he had been kept away for most of the day while he followed and observed the giant dire wolf. All of those tale tell symptoms that she had experienced with her first pregnancy had begun to creep back in on her, turning her stomach and sapping her energy for portions of the day. It caused an overwhelming relief and joy that they had actually been able to conceive a litter of their own even though she had begun to worry that maybe it was too late and she had grown too old and her window of time had passed. She went through nearly her whole heat season before finally getting pregnant right at the end. At first when she realized it and had Gwynevere confirm her first instinct was to rush to Kane and tell him the good news, but she stopped herself. This hunt for the dire wolf that had killed his previous partner was important to him and she knew that if they could finally put this to rest then they could both move on. She was afraid of him going on his own and she knew that if he found out she was pregnant then he would refuse to allow her to accompany him further.

She had her daughter give her some herbs to help combat her symptoms so that she could hide them more easily from her mate and was careful to make excuses and slip away whenever she couldn't help the morning sickness that seemed to be hitting her even more strongly than the first time. Luckily this day she was feeling pretty good when Kane came to get her, leading her out to the southern part of Auster with he knife he had carefully crafted at the ready. She listened as he explained everything he had observed and where they would need to go, nodding in agreement. She knew how important this was and knew how long he had waited for this moment so she was more than happy to drop everything and come with him on this mission. She was just as eager to see him have his revenge and his closure as she was sure he was eager to have it. They got all the way to the southern tip of Auster till the trail brought them to a thick maze of bamboo that looked daunting to enter even regardless of the fact that there was a massive killer living somewhere within it.

She was already looking at the maze uncertainly before Kane turned to face her. She brought her mint gaze up to his hazel one and saw the worry etched deeply in his features. She fully understood his concern and his desire for her to not accompany him into the maze. He didn't want her fate to match that of his previous betrothed, but she held the same fear as well. She couldn't imagine a worse fate than losing Kane and ending up a widow for a second time—especially not when she was carrying their children. She couldn't imagine raising them without him. So even though she was just as worried about walking into this fight, she knew she couldn't let him do it alone. She shook her head and looked up at him with determination. "No. I'm coming with you," she insisted. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you that I could have helped prevent. But I'll be extremely careful and I'll stay out of the worst of the fight. I promise." She wouldn't risk her life or their children's lives unnecessarily.

"Tamsyn Carpathius of the Valley"

In those mint eyes he treasured more than precious gemstones, Kane could already see the uncertainty and hesitation in Tamsyn's mind. This was far riskier than either of them had anticipated. But Kane had come too far to give up now. He had to see this through one way or another. He half expected her to argue with him or try to convince him to turn back and let go of his need for vengeance. What he hadn't been expecting was for Tamsyn to reaffirm that she was coming with him. In truth, he'd worried a bit for her wellbeing. Although she tried to hide it, he'd seen the way she'd been getting queasy at seemingly random intervals, how she no longer drank wine with dinner, and how she'd been seeing Gwynevere on a semi regular basis. Today she'd seemed okay, but her general shift in demeanor did have him more than a little anxious. Surely if something was wrong with her though, she'd tell him, right? She wouldn't willingly put herself in a dangerous situation if she wasn't feeling 100%, would she?

Kane hesitated, considering her words with great severity. Then he released a sigh and nodded. "Okay. But you promise you'll be extremely careful. And if something starts to go wrong... you run home, okay? Promise me you'll keep yourself safe for me." Even if it means leaving me. He didn't say the words aloud, but it was heavily implied. Giving her a guarded smile, Kane closed the gap between his muzzle and hers for one last quick, deep kiss before turning and heading into the thick bamboo maze. The hunt had begun...

