The moon was just a little over the horizon, the last colors of dusk still clinging to the edges of the sky behind Recluse as she watched the pale orb rise in the sky. It was time, she and Eraithus were engaged and soon enough she planned to invite him to join her in their den but her children deserved a chance to meet him before he simply intruded into their den. Recluse had no notions of any of her current children coming to see him as a father, they had no real concept of what that would even mean for them but at the same time, while she would hear out any of their worries she already knew she wanted this in her life, it made her happy in a way she'd never been before. Her stomach fluttered just at the thought of him. The woman called for her fiancee, and then her children, though her voice spoke of her newer litter, their shared den not too far away but her older children were also welcome to come hear her announcement. "Poisons" & Venoms

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He had been nearby when the call from his mother rang out into the sky. As of late, he had been seeing less and less of Recluse which secretly bothered the pup. They all knew he held a special attachment to her, but he also knew his boundaries. If she wasn't within the den shared with him and his littermates, he attempted to give her space. Being the head lady in charge meant being busy all the time. Hopefully, the reason for her call would explain the lack of time they'd been able to spend with her.

Looking up from the rat he had been dangling over his new pets, his ruby eyes flitted over to where her personal den was. Curious, the mottled ivory and pink pup flung the poor rodent toward his dwarf caimans before standing up with a shake of his fur. Walking away from the reptilians that watched him with matching ruby eyes, the burly pup made his way over to where Recluse stood waiting. "Mother," Ghoul's voice held an endearing and curious note as he approached with a childish smile on his lips. Quickly brushing his nose against her cheek in greeting, he moved away to lay near her left side and wait for the rest to show up.

"Ghoul"

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"Speech!"
As the moon begun to crest over the fading sky, Macabre knew his mother would be out and about. He was already out of the den for a while now, sneaking off to test his accessories. The boy grinned as he played around with his bladed bracers, hopping about and flicking his forepaws to unleash the small but incredibly sharp blades. Whose smart idea was it to give a pup, much less a pup like Macsbre his very own set of bladed bracers? It was really not a good idea. However, he believed it to be quite entertaining, running in circles and engaging a poor, sagging tree in his game, making it suffer the brunt of his leaping bladed attacks. The bark was already heavily scored, splinters littering the floor when the child overheard his mother’s soulful call. Silver eyes glowing intensely now as darkness shrouded the land for the next six hours or so, the child put away his bracers and stretched deeply, curiosity overtaking his recent play session. What would their mother be calling about? Normally she was so busy, y’know, being the boss and all, and he barely saw her around. Unlike Ghoul, Macabre cared little for his mother’s whereabouts. He’d never been very clingy, and perhals even less emotionally attached on the outside than your average child. Not that he didn’t love her, of course. He did. He just wasn’t the type for enjoying being smothered or cuddled.

The splotched pup made his way towards the source of the call, already finding his rose-pelted brother there. He briefly smirked, not surprised in the least. He shouldn’t have expected Ghoul to change so drastically, even if they were slowly beginning to settle into more mature personalities. But some things never changed, like his brother’s everlasting attachment to Recluse. Go figure. "Hi Mom," The boy said simply, flashing a toothy grin. It held warmth, certainly, it was just his signature smile. He sat next to Ghoul, awaiting the arrival of the rest of their siblings. What did their mother have to say? They’d find out soon, hopefully. He wanted to go practice his fighting moves more after whatever this meeting was.

Thinking of her made his heart thump against his chest. He was not a young pup anymore but ever since he arrived in these strange lands she had made him feel at home. Eraithus was not far when she called interupting his thoughts as he stared at the moon. He smiled gently making his way to see her. It was always the same, he was glad he confessed. Seeing her happy made him joyous and seeing her succesful even more. Moving his way to the den he sat softly for a moment pressing a nose to her cheek. Macarbe and Ghoul were already here.

Eraithus never expected these pups to call him father. He was not looking to fill a space that was simply not there. They had their own thoughts and feelings outside of what he felt for Recluse. However if they needed support he would be there. The blue wolf took in a deep breath smiling. "Evening." he greeted.

Ichor was wandering the lower region of the volcano, he was hoping to find a crack in the stone and get to kick rocks into the glowing depths. He wasn't having much luck, probably would have had better luck asking Wendigo, his older brother seemed to always have a knack for finding fire. But his mother's call reached him before he could even begin trying to track his older brother down. The boy lifted his head and cocked it to the side for a moment before he started dashing up the hill side. He wasn't exactly the fasted wolf, his little legs carried him with surprising speed but he simply could not keep up with a wolf with a longer stride. So it wasn't a surprise to find he wasn't first to arrive.

The boy's first instinct was to search out his twin, and finding Viscera wasn't there yet he moved toward Macabre, seatting himself down with an audible thump beside his brother and giving him a grin, he could see there was someone here who wasn't one of them, a wolf he'd seen around but hadn't really met yet.

"Ichor Klein"

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The aching pain in the young girls limbs had subsided long enough for her to get out and take a stroll as the last of the daylight crept below the horizon and the moon took the place of the sun for the next many hours. The night allowed the giant girl to wander with a bit more stealth than she was allowed during the day, the darkness of night covering her dark blue pelt and blending her in with the shadows. She had been across the nook when she heard her mothers call, calling for not only her children but also the strange blue man that waited outside the den for Recluse that day. Widow thought that something was up with them, but couldn't put a toe on it. Now that she was calling the family in as well as this man, but none of the other pack, Widow's curiosity got the best of her.

