It had taken her ages to find a suitable place to build her den. The luxury of searching far and wide was not one the irritable woman would be privy to so she only searched a handful of lands before settling on the orchard. It was one of the few places that still had some availability of prey even in the unrelenting snowfall. So she'd worked tirelessly to widen and spruce up an old abandoned den she found while surveying the area. It was far more work than she'd normally be willing to do, but this whole pregnancy deal had her feeling uncharacteristically maternal. Mara would dig the den, she'd dig the best fucking den in the whole damn world and the pups would love it and no one was gunna set foot within a mile of her young or they'd have hell to pay. If she was gunna do this, she'd do it well and wouldn't allow anyone to blunder in and fuck up her hard work. It'd been so long since she got to spar someone, the woman wouldn't look long to find an excuse to rip into someone.

She'd been lounging just outside her den, front legs crossed neatly in front of her whilst enjoying a well deserved rest. She should have known there was no rest for the wicked, as that was precisely when the pain began. Gritting her teeth, Mara waited for the first wave to subside and wasted no time in sending out a call to Feli and Ruthgar. Once her call was finished she waddled her way into the dark depths of her cozy den to suffer through what was about to happen.

Once flopped down and some degree of comfortable, the dark woman made a valiant effort to make the process go by as quickly as possible. The first pup took it's sweet, sweet time. The new mother might have been worried or concerned if she had any other kind of personality, but as it was she simply took it as a challenge and gritted her teeth, pressing on through the pain until at last the first child was born. The next two were a far easier time. Soon she would let her head fall to the ground, with three grunting pups nursing at her side. Sighing, Mara had no energy to reflect on things, instead being content to close her eyes and rest a while.

He heard the call and took off as if his tail had been set on fire. He hadn’t strayed too far from her, but had understood her need for solitude. He had carefully marked the orchard around the den she had made, and in spite of his bumbling and awkward physique had managed to keep her well-fed in addition to what she had managed to hunt herself. He arrived at the den and felt his breath catch. There was an indescribable pressure radiating from the den; a heat of something raw and powerful and yet somehow gentle and frail. By the time he had arrived it had already ended, and he could hear the squealing and grunting of newborns as well as the soft wuffing of Mara’s breath as she slept. He knew it was better that he hadn’t been there when she gave birth; he knew that she wouldn’t be able to stand it if he had tried to coach her or comfort her through the pain and it would have only served to make her feel weaker. He sat at the entrance to the den, his mind reeling; as much as he wanted to enter and see his pups he knew better than to enter a new mother’s den without her knowledge, especially when that new mother was Mara. Instead he waited by the mouth of the den, his heart pounding, as he listened to his children- his children- nurse and nuzzle their mother. "Talk" "You" Think

Félicien had lingered close by after his talks with Mara and Ruthger. He felt… needed again. The old Mercenary certainly wasn’t going to admit it out loud but he was glad to be around a familiar face again. Mara was… almost like a daughter to him after all. He’d trained her, and before long he’d get her man into proper shape too. He’d not tolerate a weakling with her even if they were raising a litter together. Of course… he couldn’t quite argue with Ruthger about the fact when he undoubtedly fathered litters and walked away before finding out if his seed grew or not. At least the man was sticking around for his children… Féli respected that about him… and so he’d been willing to give all this a chance.

Félicien returned to the densite with a duck in his jaws. It had been a lucky catch, for the creature probably would not have normally stopped to rest in the area. A mistake on it’s part since, well, now it was dead. Félicien grunted around the meal, the smell of blood tempting, but the man would not eat from this bird. It was for Mara alone… for soon, soon she’d have her little ones and the little warriors would need to be fed as well. She’d have to keep her strength up.

Hearing Mara’s call the man quickened his pace. Had she birthed already?

Sure enough, when he arrived at the den Ruthger was sitting outside and Félicien approached the other male, setting the duck down once he was next to him. He spoke in a quiet tone, not knowing what state Mara was in and certainly not wanting to disturb her if she was resting after a hard birth. “Congratulations on your children.” The French man rumbled. “Now the real fun begins.” His silver eyes shifted over the other brute, seriousness in his gaze.

“We’re going to need to step our game now. We can’t slack now that they’re here.” Then, with a chuckle he added; “No doubt Mara will be yearning for a spar or two herself once she’s rested. Think you’ll be able to keep up with us?” His words, while spoken in a level tone, could have been taken as playful. At least for this old man anyway.

It had been some time since he'd seen her. Since he'd really seen anyone. Mara was always on his mind, and he wondered where the hell she'd gone off to and what she'd been doing with her life so far. The beast took a deep breath, scarred skin wrinkling around his muzzle as ht licked at his jowls. He'd find her, it was all he'd been doing since they'd become separated. Maybe she was in these lands, stirring up trouble. Would she without him? Tail flicked, heavy paws pressing upon the snowy grounds of the orchard, and before long, he picked his head up at the multiple scents that reached him. For a moment, Mara's was unrecognizable with the scent of pregnancy and pups and other males nearly overwhelming, but soon he'd pick hers out from the rest. "Mara..."