In the mass of bamboo, it was significantly darker, the already cloud-laden sky obscured by the rising walls of thick grasses and canopies of leaves. The rain sounded little more than a distant echo all around him, warping his sense of hearing while he stalked through the maze in search of his quarry. Brown nose twitched to catch the scent of the wolf, following it deeper and deeper into the grove. He followed the scent turn by turn. With each step, the smell grew stronger, until it was virtually all around him. Now his sense of smell could no longer be trusted either. Kane dropped to the ground, closing his eyes to focus his hearing while he pressed a paw to the cool, damp earth. Beneath sensitive paw pads, the hunter felt the vibrations of the earth. For a while, there was nothing but stillness. The rain continued to fall, fat drops occasionally breaking through the leaves overhead to pelt his damp coat. Somewhere in the distance, a clap of thunder rumbled over the land, indicating a stronger storm front on the way.

Then he felt it. A vibration of something heavy moving close by. Steely hazel eyes snapped open and he turned his head in the direction of a snapping sound. Kane glanced back over his shoulder to Tamsyn and gestured in the direction wordlessly, silent as a shadow while he prowled through the bamboo, slipping between the dense clusters of grass that made veritable walls all around them. Kane still couldn't hear anything discernible yet, but the more he moved, the more he became aware of little things. He saw some bamboo stalks bowed outward, like something massive and heavy had pushed its way through on a consistent basis. He came across a few stray deer bones, remnants of meals. The final clue was when he pushed into a small clearing and was greeted by the stench of decay and death. It didn't take him long to locate the source: a dead dire wolf crumpled in a slump of torn flesh and bloody fur. Flies buzzed around the corpse, and it looked like some scavengers had begun taking pieces from it. He must have been here for a while.

Kane approached the body's studying the wounds. They ere familiar—far too familiar. Deep and ragged and lethal. His primordial dire wolf had done this. Turning back to look at Tam, he motioned for her to stay close, remaining silent all the while—until a snap from just ahead made his heart stop. The hunter didn't even have a chance to turn around before a massive form burst from the wall of bamboo with a ferocious roar, leaping at him like a massive wall of muscle. Kane braced himself, but was still taken off his paws by the sheer force of the dire wolf's charge, its head slamming into his chest and sending him flying backwards until he smacked into a cluster of hardened bamboo, collapsing to the ground with a thunder and a breathless groan. The dire wolf snarled, its tawny patchwork coat covered in dried blood, yellowed fangs dripping with spittle while it glared daggers at Kane and Tamsyn. "Stupid wolves. I've seen you watching me! You followed me, now you die!" the dire wolf snapped, then rushed Kane again, seeing him as the greater threat than the tiny woman.

Kane was back on his paws just as the dire wolf was upon him, bearing down on him with fangs going for his neck. Kane fought back, ramming his paws as hard as he could into the primeval dire's chest to try and get some space. The two dire wolves began to gnash at one another, Kane's sabers cutting viciously at the other wolf's muzzle and neck, but unable to score any damaging blows. The larger dire simply grunted off the pain and caught Kane upside the head with a blow from a massive paw, sending the hunter reeling. Kane saw stars—and then he saw the dire wolf going for his neck again, intent on ending the fight as quickly as it began. Kane growled and lunged forward, managing only to get the dire's fangs to grab his scruff instead of his whole neck. Instead of a killing blow, the giant dire hauled Kane off his paws, shaking him around like a rag doll for a few moments before chucking him across the clearing again to slam into another wall of bamboo. This time, Kane felt something in his chest snap and an excruciating pain exploded out from where he'd impacted the bamboo and then the ground. Kane gasped as the air was knocked completely out of his lungs, leaving the hunter sprawled across the ground while he gasped and struggled for air, trying to ignore the searing pain in his chest while the dire wolf rounded on him once more, closing the gap between them with slow, lumbering strides.

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
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Tamsyn could see how uncertain he was about her insisting that she would stick with him to see the hunt through, but in the end he relented after making her promise that she would be careful and that she would run home if this whole thing went south. He didn't have to add the unspoken piece of that for her to understand what he meant. With or without him. Her stomach twisted into knots at the thought of having to leave him here, but she understood that she couldn't take on this monstrous wolf without him so if it came to it she would have to save herself and their pups. She nodded resolutely with a flick of her ears, clinging to her bravery as he leaned down to give her a firm kiss that she returned whole heartedly. She kept repeating to herself that everything was going to work out and they were going to walk out of here victorious, but there was still a grim worry that lingered in the back of her mind.