She hurried back to the den, although her stiff legs didn't allow for her to be fast, just faster than she was strolling before. When she arrived, nearly all of her brothers and even the man had arrived, but noticed that the larger of the twins was missing and so instead Ichor clung to Macabre. Widow didn't care much for sitting with any one of her siblings in particular and instead found a seat quickly after casting her mom a glace and a quick smile. She didn't want to hold up this meeting for any longer than she already had, although it seemed that Viscera would be doing plenty of that on his own.

"Speech!"

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CAUSE YOU CAN'T GET INTO HEAVEN When his mother called, he was already off on his own little adventure. Making use of the shadow of the volcano, he was able to avoid the worst of the setting sun's rays while he ranged towards the borders and overturned heavy boulders in search of obsidian cobbles. An idea had sprung to mind, and he was getting ready to set the plan in motion. However, his mother's summons rang out rather insistently from the corner of the territory that he knew to be the den site. A long sigh shoved its way through his pale nostrils, and the lanky youngster gave the boulder another hard shove to topple it down the mountainside. He had little regard for anyone who might be in its path- if they didn't hear it rumbling and tumbling down the mountainside, that was on them. There was a sizeable cobble of volcanic glass lodged beneath the dislodged stone, and he picked it up before trotting briskly towards his mother's call. He wasn't particularly interested in meeting anyone new today, since he was already busy. However, it seemed important, so he would get there.. eventually. A cursory pitstop at the hollow near the middle of the volcano's slope where he was storing the rest of his obsidian. The pallid youngster dropped his latest acquisition into the hollow, replaced the unobtrusive pumice stone over the pile to dissuade theft, and off he went again. It was a bit of a trek to get around the slopes of the volcano, and he was taking a rather odd route for no other reason than his own entertainment- picking his way through the crags and crevices that ran up and down the slopes as he circled back around to the den. So when he saw his family gathered outside the den with one of the wolves he only knew of in passing, he wasn't surprised that they were waiting on him. Skidding down the incline towards the den, he unleashed a torrent of pebbles and dust to precede his arrival. Viscera thundered onto the scene with a tiny smirk on his face, and joined up with his little twin brother. He passed over the cobalt male as he sought to meet his mother's pale gaze, deliberately snubbing the male in the interest of making a show of distrust and disinterest. He seemed keen to snuggle up to the children's mother, but that didn't mean anything. Right? Dropping his rump heavily onto the ground beside Ichor, and by extension Mac, the lanky boy blinked lazily at the rest of the assembled family and waited for someone to break the silence. He certainly wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of speaking first. "" IF YOU HAVEN'T GOT A SOUL

Slowly her little family trickled in, her children and her fiancée, the word felt weird. But it was what he was. She smiled as each approached, first reaching down to gently nose at Ghoul. "Ghoul." She responded softly, to her son and felt his familiar weight as he moved to rest at her side. He was her little shadow, her personal bodyguard and his presence near her was already familiar to the woman, enough so that it was noticeable when he was missing. Next was Macabre and she flashed the boy a grin. "Hello my love." She responded, and then he arrived. Recluse's heart fluttered like a caged butterfly and she felt her face flush slightly. He settled at her side and she leaned into his touch, a gentle smile pulling at her lips. She just hummed happily in response to his greeting. Soon enough the rest of her missing children would arrive, each settling in their own space to listen. She cast a loving look over all her children. "My loves," she started taking a moment to meet each of her children's eyes, "Eraithus and I have agreed to get married, and soon enough he will be joining me in our den." She gave a slight moment for her children to absorb what that meant. "I wanted to give you all a chance to get to know Eraithus before he moved in, and the space to ask any questions you might have." "Poisons" & Venoms

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((No posting order if your character has something they want to say or react to just go ahead and post them, me and King will jump in as needed to respond.))

Ghoul's fond expression would quickly dissipate at the arrival of his siblings and the man Ghoul knew was stealing their mother's heart. Meeting the man's quick gaze, Ghoul offered nothing in return at first. He would glance over at Mac with a brotherly smile and felt comfort knowing his favorite brother sat near him. When the other three arrived, his ruby eyes flitted over them a moment. It wasn't that he disliked his other siblings, he just hadn't spent as much time with them as he did with their mother or Mac. Vis was alright in his books, fun even, as they had had fun sparring and hunting together.

Before his thoughts could linger longer on his siblings, Recluse addressed them. Turning his attention to her, he waited with bated breath for the news she would share. At first, his fur bristled along his spine. Being his mother's shadow, he had already had an inkling of what was going on between them. But the information still didn't settle well with him. Who was this man to think he could just sweep her away from them and nestle into the family? His lips pursed into a thin line as he mulled over the information. What was he to think of the blue-coated man who had won their mother's heart?

Resolving to a feeling of indifference, his attention turned toward Eraithus. Leaning around Recluse to give the man a stern stare that clearly meant if you hurt her, you answer to me, he waited a few seconds before speaking. "I would like to go on a hunt with him before I decide if I like him or not," his words were for Recluse but his gaze never left Eraithus. In Ghoul's mind, if the male wasn't strong enough to take down prey, he surely wasn't strong enough for her.

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