He picked up his pace, fur bristling, the male thundering through the trees like a bulldozer and making all manner of noise until he spotted them. Two males standing outside of a den. Were they keeping her sister prisoner in that hole!? "MARA!!!" He roared, the beast approaching the two males with snarling fangs and wild eyes.

Sleep had overtaken the woman soon after her children were safely nestled at her side, squirming and grunting in an admittedly kind of cute way. They seemed determined to charm her with those tiny bodies and goofy sounds. One moment she was admiring the little ones, glad no one could see her right now, the next she was gone. Who could blame her, this whole birthing ordeal was real damn tiring.

The voices outside didn't bother her at all, she could sleep right through that. It was the shout that caused the beasts eyes to fly open, crackling like sparks with the intensity of her displeasure. Leaving the squealing babes she would haul herself to her paws, lumbering forward to emerge from the depths of her den, teeth flashing. "The fuck do you want?" she growled in a venomous tone. Read the room, brother.

He looked at the older male, his eyes alight with joy, he was just about to respond to his congratulations and cautious warning when a cry came from the darkened orchard. “MARA” it screamed and every hair on Ruthgar’s body stood on end. He didn’t give a solid fuck about who the male was or how he knew Mara, all he knew was that he was a stranger. When Mara joined them soon after he felt a chill run through every inch of his body. The stranger had disturbed Mara when the pups were at their weakest. A deep, thunderous growl rose from his chest, his jaws parting in a rabid snarl as he rose to his paws, the long mane like hairs between his shoulders standing on end. He was dead unless Mara or Félicien tried to stop him, although as things were, he was more than sure that they would join him instead. “Woo th’ fook ‘re ye?” He hissed venomously. This is him talking This is him thinking This is you

Ahh and here came another voice from the past. It had been so long since Feli last heard the boy, or rather, young man, and his silvery-gray gaze turned off in the direction of the approaching male. Bellowing like a madman… clearly it wasn’t obvious to him that Mara had just given birth… or maybe it was. Did he not recognize him as a member of their old pack? Seeing both Mara and Ruthger get hostile Felicien sighed. Young’ins. Seemed he’d have to step in to spare Cereberus from getting his face chewed off. Or worse. Honestly it was hard to tell if Mara was involved.

“Alright children that’s enough. Settle down.” Felicien spoke in a slightly commanding air, as their elder and mentor of Mara he felt he had that right. Then his gaze shifting to Cere, giving a soft snort. “This is Mara’s brother, and Cerberus, this male is the father of the pups. Your sister is fine… do you honestly not think she could handle herself?” He glanced between the other two males. “If you two insist on fighting you’ll do it away from the den. Mara needs her rest, and the little ones need their milk.” Felicien rose into a standing position, ready to put both in their place if he had to so that Mara could rest without further incident.

What the fuck was going on? Mara emerged, questioning what he wanted, and before he could respond the strange male spoke in words he hardly understood. The fuck was wrong with him? Was he sick? Something wrong with his tongue? Cerberus turned to face him, tail lashing and fur bristling. He was going to rip this man to shreds! But then Felicien spoke, and Cerberus glanced at him, snarling for a moment. Until he realized who it was. What the hell was he doing here? It had been quite a while since he'd seen their old mentor, he thought the old man was dead by now. What did he mean that this mangy looking guy was the father of Mara's pups? When did she have pups? "Obviously not if she got knocked up by this mangy mutt!" He growled, gaze shifting back to Ruthgar. He was practically daring him to leap at him, maybe he could complete the job of taking his tongue since whatever had messed up the guys speech before, obviously didn't do it right. "Speak"

Listening to the words exchanged as the situation grew increasingly tense, only amplified by her irritated state, Mara's tail flicked impatiently as she lost patience with the whole thing. Pushing past Ruthgar and Felicien Mara stood and stared down her sibling with every intention of killing him with her gaze alone. If anyone could do it it was Mara, and with those orange eyes glowing bright like embers she was giving it her all. "Enough," she hissed, voice soft, level, and dangerous.

Moving to stand toe to toe with her now somewhat estranged sibling Mara growled, "You lost the right to comment on my life or show your 'concern' when you up and disappeared." The woman refrained from saying more, realizing she hadn't really told Feli what she'd been up to when she and Cerb had still been traveling together. Something in her figured he wouldn't exactly be proud. Besides, getting personal in front of Ruthgar would probably complicate an already awkward situation... This whole thing was a mess. Her life was the mess.