She followed closely behind Kane while he tracked down their target, keeping her eyes up and watching the bamboo around them closely while her ears remained perked and listening. She felt like she hardly breathed to keep herself quiet and to listen for any trace of sound in this eerie maze. The rain made it difficult to hear so she had to focus even more intensely. Kane bent to focus on the vibrations of the ground and she held perfectly still, being his eyes to keep an eye on the world around them while he found his trail. Eventually he managed and she followed him quietly to where they eventually found a corpse of a large wolf that had clearly been here and decaying for some time. It turned her already sensitive stomach and she had to turn her head away from the remains while Kane went closer to study them. It wasn't until he turned back toward her that she stepped closer. He certainly didn't need to tell her to stay close. Just being here was making her uneasy. A snap from the bamboo ahead of them made her head jerk toward the noise and she spotted the massive, deadly wolf with wide, mint eyes.

When the wolf charged at them with a roar she quickly jumped out of the way, skidding and spinning in time to see Kane knocked to the ground with a heavy thud. "Kane!" she gasped in a worried whisper, her ears folding back against her head while a snarl pulled at her lips. She was forced to remain as out of the way as she could be while the two males locked into battle, the massive dire wolf clearly over bearing and overpowering Kane nearly at every turn. Kane was getting some good slices of his sabers into the wolf's flesh, but it was like nothing was stopping this beast. Her heart leapt into her throat when the dire wolf went for Kane's neck again, feeling a very brief moment of relief when Kane managed to make his scruff the target instead. That only lead to Kane being shaken and tossed in a way that she didn't know was possible with a brute his size. She winced at the way he hit the wall of thickly growing bamboo and she had to reign herself in from jumping into the fight rashly.

She knew she had to do something with how Kane was struggling to get back up and the dire wolf was advancing on him again. Even if she could just buy him some time... With a quick glance around she spotted some bamboo that had gotten snapped off from its base when the overgrown wolf charged through it and she seized the opportunity, racing over to it and snatching up the makeshift weapon, holding it with the sharp edge where it had broken facing away from her. She bounded over to their opponent before he could notice what she was doing, staying out of his line of sight till the last second. She caught his gaze as one of his eyes shifted toward her right as she went to jab the long piece of bamboo toward his face, the point of it spearing into his eye socket. The beast roared in rage and pain again and the way he threw his head while she was still holding on to her weapon of choice ended up knocking her off of her feet before she could let go, but it was enough to get him to stagger back while he ripped the bamboo from his eye and tossed it aside. The whole left side of his face was now covered in blood and the eye was either gone or severely damaged, but she couldn't tell from a quick glance. While the massive dire was doing that, Tamsyn scrambled back to her feet and darted away, hurrying to Kane's side to help him up.

"Tamsyn Carpathius of the Valley"

Kane's vision blurred as the ringing in his head got more intense. His vision blurred in and out of focus, likely concussed from the blow to his head, and breathing brought a jolt of pain in his chest every time his lungs inflated. He saw the paleo dire wolf advancing on him, but he didn't hear Tamsyn exclaim his name in horror, nor did he see her grab the broken piece of bamboo. Instead, the injured hunter simply took his knife in his teeth and held it at the ready. If he was going to die to this giant fucker, he was going to take him down with him at the very least. There was no way in heaven or hell that he was going to leave Tamsyn alone at the mercy of this beast. The only thing he prayed for was that his death would be quick and relatively painless in turn, but with the way the dire wolf was leering at him with saliva-dripping fangs on display, he somehow doubted he'd be granted that small modicum of mercy.

Just as he tensed and prepared to strike out at his foe, Tamsyn drove her bamboo spear into the dire wolf's eye, blinding him in a gush of gore and earning a pained howl from the predator. Kane blinked in shock, taking but a moment to look at Tamsyn in relieved awe. The smaller black fae was already hurrying to his side to help him up, allowing him to use her for support as he got to his paws—only for Kane to see the dire wolf swinging a massive paw towards Tam. "Tamsyn!" he shouted in warning, but it was too late. His aching muscles didn't respond fast enough to push her out of harm's way, and the paleo wolf caught her by the head, hurling her away from him. Kane's heart stopped and his blood turned to ice in his veins when he saw Tamsyn go tumbling across the ground. Hell no! He was not about to lose her too!

Mustering up all of his adrenaline to push through the pain, Kane lunged for the dire wolf, leaping and latching onto its shoulder with sharp claws gripping into thick fur. The primal dire snarled and tried to turn to bite him, but he was on the wolf's blind side, and it turned into a frenzied snapping of jaws randomly, hoping to catch Kane with a lucky bite. Knowing his window of opportunity was short, Kane clung to his enemy with all his might, using his sharp sabers to tear into the flesh and fat around the dire wolf's collar. Once he tasted blood in his mouth and had rent open a wound, Kane once more drew his knife and plunged it with all his might into the bleeding wound. The dire wolf howled in pain again and lashed out with sharp jaws for Kane—this time managing to bite down on the old hunter's thigh. Kane yelped in pain and quickly twisted his head, managing to snap the end of the stone blade off in the wolf's neck and delivering the full dose of poison within the blade directly into the paleo dire's bloodstream before he was ripped off of the wolf and thrown across the clearing again.

Kane landed hard on his injured side and tumbled, crying out in agony as fiery pain flared through his body radiating from his side. The hunter doubled over in pain, his vision swirling and blurring again while he tried to remain conscious and not vomit it hurt so bad. Despite his injuries, his eyes still sought for Tamsyn, his only focus keeping her safe. To his horror, the paleo dire wolf was still standing, blood seeping through his fur from his face and neck, and was heading for him to finish the fight. Malice and hate burned in its remaining eye. Kane's heart plummeted. The poison hadn't worked. He'd failed and now he and Tamsyn were both in grave danger. Swallowing hard, Kane struggled to his paws once more, falling once as he tried to rise, and squaring off against the paleo wolf. "Come on, then... Let's end this."

The wolf snarled in incomprehensible rage—and then stumbled as it took an other step forward. Kane blinked in surprise, his enemy looking equally confused as another step sent the wolf almost falling face first into the ground as its body betrayed it. Kane stayed on guard, taking cautious limping steps over to place himself between the wolf and Tamsyn. The dire gave a confused growl, its legs wobbling while it swayed back and forth. Its eye got hazy, pupil dilating and contracting constantly. It began to pant like it couldn't get enough air in its lungs. And then it collapsed to the ground, its muscles giving involuntary twitches while it tried to do anything at all to get up. Kane's expression grew morbid while he watched the effects of the poison at work, glancing over to Tamsyn and whispering a gentle warning, "You don't have to see this." She could look away or leave if she desired. But he needed to see it through.

The paleo wolf continued its frenetic thrashing on the ground, spittle and foam spilling from its gasping mouth while it clawed at the ground. The wolfsbane worked quickly, putting the dire into a cardiac arrest event while it struggled to regain control of its own faculties. Eventually, the lavender extract began to kick in, and the wolf's body relaxed into a permanent state of limpness as its consciousness slowly ebbed away. Kane had been merciful in that regard. The lavender oils eased the wolf off into a dreamless sleep, and after a few panicked moments of suffering, the wolf lost consciousness. A few moments later, it's breathing stopped forever.

With the fight over and won, Kane released a long held breath, his body collapsing in relief as the adrenaline began to wane away. The awareness of his injuries and pain began to spill into his brain as pain receptors fired all over his body. His thigh was bleeding from several deep punctures and his rib was definitely broken. The ringing in his ears had stopped, but his vision kept blurring in and out every few minutes, a sign of a concussion. But he was alive. He was alive and he had won and gotten his revenge. Sweet relief at the realization of completing his life's goal brought a few hot tears spilling down his cheeks. It was over. Hazel eyes turned to his mate as Kane focused entirely on Tamsyn, checking her over for any wounds. "Are you okay? Did it hurt you, Tamsyn?" He didn't care about his condition. Only Tamsyn mattered in his life now.

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
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Tamsyn hurried to get Kane to his paws, giving anxious glances toward the now half blinded dire wolf, worry for her mate making her heart pound against her chest. Seeing him tossed around like a rag doll made her realize just how dangerous this mission really was. She understood that the massive wolves were dangerous, she had seen them in action herself when the pack of them attacked The Hallows, but this one in particular seemed even larger and more ruthless than those had been. Just as she managed to get Kane to his paws she heard him call her name in warning, her gaze snapping up toward their attacker just in time to see a huge paw swinging toward her. She scrambled to try and jump out of the way, but she didn't notice soon enough and a heart beat later she felt the beast's heavy paw connect with her skull.

The massive paw gripped her head and tossed her aside like she weighed nothing, his claws leaving shallow lacerations around her cheek, and for a moment she was airborne before she slammed into the ground and rolled a couple of times, tumbling across the ground. Her ears were ringing and the world around her was spinning while she staggered to her feet, struggling to get air into her lungs after having the wind knocked out of her. She stumbled back and fell back onto her haunches while she tried to get her bearings, a panicked paw resting over her stomach for a moment while she blinked and tried to straighten her vision, taking a quick inventory of herself. Besides the scratches along the back of her jaw she was in one piece, just a bit shaken and sore, and most of the impact seemed to hit her head, shoulders, and back. She could deal with some scratches and bruising as long as that's all that happened.

Once she regained her bearings with a shake of her head she looked up and saw Kane grappling onto this massive wolf, tuning in just in time to see him drive the knife into him. Her emotions swung from victorious to concerned in an instant as she saw Kane twist the knife in the wound, breaking it off into the dire wolf as planned only to have that immediately followed by the massive wolf grabbing Kane's thigh and throwing him again. Her heart leapt into her throat, grimacing at Kane's sound of pain when he hit the ground again. She grit her teeth as she forced herself to stay back, fighting with herself to keep herself from jumping into the fight again. She knew she had gotten lucky with the fact that nothing terrible had happened and as much as she felt the need to rush in and help her mate, the instinctual drive to protect their children was stronger. As Kane struggled to his paws again she watched the massive wolf with disbelief, waiting for the moment that the poison they had worked so hard to gather would finally take effect, every second that it stood standing feeling like it would drag on forever.

Just as she was mentally preparing herself to have to leave Kane behind, preparing herself for that heartbreak, she saw the dire wolf's first stumble. She blinked, her eyes widening with eager hope. Tamsyn saw Kane start to come toward her to place himself between her and the other wolf and she went to meet him half way, keeping her eyes on the over grown beast all the while. She came to stand just behind Kane's shoulder, her side lightly brushing his uninjured side, while she watched their opponent begin to struggle and eventually collapse to the ground. She glanced up at him when he spoke, catching his hazel gaze for a moment as he told her that she didn't have to watch. He went back to watching the huge dire wolf's final moments and so did she. It was an ugly, gruesome process, but strangely it didn't feel like the worst thing she had ever witnessed. Far from it. Resin's decline and seeing how she was torn to pieces by these same massive wolves had felt far worse than this. Plus, she refused to leave Kane's side. This hadn't been her fight to begin with, but it had become hers over time and she was just as eager to see it through as he was.

As soon as the dire wolf fell still she felt like she could breathe again. It was over. All of this had lead to this moment and finally it was done. She felt Kane slump back beside her and she turned her gaze to find his, her mint gaze filled with relief. He was beat to hell and would certainly need a long stint in the infirmary when they made it back, but he was alive. He was still here with her and that was what mattered. "No, I'm fine," she replied with a little smile, settling back onto her haunches in front of him and lifting a paw to gently wipe away the tears of relief that fell down his cheeks while tears of her own started to collect in her own eyes. She knew they needed to get him back to the castle as soon as possible to get him help, but the news she had for him was just begging to be said, hanging on the tip of her tongue. "Kane... I'm... I'm pregnant," she told him softly, a grin creeping across her lips. "I didn't want to tell you till this was done cause I didn't want you to worry or keep me from coming with you, but... I'm pregnant. We're going to be parents." A giddy laugh bubbled up in her chest while her tail wagged behind her, looking up at this wonderful man with all the love in the world.

"Tamsyn Carpathius of the Valley"

The relief that Kane felt wash away his worries when Tamsyn confirmed that she hadn't been hurt was indescribable. When he'd watched that paleo dire wolf throw her aside like a rag doll, his whole world had stopped spinning, dreading the worst. Seeing and hearing that she was fine was the cherry that topped this victory cake. "Thank the stars, I was so worried he'd hurt you," he said amidst a heavy sigh, leaning his cheek into Tam's paws while she wiped the tears from his face. "It's over... It's finally done..." Tiva had been avenged and could rest easy, and he could close this long running chapter in his book of life. Now the future just held happier days in store for him and Tamsyn. They could do whatever they wanted, go wherever they pleased. The world was theirs from now until the end of days.

Or so he thought. It turned out Tamsyn had a secret, one that was about to change his life for the best. He saw the excitement palpable on her features, far more than she should have had for him killing his mortal nemesis, provoking a curious glance from the hunter. Then she said those two words. "I'm pregnant." Kane felt his heart miss a beat and leap up into his throat. Hazel eyes grew wide with surprise and amazement, his brain which was already scrambled from the fight struggling to comprehend what his mate was telling him. The more she spoke, the more Kane realized that this was a reality. This was really happening. He and Tamsyn were going to be parents! "Y-You're...?" He glanced down at her belly, lifting a large paw to rest against her midsection. His pups were growing in there. His pups! A shocked, incredulous smile slowly crept across the old hunter's face, followed by breathy, giddy laughter. His bushy tail started to mimic Tam's as it wagged in a rapid blur behind him. Fresh tears fell from his eyes. He was going to be a father!

Just like that, Kane's life had taken a full 180. Just a short year ago, he'd come to Boreas a bitter and vengeful hunter bent on revenge or death. Today, he sat on a throne of triumph with the love of his life at his side and their family growing within her belly, his nemesis defeated and dead, his past avenged. He had nothing but joy and love to look forward to where once he had planned nothing but his demise. "We're going to be parents, Tamsyn!" he exclaimed before throwing his forelegs around her in a tight embrace, hugging her tight to his chest while he covered her forehead and face in loving kisses and licks. "You silly little blackbird, of course I would've kept you from coming! Are you out of your mind?! You went up against that thing with our children in you! I'm furious, but I'm also so happy and actually kind of impressed, but I'm so mad!"

Kane was so caught in a whirlwind of dizzying emotions, all he could focus on was his joy. And then the lightheadedness came back and he very nearly toppled over with Tam in his arms. His head was throbbing, his chest felt like it was on fire, and he was bleeding from several deep lacerations and puncture wounds. He needed medical attention immediately. "Whoa..." he murmured while he caught himself, blinking his hazy vision clear while he tried to stay conscious. "We, uh... We should get back home. I think I need to see Gwynevere." Rising to his paws was a challenge, but Kane managed to get back up without collapsing, gasping for breath against the pressure in his chest. The fight had been won. Now he just needed to survive the aftermath so he could become a father.

"Kaneonuskatew"

As his mate, Tamsyn may enter his threads not marked as Private.
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